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Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 14:07:42 +0000

Pitchfork can eat a dick on this one

Dear Pitchfork: It's called capitalism. 9 times out of 10 I'll shop at a mom and pop for knowledgable sales staff, better independent selection, a selection of print zines, books, etc. but come on: Im expected to pay approx $4 extra USD per disc to support indies on each album I buy? Indies and moms and pops stay competitive with the attributes listed above, and will continue to do so. It doesn't mean Best Buy is trying or going to kill indies. As a mediavore, I aquire media wherever and however I can, and for the best price I can find. Pitchfork can hardly accuse NP of not supporting the scene by occasionally picking up discs @ Best Buy. If the indies want to compete, which they do and will continue to do so, they offer stuff you can't get at Best Buy. For an example, I will always have a higher expenditure through Twisted Village, dischord.com, insound.com,dtmgallery.com, and newbury comics than I will @ Best Buy or target or whatever, but am I going to pay over $45 USD for the Nirvana box set @ someplace like Newbury, or on the day of release @ Wal Mart for $25 USD? $65 USD for the latest Johnny cash or Miles Davis box or $99? Doing my economic homework so I can get as much music as possible is not something Im gonna feel guilty or apologize for. [sarcasm] Can't wait to start buying my Jandek, Peter Brotzmann and Feast whisperpants albums @ Best Buy [/sarcasm]

Posted by tgl on 2006-02-23 14:25:45 +0000
Easy, Kemo Sabe. You read way more vitriol towards potential chain store buyers than I did in that article. The loudest complaints about the "Artists Outside the Mainstream" program seemed to be quotes from small label owners themselves, not the Pitchfork reporter. The box sets you mention are emphatically not the type of material that's being offered for $8 at Best Buy. "Don't take your local independent record stores for granted." Seems to be a gentle reminder; not a blazing denunciation of your procurement habits.

Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 14:46:06 +0000
I know I got upset, but "friendly little reminders" to not buy Best Buy from pitchfork piss me off. These cartoony morality plays of Best Buy being the man in black and the corner store being the man in white are trite and annoying. If the indie has nothing to offer the consumer but "scene points" of being someone cool who pays more for their cds at said cool place, I can deal without that. Paying in excess of $3 higher for a cd to prove your loyalty to an indie record label that in most times wont be getting a huge amount back to the band anyways doesn't make any sense. If you cant compete in a (sort of) free market, you are regulated by the marketplace. waht Im saying is the indies always have and always will exist because they compete by offering niches not available at BB. If the mom and pop store does not provide a niche and does nothing to compete in the market, then let the market force them out of business.

Posted by G lib on 2006-02-23 14:52:05 +0000
they should just be subsidized by the governmnet, obviously!

Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 14:57:58 +0000
watch it...

Posted by tgl on 2006-02-23 15:16:28 +0000
I can't see where in the article Pitchfork impells the reader to not purchase from Best Buy. I can see a reminder to support local stores, that's about it. Sounds like your position, actually. Pitchfork describes the program as not "intrinsically a bad thing". Doesn't sound like they are being overly moralistic. Pitchfork is reporting a hoopla that has been spinning around the indie world, should they have ignored it instead? The article notes that those beating the drums the loudest are the label owners, Carrot Top Distribution in particular. Shouldn't your ire be addressed there, instead of at the messenger? In fact, the article carries many more quotes from Merge and Matador representatives that support the program. The problem, as CTD et al. sees it, is not the price of the albums but that Best Buy did not inform distributers of the price point when negotiating for the co-ops. Who is undermining free markets? The news source for reporting an issue that is affecting the indie rockers or the company that is not conducting transparent negotiations?

Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 16:19:15 +0000
Ten Diamonds would be sad: Pitchfork expanded / edited the post with more interviews from the likes of Gerard Cosloy and deleted the closing of the story which "politely" asked that consumers not shop at Best Buy if it could be helped. At least when I used the "edit" function it was on a blog that a small number of people read...

Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 16:58:15 +0000
The tone of this article now as opposed to when it appeared this morning is drastically different, although they did retain the telling title after the story was edited: Best Buy to Indies: Drop Dead

Posted by buzzorhowl on 2006-02-23 18:00:07 +0000
I love me some Gerry Ford humor!

Posted by tgl on 2006-02-23 18:16:23 +0000
Well, that's something we can all agree is egregious. I like how Bloomberg.com places an update flag in their titles.

Posted by Null Protocol on 2006-02-23 20:33:21 +0000
the only good thing about the "new and improved" post Pitcfork put up is the quote from Matador's Cosloy: "I don't deny for a second that using hot indie titles as a loss leader is a total sucker punch to mom and pop record stores. But without diminishing the significance of such an event, cool record stores should have something else up their sleeves besides using Best Buy as the bogeyman. (null protocol's emphasis, not Cosloy's or Pitchfork's) "We've used Best Buy for years, but the vast majority of our time and energy has been devoted to selling records through independent retailers. To date, we've yet to do any instores with Best Buy or any exclusive titles with a chain store or non-music retailer, and we continue to come up with specific releases [like the 99¢ Cat Power seven-inch and Interpol remixes] that you can't purchase anywhere other than indie retail." This whole story, now that I've reread the altered post, is pretty much verbatim taken from the sakistore blog that Pitchfork links to at the bottom, which is another reason I feel like it is not music news as much as it is a friend @ Pitchfork helping out a friend @ Saki Store by dressing up a "morality message" as a piece of reporting. hmmph.

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2006-02-24 17:42:22 +0000
Shouldn't we be mad at the labels that slashed their prices to BestBuy? Perhaps, this is a no brainer, as Monaghan says, "The blame falls on the labels and bands who are participating in this co-op advertisement deal." Moreover, if one goes to BestBuy and just purchases these $7.99 titles, you get your music for cheap and appearantly BestBuy loses money, if it is infact below wholesale price. Obviously we don't need legislation to help the mom and pop stores. A discussion on the music and art in the marketplace helps educate people that without supporting the smaller indie stores, your area becomes a less interesting place.

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