Buying vinyl in Dundee

[: : Scott : :]

Originally Posted by grigorip

Also to Scott and Becca, there are lovely people in Dundee and a good wee music scene for the size of town it is, I've had great fun playing gigs and going out in Dundee previous to now and I hope I can do the same again. We had some great times and I hope this isn't the last of it. If felt was in Glasgow Id be there every week. If your gig was in Glasgow Id definetely be there. But im not. Im here. Please don't hate me. All I meant was I found it hard to buy the records I wanted in Dundee.

relax my nubble, je joue

[grigorip]

Originally Posted by SuperMike!

Bullshit.

Grouchos don't stock new releases at all.
Fopp/HMV/Virgin all have different buying policies, and stock what they think they can sell, but it doesn't mean they can't get hold of these things. as much as it saddens me to say it, there probably isn't the demand in Dundee for a lot of the obscure stuff i'd like to see availble.

Dont swear at me please.

Fopp HMV and Virgin all have awful buying policies and hardly stock anything diverse or interesting.

I have repeatedly asked for records in these shops and been told they will be available in a week or so. Ive left my details and walked away. In one experimental case I asked each record shop for a Swirlies record and was told that they would get it in for me and notify me if they couldn't. I went round each of the shops every friday after felt and asked if they had it in yet. They said no. I did this for 3 months. Eventually Fopp sent me a letter saying they couldn't get it in about 2 months after my enquiries stopped. The others did not despite saying that they would. I asked for it in Avalanche in Edinburgh and they got it in very quickly and notified me. Im sure Mono in Glasgow would be much the same. Ripping records in Edinburgh sent me a letter the next week after me asking telling me that I wouldnt be able to get the particular record through them but saying that they would be able to get me another record by that band if i so desired.

You are right that there isnt the demand in Dundee. This is partly due to the awful policies of the chain stores in the first place. Even if so the record stores are not caring for their customers and they don't try hard enough to be in contact with the smaller labels and distributors. They have a lot of money and surely they could employ one person whos job it was to find the smaller distributors. This would show that they cared about music and their customers.

[Becca Bomb]

of course Dundee is pretty shit for a good music scene, but id rather be here than in glasgow or edinburgh where its up its own arse. London, New York or somewhere like Berlin is where its at really.

[: : Scott : :]

yeah, but berlin is full of smelly europeans


edyts;

I'd probably rather live in glasgow or edinburgh to be honest, but dundee hasn't failed me yet for all the time i've been bound to it. If I want "obscure" music I can go on the internet. I've never been much of a collector and the while I think huge elite vinyl collections are nice I really couldn't be arsed with it all for the marginally nicer sounds and occassional crackles.

[Becca Bomb]

Originally Posted by : : Scott : :

yeah, but berlin is full of smelly europeans

im going there in 4 weeks, i hope so

[grigorip]

Originally Posted by Becca Bomb

of course Dundee is pretty shit for a good music scene, but id rather be here than in glasgow or edinburgh where its up its own arse. London, New York or somewhere like Berlin is where its at really.

Thats a silly comment.

There are lots of people in Glasgow and Edinburgh involved in music that are lovely. Really. Perhaps you just havent met them yet. Sure, there are a fair amount of tosspots but you get that anywhere. Its very silly to generalise a so clled "scene".

The word scene and its use these days is nonsense anyway really.

There are interesting bands coming out of everywhere. Of course the larger the city the more interesting the music scene as there are more people involved and more bands kicking about and more record shops which are likely to sell good records and and more touring bands playing there and more people are around to talk about it etc. making the place more creative than others. What about bands like Sigur Ros though? Theyre from small towns in Iceland. Bands can come from anywhere, anywhere at all.

[: : Scott : :]

london spawned johnny borrel and pete docherty and the streets are paved with vinylol

[SuperMike!]

Originally Posted by grigorip

Dont swear at me please.

I'll use whatever language i like, boyo

Originally Posted by grigorip

Fopp HMV and Virgin all have awful buying policies and hardly stock anything diverse or interesting.

I'll concede that centralised buying has had an effect on the stock that we keep, but it's not as if no-one i work with is unaware of this. I agree that the selection isn't hugely diverse, but there is only so much shelf space available, which for commercial reasons (ie to keep the place open) has to be given over to things that will sell. Sadly, what sells tends to be on larger labels as they have the marketing budget to push their product, but that's a whole other debate.

Originally Posted by grigorip

I have repeatedly asked for records in these shops and been told they will be available in a week or so. Ive left my details and walked away. In one experimental case I asked each record shop for a Swirlies record and was told that they would get it in for me and notify me if they couldn't. I went round each of the shops every friday after felt and asked if they had it in yet. They said no. I did this for 3 months. Eventually Fopp sent me a letter saying they couldn't get it in about 2 months after my enquiries stopped. The others did not despite saying that they would. I asked for it in Avalanche in Edinburgh and they got it in very quickly and notified me. Im sure Mono in Glasgow would be much the same. Ripping records in Edinburgh sent me a letter the next week after me asking telling me that I wouldnt be able to get the particular record through them but saying that they would be able to get me another record by that band if i so desired.

I can't vouch for anyone else, but orders in Virgin are placed in store but the stock is sourced by the central warehouse - if they have it when we ask for it, then great, the customer gets it quickly. If they don't have it, then we have to wait on them getting it off the distributer. With the small distributers that can take time for a number of reasons. They may have a minimum order size before they dispatch anything (I know this was the case with Cargo a few years back when i tried to get Goldrush in Perth to order a record for me), or they may not have any stock themselves and have to wait on the label supplying them again. In your case, the Swirlies record obviously wasn't readily available to each of the 3 shops.

I know that Virgin are introducing a new customer order system where the item will be ordered in store, but sent direct from the warehouse to the customer, hopefully meaning the process becomes a lot quicker. At the same time, like other people have said, there's also the internet.

Originally Posted by grigorip

You are right that there isnt the demand in Dundee. This is partly due to the awful policies of the chain stores in the first place.

Alternatively, if the stores were to stock large numbers of obscure releases that didn't sell, they would soon choose to stop that policy when left with large numbers of unsold CDs, etc.

Originally Posted by grigorip

Even if so the record stores are not caring for their customers and they don't try hard enough to be in contact with the smaller labels and distributors. They have a lot of money and surely they could employ one person whos job it was to find the smaller distributors. This would show that they cared about music and their customers.

It is frustrating trying to get a small scale release stocked in the chains, trust me. All the same i don't agree with the statement that they don't try hard enough to be in contact with the smaller labels & distributers. I'm sure those companies try their hardest to get things stocked by the chains, but that decision rests with the head buyer at each company - oddly enough, the person whose job it is to deal with all the upcoming release.

I do think it's odd that the large chains often have more trouble sourcing releses from distributers than the independants do, but at the same time they can't sell stock they haven't received yet. This may be because most independant stores are still supplied directly by the local/regional reps for the distributers (though there are less out there than years before) while the chains have to go through the distributers warehouse. If Avalanche need a handful of CDs, it's not a hassle for the rep to drop them off with everything else as they tend to visit each shop on a very regular basis anyway.

Oh, and i work with plenty of people who love music and who are equally frustrated by the machinations of a large company. The fact that there's vinyl back in Virgin in Dundee at all is due to both the customers requesting it and the manager persuading the company to let us have it as part of our range.

Just a few points. In all honesty, i reckon people should by their records where they find them.

[grigorip]

Just a few points. In all honesty, i reckon people should by their records where they find them.

Exactly. Which brings us back to my original post. You cant actually find many decent records in Dundee. Ill give virgin a shot next time i am in dundee but to be honest I'm a bit sceptical.

The shops in Dundee haven't seemed to care about me as the individual cusomer which I resent a little. It says to me that the staff are doing their job and keeping the managers and their managers happy rather than loving music and caaring for their cusomers which, to me is a more important attitude to take. Im glad though thata you Mike have been employed by Virgin. Not only is this better job for you than working most other jobs but someone who actually cares about their music now works there and I'm sure this will be reflected in showing the care to your customers which was denied my way.

It'd be great if people coming into your shop knew you could order things. I know as a shy kid a couple of years a go I ffor one would have been scared about asking for things and I'll bet some people don't realise that you can order records in.

Scott.....PLEASE attempt to get the records from the indies directly from the label or if you can be bothered through the record shops (theres this guy in Virgin who im sure will help). It is very important as a lot of these artists and label workers work shit jobs and use lots of their money sustaining their love of music through various ways and a couple of extra quid in their pockets would be very much appreciated.= and on the most part much deserved also. Not only that but when a band sell records it shows them that all theirr effort is appreciated. Sure steal music from the majors and steal music from the bands you know are doing well.

Incidently look out for the new Findo Gask split 7" with a publicly unnamed band from Rock Action! records in Glasgow available on the independnt 2manyfireworks label. It will be available exclusively on wax disks of joy.

[Becca Bomb]

does this mean that virgin are going to supply more vinyl than about 5 or so new release 7 inches in the future? (i know there was a random selection in the old shop, but random and small it was)

edit - directed at mike

[: : Scott : :]

Originally Posted by grigorip

Scott.....PLEASE attempt to get the records from the indies directly from the label or if you can be bothered through the record shops (theres this guy in Virgin who im sure will help). It is very important as a lot of these artists and label workers work shit jobs and use lots of their money sustaining their love of music through various ways and a couple of extra quid in their pockets would be very much appreciated.= and on the most part much deserved also. Not only that but when a band sell records it shows them that all theirr effort is appreciated. Sure steal music from the majors and steal music from the bands you know are doing well.

I didn't say steal, I actually meant order.

Originally Posted by grigorip

Incidently look out for the new Findo Gask split 7" with a publicly unnamed band from Rock Action! records in Glasgow available on the independnt 2manyfireworks label. It will be available exclusively on wax disks of joy.

o rly which band is this?? is it an ambient post rock band is it is it?