Spintricity - Buying Used Music

Buying Used Music - Locally Used music is everywhere! You might laugh, but I have been in antique stores and antique malls where there is a fair amount of used vinyl, a box of CDs, and sometimes reel-to-reel tapes for your enjoyment. How about a thrift store? How about your local Goodwill store? Whether vinyl or CD, your choices are limitless. While cassette and 8 track tapes are still out there if you look, who cares? These formats should really be dead by now....... but that's been said about vinyl once or twice. To keep it simple, I will break down this discussion into two basic categories, buying locally or buying over the Internet. I will address in this article, buying used music locally.

Buying used locally requires you to find stores who do a good job of buying and displaying the used product. Many of the independent stores listed from the previous article also carry used media and have it reasonably to high priced. Their model usually includes used music as a secondary product and they only tend to buy the obvious big acts based on total sales volume across the world. Stores that specialize in used media and offer some new as their secondary product line tend to do a better job of buying a mix of music, tend to have lower prices, and will often look for specific music that you request and let you know when they get it in.

New Music Stores That Carry Used
Since I live in the Denver area, I'll use some local stores as examples. Barnes & Noble, Borders, Virgin, Target, Circuit City, and Best Buy don't carry any used product. They specialize in new product and sometimes at great prices. It is the independent music store that often supports both new and used product where some treasures may be buried in the bins for you to find.

If we look at the local independent music stores we find they have a reasonably deep mix of music and musical styles to chose from. If a store carries approximately 50% new then I refer to them as a new store. Examples include Twist & Shout and Independent Records. My perception is that they carry more new than used although both have a pretty excellent selection of used product. These stores can have a fun and exciting vibe due to the eclectic mix of music, new/used product, diverse staff, and musical paraphernalia. Ironically, these two stores are only a mile apart and provide the most bang for the buck from a shopping experience.

With the recent re-master of Dead Can Dance albums on SACD, I decided to make a run around town to see if I had any luck. I had found the 8 SACD set on line but prefer to support my local dealers if possible. I have to admit that I wasn't confident I could find these SACDs locally or at a price that was reasonable. How wrong I was! Independent Records on Colfax had all 8 of the SACDs and at a very competitive price. I was thrilled that I could buy locally and still get a good price. I also took the opportunity to dig through many of their used bins and found a couple of world CDs and a few soundtracks my son had been looking for. I ended up spending about $250 dollars that day but the high from the experience left me to really enjoy the remastered music.

Used Music Stores That Specialize in Used
We seem to have a broader mix of used stores that really specialize in used CDs/DVDs. Three of my favorites are Second Spin (not just Denver), Angelo's, and Cheapo Discs. All have a very large selection of used product at generally good prices. None specialize in a particular music genre but really cover the gambit. I have shopped at these stores for years and found some special gems.

We also have some used stores that focus their mix of products to more specific genres. They may carry a handful of classical or blues but the vast majority of their product mix is centered around rock, heavy metal, or dance/electronic as an example. These stores include Wax Trax, Black & Read, Jerry's Record Exchange, and Album on the Hill in Boulder.

A good example of this specialized approach would be The Anime Store. They carry mostly DVDs but have about a thousand anime CDs/soundtracks. This is a very specialized music genre of mostly Japanese origin. Some of this music is very lovely and ethereal with unique theme development that doesn't follow the Western approach to composing music. Maybe it is this unfamiliar approach to the musical structure and the unusual vocals which entice some people. This store draws in a unique crowd of passionate music and movie lovers. The vibe in this store is one of excitement and love of this genre. You might want to check it out for something really different and new. Who knows, you might gain an interest and discover some new and exciting people to learn from.

Each of these used stores offer good, if sometimes eclectic mix of product and is well worth checking out. Used stores are a different buying experience from new. They cause you to dig deeper into a genre and explore the middle or bottom of it. This approach can turn up some astounding finds of new artists and sub-genre styles. The people give each store a certain ethos that can be fun and entertaining to explore. The buying experience is a mix of many variables that ultimately culminates in a piece of music in your hand to explore. I have found over the years the used store buying experience is more fun, energetic, and positive than buying new product. Just my experience, your mileage may vary.

Good Exploring & Listening!
Brian
Pre-played Media Previously Owned Music 2nd-hand Discs Recycled Tunes by Brian Boehler

Spintricity

4/2009

Buying Used Music - Locally

Used music is

everywhere! You might

laugh, but I have been in

antique stores and

antique malls where there

is a fair amount of used

vinyl, a box of CDs, and

sometimes reel-to-reel

tapes for your enjoyment.

How about a thrift store?

How about your local

Goodwill store? Whether

vinyl or CD, your choices

are limitless. While

cassette and 8 track tapes

are still out there if you

look, who cares? These

formats should really be

dead by now....... but

that's been said about

vinyl once or twice. To

keep it simple, I will

break down this

discussion into two basic

categories, buying locally

or buying over the

Internet. I will address in

this article, buying used

music locally.

Buying used locally

requires you to find stores

who do a good job of

buying and displaying the

used product. Many of the

independent stores listed

from the previous article

also carry used media and

have it reasonably to high

priced. Their model

usually includes used

music as a secondary

product and they only

tend to buy the obvious

big acts based on total

sales volume across the

world. Stores that

specialize in used media

and offer some new as

their secondary product

line tend to do a better

job of buying a mix of

Pre-played Media

Previously Owned Music

2nd-hand Discs

Recycled Tunes

by Brian Boehler

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