Hello,
I have been promising to write about this for awhile. Previously I had blogged about death of the local, independent record store and some of the issues they face. I will now expound on why the Barnes and Noble CD section sucks. (I know it is hard to believe, but will there ever come a day when the record store will actually disappear?) First they only have a music section in a small selection of their stores. The reason I went and shopped there is because I had one of their gift cards I received recently for a prize. I had been saving it as I knew exactly what I wanted to buy. I wanted to buy the new Motley Crue "Saints of Los Angeles" CD. It was out Tuesday and I went to buy it yesterday. They did not have it in, not only that but none of their local stores have yet received their orders. I was dumbfounded, it is a significant release. Those are just two of their problems, another problem is how expensive their CD's are. Most of their CD's are damn expensive, many retailing at $16.99 and higher. That is $4 to $5 more than most any other music retailer for the exact same CD!
I understand what their strategy is, they are taking advantage of the foot traffic they have from people coming in and looking at books. They think they can charge higher prices as people are going to buy music on impulse. Their then is a higher profit margin on the music bought. So that is a good strategy only if they actually have the CD's in stock and have CD's at a higher percentage of stores. If my experience yesterday is any indication of the effectiveness of their strategy, it isn't working.
Here are more of my Top 50 artists of all-time.
38) Elton John: The 70's and 80's rocker who has had so much success due to his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin.
37) Billy Joel: John's sometime touring partner and fellow 70's and 80's rocker. Over the last several years he has turned his songwriting to writing classical music.
36) Alanis Morissette: The female singer who exploded in the mid-90's with her classic debut CD, "Jagged Little Pill". Unfortunately since then she has been unable to equal that success or artistic acheivement. These three artists would be higher on my list if some of their recent music had been better or more relevant.
35) The Rolling Stones: Their most recent CD, 2005's "A Bigger Bang" is actually a pretty good CD. Probably the best band to come out of the late 60's British Invasion.
34) Styx: Another oldies act whose best days are behind them. Although their most recent CD of original music, 2003's "Cyclorama", is very good. From that CD you need to check out the excellent song, "Together".
33) Peter Gabriel: I like his solo work a lot better than what he did with Genesis. Also he was recently named one of Time's 2008 100 Most Influential People for his work with human rights. So that is pretty cool.
32) Sarah Brightman: This may seem like an odd choice to some people. However she has one of the most incredible voices ever. If you don't believe me, check out her work in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera". What an amazing voice. She also has many great songs besides her Broadway songs.
31) The Violent Femmes: The 80's new wave/ alternative band. Their debut CD is one of the best ever. Check it out, it is self-titled.
30) Duran, Duran: Another 80's and 90's band, forgive me I am 41. They are trying to remain relevant by working with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, but it wasn't that successful.
29) The White Stripes: Here's a great band from this decade. As they continue releasing solid music they will continue to climb up this list. They and Pink are the two most recent artists on my Top 50 list.
I have figured out numbers 50-29 and my top ten. However I am having problems filling in the middle of the list. The rest of the Top 50 list will be out soon.
Tidbits: CD of the day: "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"- Lauryn Hill. What an amazing CD. Definitely check out the songs, "Lost Ones", "To Zion" (written for her son), and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". Band of the Day: Five Eight. This is an Atlanta based band which was introduced to me by my brother. I am not sure if they are even together anymore. However they have some great songs, seek out "Criminal", "Guitar" and "Magnetic Fields". All three of those songs come from their circa 2003self-titled CD.
Here's some more free music for you from the band Crimea. They are giving away their debut CD, the MP3 version obviously, at thecrimea.net. I haven't listened to it, but I will usually give any free music a shot. I will give you a review of their CD soon. Another band I will be checking out is a duo who are called The Rosebuds. They have a pretty interesting sound from what I have read about them. In addition, I would like to welcome Michaela McManus to the cast of "Law & Order: SVU".
Have a great day, I'll be back Saturday, the musicaddict.
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