Oh! Conversations!

It’s time I got a little down and dirty.

I grilled the owner of a record store in Philadelphia. He was pretty candid, sort of didn’t want me to mention his name, although I doubt anyone is actually going to read this.

But I’ll be a good little Woodward nonetheless and protect my source!

I can say that he owns a record shop in the greater South Street area, the yuppie, faux porn-center of the city.

Now onward.

First off, how’s business?

Business is bad. People aren’t buying music anymore, at least not the way they used to be. I’m pretty much a laptop and a heap of ambition away from starting my own iTunes.

Wow. Is music going in a bad direction?

I don’t know if it’s the music. I mean, I hear people all the time bitching about there not being any more good bands around. That’s bullshit. I love a lot of the new music that’s being made, I just don’t like dropping 15 bucks for a CD anymore. I think we’re all just spoiled. It’s become so easy to cough up 99 cents, or whatever they’re charging now, that the concept of buying an album, priced at more than ten dollars seems insane.

Is the digital single killing the music industry?

Ha, I don’t know about killing. How about beating violently? Think of it this way: the album is more than just a nifty collection of songs slapped together by an artist. Those songs are ordered a certain way, they’re picked for certain reasons. You download one song, two songs by an artist, you’re not getting the full vision. It’s just lazy listening, really.

I know that it’s been hard on the major retailers, the Best Buys and Targets, but what’s the climate like for the independents?

I have my customers, you know what I’m saying? I have the people that are coming in to look for some obscure shit they can’t find at the local Wal-mart, which is why I can survive in this business. Let’s face it, I’m a niche. But that’s cool, stores like mine have always been on the outside looking in, and that’s the way I like it. I’d love to sell a million fucking copies of John Mayer or whatever, but that doesn’t always work out.

What are the big bands going right now?

Honestly, just check out the college radio charts and you can get a good feel for what my customers are buying. Radiohead has been a smash, even though they moved so many copies (of In Rainbows) online. Vampire Weekend is hard to keep on the shelves. Stuff like that.

Is your store around in 10 years?

God, I hope so... Otherwise, I'd be in a bit of a jam. Really though, yeah, I can't imagine the music industry without stores like this. We're very much a part of the equation.