Are record shops worth saving? (Part 2)
Last week, I offered five reasons record stores are worth saving from extinction. As someone who's spent plenty of time on both sides of the music retail counter, I believe that the world still needs record stores; however, I also have a laundry list of record-store failures.Many record stores are going out of business for perfectly good reasons that have little to do with iTunes or Amazon. In general, the brick-and-mortar music retail experience is antique and frustrating, and when it's bad, it's enough to make you swear off record shops for good. Consider my complaints below, and then click over to part three to learn what strategies record stores could take to stay relevant and vital.Just because a store doesn't sell MP3s doesn't mean it can't innovate in the music retail space. These seven trivial brick-and-mortar aggravations keep me from coming back.Music classificationIt's not always easy or intuitive figuring out how my favorite band is classified in a given store. Does DJ Shadow live in hip-hop or electronic? Why is Gorillaz filed under indie rock? I wonder where they put Willie Nelson's one-off reggae album? Shopping for music online doesn't require you to be an amateur musicologist; just key in the name of your favorite band and break out the credit card. WaitingI'll admit that the instant-gratification of the download era has made me less patient. Waiting in lines just to flip through CD bins or make a purchase can feel intolerable compared with online shopping. If I'm waiting at the back of a long line with just one CD in my hand, I'm likely to just toss it aside and make a note to myself to download it when I get back home. In fact, anyone with an iPhone could probably download the album on the walk back to the car.Bin card discriminationSometimes I feel personally dissed when an artist I love doesn't have his or her own proper card in the CD bin. What kind of world do we live in where Squarepusher's dozen albums are loosely filed under S and Miley Cyrus gets her own roped-off section? Online, there are no second-class seats.Getting helpWhen I have to ask for help in a store, I feel like a failure as a consumer. In the best-case scenario, a nice employee is immediately available to help, plucking the album I'm looking for from thin air. In most cases, however, I have to wait on a clerk who's only there to inform me that they're out of stock. Either way, I risk the emotional scars of having the store's resident Suicide Girl wince at my musical choices. By contrast, searching through Amazon or iTunes is swift, anonymous, and they never run out of stock.Album onlyFor the most part, music stores sell albums, not singles--too bad, since most people are now accustomed to cherry-picking songs and paying for just the music they want. Music retail's unspoken answer to this dilemma is to buy back the CD as "used" after you've ripped the tracks you want, but returning CDs is a hassle, and you can never be sure how much money you'll get back.Music previewsI remember how revolutionary it seemed when record stores introduced listening stations that let you preview a handful of new releases. Unfortunately, more often than not, these listening stations were stocked with major label pabulum I was already hearing on the radio. The albums I really wanted to preview never got the listening station treatment. The idea of picking a CD out of a bin and not being able to instantly sample the music seems like an incredible leap of faith these days. On the Web, every song has at least a 30-second preview, and a service like Lala will even give you full-song and -album previews. Whether your music store is download-only or brick and mortar, customers now expect everything to be in stock--even Zappa.WikipediaSelectionThere's no way for mom-and-pop shops to match iTunes' always-open, always-in-stock catalog of over 10 million songs. Some may try (including California's Amoeba Records), but even the best shops are subject to the frailties of a physical supply chain and the constraint of shelf space.In their defense, these stores often face the impossible task of trying to satisfy both mainstream and niche listening habits. One minute you're being scolded for running out of a Josh Groban CD the neighborhood Starbucks is selling for a dollar less, and the next minute, a long-time customer is silently walking out of the store, deeply disappointed that you don't have Frank Zappa's "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" on vinyl.A recipe for survivalI'm sure there are dozens of other complaints to be leveled against music retail establishments (be sure to add your own in the comments section), but in spite of its flaws, I can't bear the thought of a world where record stores are nothing more than an antique curiosity.In the next--and final--chapter of this series, I'll do my best to outline some strategies that may keep these shops relevant in the download era.(Continue to Part 3.)
No movable feast for portable TV
No movable feast for portable TV
It was not long, though, before a new crop of digital televisions rose to take their place. Hailing from lesser-known companies such as Evizen, Viore, and Eviant and often touting 7-inch displays, these TVs can tap into a slightly wider array of free over-the-air broadcasts just like home TVs receiving over-the-air signals. Consumers have embraced these inexpensive sets that regularly sell for less than $100. According to NPD's Retail Tracking Service, sales of digital TVs with 7-inch screens have grown more than sevenfold in the past year.There's a catch, though. The ATSC standard that these TVs use was not designed to support products in motion such as rear-seat video systems, digital music players, and cell phones. Moving these small sets just a bit can disrupt their reception. Though the TVs may continue to work indefinitely, their technology may be a practical dead end. Beginning later this year, local broadcast stations will begin testing a new version of the ATSC digital broadcasting standard that can work with mobile devices. Unlike the FLO TV Personal TV that debuted earlier this year, the stations will be free to view, supported by ads. However, just like the regular broadcast system, it won't include content from cable networks such as ESPN, MTV, Bravo, and Fox News Channel. Some of these networks are available on FLO TV.Tivizen's iPhone appValupsBut those who have bought the stationary portable sets shouldn't feel too much buyer's remorse. The new mobile digital broadcasts probably won't be available nationally until sometime in 2011. Products are being held up as broadcasters work with the FCC to ensure that the new standard complies with regulations, including a few that were clearly written without mobile digital television in mind.Unlike at the dawn of the Watchman, there are now a host of portable screens consumers have embraced in the millions, including notebook PC, portable DVD players, portable navigation devices, portable media players and, of course, cell phones. However, free mobile broadcasts may be slower to come to cell phones because carriers would rather have customers pay for live TV via a subscription service such as FLO TV or MobiTV.One of the most novel ideas around mobile DTV is a product called Tivizen. The small receiver can send free over-the-air DTV to practically any product that supports Wi-Fi and which can download a dedicated app. In fact, the Tivizen app for iPhone is already available in Apple's iTunes app store, but the hardware is not yet available due to some last-minute regulatory concerns. Ironically, though, while this new age of over-the-air mobile DTV may be accessible to do-it-all notebooks and cell phones, there seems to be little interest in producing a dedicated portable TV device. What was once a lack of demand for diminutive displays has been replaced by oversupply.
It was not long, though, before a new crop of digital televisions rose to take their place. Hailing from lesser-known companies such as Evizen, Viore, and Eviant and often touting 7-inch displays, these TVs can tap into a slightly wider array of free over-the-air broadcasts just like home TVs receiving over-the-air signals. Consumers have embraced these inexpensive sets that regularly sell for less than $100. According to NPD's Retail Tracking Service, sales of digital TVs with 7-inch screens have grown more than sevenfold in the past year.There's a catch, though. The ATSC standard that these TVs use was not designed to support products in motion such as rear-seat video systems, digital music players, and cell phones. Moving these small sets just a bit can disrupt their reception. Though the TVs may continue to work indefinitely, their technology may be a practical dead end. Beginning later this year, local broadcast stations will begin testing a new version of the ATSC digital broadcasting standard that can work with mobile devices. Unlike the FLO TV Personal TV that debuted earlier this year, the stations will be free to view, supported by ads. However, just like the regular broadcast system, it won't include content from cable networks such as ESPN, MTV, Bravo, and Fox News Channel. Some of these networks are available on FLO TV.Tivizen's iPhone appValupsBut those who have bought the stationary portable sets shouldn't feel too much buyer's remorse. The new mobile digital broadcasts probably won't be available nationally until sometime in 2011. Products are being held up as broadcasters work with the FCC to ensure that the new standard complies with regulations, including a few that were clearly written without mobile digital television in mind.Unlike at the dawn of the Watchman, there are now a host of portable screens consumers have embraced in the millions, including notebook PC, portable DVD players, portable navigation devices, portable media players and, of course, cell phones. However, free mobile broadcasts may be slower to come to cell phones because carriers would rather have customers pay for live TV via a subscription service such as FLO TV or MobiTV.One of the most novel ideas around mobile DTV is a product called Tivizen. The small receiver can send free over-the-air DTV to practically any product that supports Wi-Fi and which can download a dedicated app. In fact, the Tivizen app for iPhone is already available in Apple's iTunes app store, but the hardware is not yet available due to some last-minute regulatory concerns. Ironically, though, while this new age of over-the-air mobile DTV may be accessible to do-it-all notebooks and cell phones, there seems to be little interest in producing a dedicated portable TV device. What was once a lack of demand for diminutive displays has been replaced by oversupply.
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