Hi Everyone,
Its coming into the seasonal/ festive time of year….(ho ho ho and all that) and a lot of the music releases are aimed at the Christmas Market.
And I am not complaining about that, I complain enough!
Shops like us (the Music Zone Corporation) depend on Christmas; we would traditional do between 25 and 30% of our annual turnover in December and over 10% in last 3 or 4 days up to Christmas.
A lot of you who read this regularly are the heartbeat of the shop, and only for ye there would not be a shop and a big sincere thanks for that, but a good Christmas with people who may only visit the shop once a year is nearly equally as important
The music retail game has changed so much since I started in Golden Disc’s in 1993, back then the only way you could buy music was by walking into a store or you could have yours fingers on the play and record buttons as you were listening to Dave Fanning….they have a word for that these days.
A line we hear every day or two in the shop is “ da downloading must be killing ye” and yep the truth of the matter is downloading either legally or what’s that other word have culled nearly 60% of the music shops in the country in the last decade or so ( coupled with the aul recession….green branches and all that now huh)
But people now have so many options when it comes to listening to music, you can pay for it or not pay for it, buy it online, supermarkets, spotify it, YouTube it, sound cloud or buy it in a shop.
This organic fragmentation is the reason record shops got/are in trouble…..the times they are a changin
I remember when I opened my own place in Carrigaline on the 8th of May 2001 (I don’t particularly like the phrase “its not personal, its only business”, because a small business to a small business person is like a child, you remember its birthdays, you try to nurture it and watch it grow and if its failing it hurts) I knew the train was coming down the tracks but I thought I might get five years out of it…..as Elton would say “ im still standing, feeling like a little kid” never more so than when I sell a record to a young person, I love it.
Online can be my biggest gripe, especially the big monsters based outside of Ireland, in a boxing match we would win on points on pricing across the board, so if someone passes a local shop fairly regularly give them a chance, check online for price if you wish but at least give them a chance and then choose.
Now, one of my favorite repeated comments in the shop over the last few years is probably “do ye sell iTunes vouchers”, and we know people just don’t think, but it’s like going into Dunne’s and asking for a Tesco voucher!
Anyway, went off on a right tangent there,
Universal have the fourth album by the CORANA’S….big move for the Dublin lads ( lead singer Danny is a son of MARY BLACK as ye all probably know) having signed to Island records in the UK this year…..so will be pushed in the UK.
Not too many Irish bands have being signed by big UK labels this century so lets hope they can go from strength to strength.
Warner has the last of the IRON MAIDEN 7” singles and LP re issues.
They have a fancy CD/DVD version of the new COLDPLAY album “ghost stories”, a brand new seemingly very innovative DAVID GUETTA album, a new JOOLS HOLLAND album plus some reasonably priced 5 CD sets including NEW MODEL ARMY.
It is the 15th anniversary of Shady records, so EMINEM and his stable are releasing a yes you guessed it, a 15th anniversary compilation….its a double CD with 9 new EMINEM tracks.
The biggest hits compilation of the year NOW 89 is out on the 21st November.
There is a fine CREAM 6 LP Vinyl box set out that day as well; fine price too says you at 90 yoyos….one of my big friends in the sky have it at 84 pounds…
There is a SOUNDGARDEN 3 CD box set of rarities / b sides etc out also.
A RAINBOW 9 LP set out, the TAME IMPALA LP reissues…again….and THE BEATLES LPs, 1’s, LOVE and the RED and BLUE albums get the remastered vinyl treatment.
On the DVD front, Warner have an REM 6 DVD box set, a very good live BOB MARLEY and 25 YEARS OF WALKEN metal DVD.
Speaking of DVD’s, the new TOMMY TIERNAN one is out on the 21st of November also, shoot in Cork like boy.
SONY has new albums by OLLY MURS (10 million albums sold…..) SUSAN BOYLE ( who does a cover of PINK FLOYD’S wish you were here, and seeing as we are speaking of Floyd and that song, I told ye I am reading Nick Mason’s book at the moment…….SYD was becoming very difficult and withdrawn so they were going to play a gig in Southampton one night and “ someone said in the car, will we bother collecting Syd and the rest of us said lets not fffingg bother” and they never collected him again and that’s how SYD BARRETT left PINK FLOYD….now I reckon Mason has regrets over the handling or lack of handling of SYD and I would think it was a very difficult situation but that was how it ended….)
SONY also has a SIMON & GARFUNKEL complete albums box set and a new metal album by PRIMORDIAL.
PIAS have a 25th anniversary edition of (the) PIXIES “DOOLITTLE” on 3 CD and double LP….we are getting old, as well as some reissued gems by GRAVENHURST and YO LA TENGO.
MUSIC ON VINYL has the BUSH album 16 stone.
On the local front, we now have copies of the new JOHN BLEK solo album “cutting room floor” as well as more copies of the first JOHN BLEK AND THE RATS album “leave your love at the door”.
I am not a big fan of genre naming (read somewhere during the week about a band “who are the best indie electronic band around at the moment”) but to give you some idea of the lads sound, I suppose its country/ folksy rock or the buzz word at the moment for it is Americana…..but LISTEN to me now please when I tell you the lads stuff is QUALITY with a capital Q…..I MEAN IT….please pay attention to them….they are local and extremely talented….musically, lyrically….please check them out.
Who is the handsome one on the far left with the Jim Morrisonesqe gaze into space?
Competition winner will be announced soon.
Anyway,
Sin e for this week,
Thanks,
Ray.
www.musiczone.ie