When I was sitting in the Grammy Sound Stage, I was quite excited. I don't normally get out to places to just sit and hear people talk (I had enough of doing that in college), but this particular talk was going to be very interesting to listen to. You see, the discussion topic was record stores -- those brick-and-mortar stores that still carries albums, CDs and the like. Yes people, they still exist. In fact, one of the panelists, Neil Schield, is the owner of Origami Vinyl in Echo Park, CA. Two of the other panelists, Phil Gallo and Gary Calamar just released a book "Record Store Days: Vinyl to Digital and Back Again".
The panel for this discussion consisted of:
Now, before I move any further on this, let me state that some of the notes I took for this event used
OneNote Mobile on my HTC Pure. So here I was taking notes on a discussion using something I rarely use. OneNote Mobile was simple, easy-to-use but doesn't offer the graphical appeal of its desktop counterpart, obviously because it's on a mobile phone.
There were some very interesting things brought up during the discussion, but let me discuss one in particular that kind of struck me. I even went out on Twitter with it (
see tweet) before I forgot about it. Basically, when people release an album, the tendency is to compare them to similar artists at that particular time. A popular example is the Britney/Christina debate or even the Michael Jackson/Prince debate. However, the moderator brought up the point that you're also competing against history. And he used his jazz musician buddy as an example. When I release an album as a jazz trombonist, I'm not only being put up against other trombonists in 2010, I'm going against trombonists in history. Anyone who knows trombone players throughout jazz history, validly, can ask themselves how I fare against guys like Wycliffe Gordon or J.J. Johnson. When you're talking about Britney and Christina, it's fine to compare them against each other, but let's not forget individuals like Aretha or Whitney (er, the pre-WTF!? Whitney) and individuals like that. I don't know, that was just a line that really struck a chord with me because it makes a ton of sense.
So one of the obvious questions for Neil was how could his store survive in an age where people can just click a mouse button and receive all of the music that they desire. One of the answers that the panel gave, and that I actually agree with, is the aspect of community. Back in the days of record stores you could spend 2 or 3 hours in a store just thumbing through the various albums that were available, you could read the back of the jacket and see who all of the musicians were. Companies and artists were getting more and more creative with not only the album art but with the materials that were packaged with CDs. You could sit down in a chair and listen to whatever the record store employee has decided to play over their speakers. Local bands had a better chance of being noticed because of the fact that it was up to the store owner's discretion what posters to put up or what music to play.
In our digital age, you really do lose that. Now Zune, for its efforts tried to bring some of that back with
Zune Social. The idea being that people can see what others are listening to, send them messages and playlist and help each other discover music that they might not have noticed otherwise. However, I do agree that it's no substitute for being inside of a physical building with friends, nudging the guy next to you and asking him what record sleeve he's reading and then ending up with a full-blown conversation.
Neil felt very lucky because his store is located in Echo Park. "Echo Park!?", you say? For him, Echo Park is a place where people walk instead of drive, considers themselves a very artsy community and his particular store is located right next to a venue where bands come to play.
Many other topics were discussed throughout the 90 minute roundtable: Topics such as:
- The visual appeal and importance of the record cover
- The debate of sound quality between records and CDs (records was the favorite)
- The impact of movies and television for helping a band and their music getting discovered
- The joy of capping off a night out with a rummage through Tower Records
- The power of the used bin section for bringing people out to actual stores
- The desire for a physical media (in your hands) rather than a digital file
- Which is better: the small concentrated store or the larger record store?
- Can working with just digital media create a disconnect between retailers and musicians?
Listening to this round table also reminded me of my current
Indiana Bones project. Record stores was one of the major places where the upstart band could have an avenue to make a name for themselves. Each day the radio seems to dictate who the popular people are. We hear a Lady Gaga song long enough, it 'grows on us'. But what about the band this is playing local pubs every Friday night for gas money?
But this is also why I enjoyed what Zune used to do and what KIN currently does: hold small private concerts throughout the U.S., inviting people to come out and hear the bands that they can pick up on Zune Pass. The chance to really go out live with friends and here bands beyond the digital file is an awesome experience. I hope that more people will go out to concerts and live music events and enjoy being swallowed up in sound rather than be content to sit at home and let their 5.1 surround do all of the work -- besides... moshing in your living room isn't attractive looking.
When I was hearing all of this back and forth, it really help me solidify that this Indiana Bones thing appeared at the right time. By making the effort to go beyond the Top 40 that the media puts on me everyday, I was able to discover some great new artists -- artists who didn't even have their own Smart DJ button. It was a great feeling, in a sense, to go to their page on zune.net and see that there were only 25 plays. It's the same feeling I get when I visit Ariel Publicity to download MP3s from some of the artists she's representing. These are people who feel that they are putting out quality work, but -- for whatever reason -- they aren't getting the MTV style press. So for me, as a small blogger, being able to put their music out there for our readership to try is a great feeling in helping that particular artist's progression.
As an aside, have you noticed that more commercials and TV shows are making an effort to tell you what music is being played? I personally think that's fantastic. Many more of my friends will come away from a commercial wondering what song that was and how can they pick it up. Now you're able to see what that song is and head over to get the digital file.
A majority of the panel felt that you'll see a decline in record stores that you can walk-in, but they won't disappear completely. They'll be more tailored, more dedicated and more focused. Origami Vinyl, for example, only does vinyl records.
Overall, I found this discussion to be great. There was never a dull moment, as the men discussed musical history, groups that they discovered and even a special story about Paul McCartney's brother and his experiences in releasing records. Kudos goes to the
Grammy Museum for hosting such events and I look forward to attending more of these in the future.
Zune Social: 
Zune Social: 
Zune Social: 
