Something for everyone
We made a rare journey to the Music Millennium store this afternoon -- there to pick up this, this, and this. With our six-year-old assistant in tow, we saw the store with new eyes, noticing how much merchandise they have in there that has nothing to do with music. You want wind-up sushi toys? No problem. Eyeball bandages? They're on it. How about a corn dog air freshener, or some of that Violet scented candy we used to use to try to disguise the various no-no's on our breath? Whatever it takes to keep a music place alive, we're for it.
| Posted at 7:24 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (7)
I only hope they don't go too far. It's like watching the number of bookstores and comic shops that follow that path, and rapidly find out they drive off their core customers and discover the potential new customers will still go to Wal-Mart.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | October 18, 2009 11:36 PM
Perhaps the problem is that too few people buy CDs any more, much less in person.
Posted by Jack Bog | October 19, 2009 12:09 AM
The MM I remember from my wasted days of youth was full of bins full of 12 inch LPs but also leather goods, roach clips, incense, patchouli oil, and Grateful Dead shirts. (damn...I'm starting to sound like Stumpy here). But I think you may be right Jack; it's easier to download.
Posted by Jim | October 19, 2009 2:12 AM
I was in MM last month for the first time in a few years. I was looking for some relatively obscure tracks to complete a mix CD I was putting together.
I found everything I was looking for, had three $16.99 CDs in my hand and was heading for the register when I remembered I could buy all of the songs I really wanted online for a total of $2.97.
When I was younger I had no problem spending an entire paycheck on music, but $2.97 versus $50.97 is a no-brainer.
Owning a music store is the modern equivalent of owning a business in a community that gets bypassed by construction of an interstate highway.
Posted by none | October 19, 2009 7:54 AM
You've said it yourself: "We made a rare journey to the Music Millennium store this afternoon...."
If you cannot make the journey, shop the shop online.
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | October 19, 2009 7:55 AM
Hey Jim!
I'm not sure who the "Stumpy" you're referring to is, but that was my camp name as a counselor at Outdoor School back in the early seventies. And your comments DO sound like something I would say! (I know you're not referring to me.)
My friend's brother was the manager and in-residence artist at Music Millenium in the 70's, responsible for all the great graphic promotions for them at the time. (I still have some of them, somewhere.) After school - Central Catholic, of course - we'd head up to the Mellenium, flip thru the vinyl in the wooden bins, head upstairs to the "head shop," then later go next door to "The Third Eye" for a look at additional fun stuff and posters. They had a great black light room, and in those days some of the posters were better than a fold-out... Needless to say, my friend had one of the most extensive collections of LPs imaginable, including many European imports with much higher quality vinyl than we were getting in the U.S.
In those days, of course, most albums were put together to be listened to as a whole. Few people I knew bought single 45s. Now the paradigm is changed, but most of the music I like to listen to is still worth buying in CD format. I like to hear other works of the artist I might otherwise miss. An online sample does not tell the whole story. And CD standard, 16 bit, 44.1k, sampling may not be very good itself, but it sure beats .mp3s at any kbps rate.
Long live Music Millenium.
Posted by PDX Lifer | October 19, 2009 10:42 AM
If you can't go there, go here:
http://www.buymusichere.net/stores/musicmillennium/
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | October 19, 2009 12:21 PM