# avant-classical composer in record store



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

How come when your looking for an obscure composer they never have it in stock, store like hmv.
The major problem is useless pop like celine dion take all the space, everyone that like celine dion most have the record available in zillion copy but when your looking for an interresting composer into spectralism per se , they dont have it and it take weeks or month before it arrived.

Like celine dion was a priority for canadian not classical music of taste, they really **** me off , these record store.Once i order a cd at hmv and they did get it like 5 yrs later and call me and i was like wtf
5 yrs or you kidding me i allready bought it elsewhere forget it.

Why is distribution so long, they pass an ordering trought internet for christ sake ???
Can someone explain me why, also is celine dion better than classical music i honnestly doupt it.
Dont forget another thing people into (mc Donald type of pop) they cheat and burn the cd on internet trought torrents.While people like me buy the records at the store full price .

So should celine dion fan pass before me , because its the mass and they are more important than me?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

The era of the large brick and mortar real CD store is gone. I imagine if you have a CD store, it is relatively small, or a department in a corporate chain store, a box store, etc. Most of what is carried in these is the largest common-denominator pop music. I would bet even getting a CD of a relatively alternate pop band might take nearly as long as you experienced. If these stores have any classical, it is either a very few standards, or worse, those collections of 'relaxing classical hits.'

You are going to want to go to any of the few large, on-line services, where you order and the CD is in your hands within a few days to two weeks, not one month or longer. Amazon, of course... when you look something up it informs you directly if it is in stock so you know if it is readily available or not, and they are so much more likely to have near all recordings available than any small local store.

Best of luck.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

You're simply in the minority, so am I and most others on the board. Just live with this fact; it's easy to do.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Yesterday I was surprised and delighted to find not just one but about 10 copies of a recording of Adès' _Powder Her Face_, an especially unexpected find as it was in a supermarket.

It seems to be an anomaly though.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

deprofundis said:


> How come when your looking for an obscure composer they never have it in stock, store like hmv.


You're ahead of me. I can't even find the record store!


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2015)

Corner of E. Burnside and 30th, ahammel.

But the classical section is shrinking even as we speak.

And the guy running it doesn't particularly like contemporary music.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

The Brick and mortar store, living in Houston, I'm lucky to have Joel's Classical Shop. A physical classical-only CD store. I'm even luckier to work only a couple of miles away! 

I hope they never close down.


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## Fagotterdammerung (Jan 15, 2015)

There's a dedicated classical music record store here. They don't have a lot of pop classical such as you describe... but I can't say I'm ever in there with any regularity!  The days of those places ended ten years ago.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Yesterday I was surprised and delighted to find not just one but about 10 copies of a recording of Adès' _Powder Her Face_, an especially unexpected find as it was in a supermarket.
> 
> It seems to be an anomaly though.


From your local branch of The Warehouse, right? That's where I got mine. They occasionally pick up some cheap Universal or Warners overstocks or remainders via Australia, and mixed in with the Best Of stuff there are, rarely, some bargains like that.

Whether your local store has contemporary classical may depend on distribution problems for your country or area as much as ignorance or apathy. If there's no local agent and the shop has to order directly from the label then costs may be prohibitive, especially compared to good old altruists Amazon, who will have screwed the label down to the point where the label will be making damn near a loss on every disc sold.

But then if the label doesn't have sales reps, or isn't affiliated with a group of labels using the same reps, then the store may never be made aware of the product, nor have the case made for stocking it (which in turn is also unlikely as the sales rep is unlikely to know much about this area, or consider it their highest priority if they also have more popular labels or artists to push for their commission).

And even if a rep does show it and knows how to sell it to the buyer, then the buyer still needs to have the knowledge to recognize its worth or potential and have the ability to promote it to the customer. Most likely they'll just say "nobody's heard of that" to the rep and flick over to the next page.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

deprofundis said:


> How come when your looking for an obscure composer they never have it in stock,
> 
> So should celine dion fan pass before me , because its the mass and they are more important than me?


Its so easy to work out the answer ... the store makes money by selling, not by storing discs of obscure composers and yes, a Celine Dion fan is more important to them than you are because they are more likely to buy what is in stock

I'm not saying that Celine Dion's music is more worthwhile than Perotin, but as Bulldog says in post #3, _c'est la vie_!


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2015)

It's easy to get the wrong answer as well, though.

Brick and mortar stores aren't making any money on anything, whether by Diamanda Galas or by Celine Dion.

The _vie_ has changed. It may still be true that there are more Dion fans in the world than there are Galas fans, but the market has changed to where even Dion fans are getting Dion music somewhere else than brick and mortar stores.

It's very like the symphony orchestra canard that orchestras can only survive by playing "what their audience wants to hear."

Well, that is indeed what they're doing (or what they think they're doing) and yet, regardless, bankruptcy looms for many of them. And it's not just bush-league San Diego groups, either. It's Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, and so forth. World-class orchestras.

Their troubles go way beyond what they do or do not play.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

deprofundis said:


> How come when your looking for an obscure composer they never have it in stock, store like hmv.
> The major problem is useless pop like celine dion take all the space, everyone that like celine dion most have the record available in zillion copy but when your looking for an interresting composer into spectralism per se , they dont have it and it take weeks or month before it arrived.
> 
> Like celine dion was a priority for canadian not classical music of taste, they really **** me off , these record store.Once i order a cd at hmv and they did get it like 5 yrs later and call me and i was like wtf
> ...


Supply is a function of demand, pure and simple indeed.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

some guy said:


> It's easy to get the wrong answer as well, though.
> 
> The _vie_ has changed.


yup. agreed. point taken

in a way, shops that deal with niche markets may even have an edge ... if they have a productive enough hinterland or can use technologies to extend their customer base


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