Skeezix
Senior Member
Sunrise is actually expanding, but all outside of Toronto.
See:
Sunrise Records is somehow expanding within Canada
See:
Sunrise Records is somehow expanding within Canada
|
|
|
gabe
Senior Member
HMV ain't what it used to be, music takes up a small section of the store. The rest of the store is filled with books, dvds, clothing and novelty items.
Bruno Republic
Active Member
I think HMV stands for "Has Mostly Videos" now.
Towered
Superstar
I was in the store today and I say almost half of it was made up of CD's. I was stunned by the anachronistic nature of it.
Skeezix
Senior Member
Yeah, I haven't bought a CD in years, but according to the stats for last year, of the 27.8 million albums sold in this country, 16.5 million were on CD, 10.9 million were digital sales, and 400,000 were LPs. Lots of Canadians, presumably older, buying CDs. Suprisingly.
Bayer
Senior Member
Not that surprisingly; lots of "older" Canadians have a sound system that benefits from higher quality source material.
James
Senior Member
I'm curious if retailers like HMV actually have a viable long term business plan. It would be a shame to fall into the complacency trap, a la Blockbuster.
I can still see DVD TV series boxed sets being popular as collection items or gifts. I can see movie memorabilia doing ok. Books or biographies related to music and movies will probably do ok. Not sure what else...I am surprised by the volume of CDs still being sold and while it is still a sizeable chunk, I don't see that market growing in the future. With the likelihood of CD sales gradually diminishing, I sure hope these businesses have a turnaround plan in place.
I can still see DVD TV series boxed sets being popular as collection items or gifts. I can see movie memorabilia doing ok. Books or biographies related to music and movies will probably do ok. Not sure what else...I am surprised by the volume of CDs still being sold and while it is still a sizeable chunk, I don't see that market growing in the future. With the likelihood of CD sales gradually diminishing, I sure hope these businesses have a turnaround plan in place.
junctionist
Senior Member
CDs deliver the best sound quality. It's impossible to improve on the sound quality of CDs--your ears couldn't tell the difference. Album art is also best appreciated when you hold it in your hands. With that said, I have an iPhone and Bluetooth in the car, so I no longer listen to CDs. The convenience of digital files is unparalleled, and I like tracking song play counts in iTunes to see which artists and songs I listen to the most often.
GKW
Active Member
the lemur
Senior Member
If I buy music in a store these days it's because I want it as a physical medium for some reason or it's not available from iTunes. I'd mostly like go to Soundscapes or Rotate.
There was a transitional period where I was buying CDs online from places like Dusty Groove because there was no way they were going to turn up in a store here and I wasn't about to spend time looking.
Before that, I went pretty regularly to HMV and Sam's, although physically finding things at Sam's was sometimes a challenge. I also liked a place whose name was just The CD Bar, a little south of HMV on Yonge, which had a lot of imports and you could listen to stuff. It eventually moved to Queen & Spadina. It seems to be a nail salon now.
I also liked Tower for the couple of years it was there. The prices weren't any better than HMV but you could sometimes find some good stuff in the bargain bin or else take advantage of their inconsistent pricing: I remember seeing two copies of the same thing with wildly different prices, just because one happened to be a different pressing with different distribution. They also seemed to get some things in before the other chains, possibly because they were going by the US release schedule, I don't know.
There was a transitional period where I was buying CDs online from places like Dusty Groove because there was no way they were going to turn up in a store here and I wasn't about to spend time looking.
Before that, I went pretty regularly to HMV and Sam's, although physically finding things at Sam's was sometimes a challenge. I also liked a place whose name was just The CD Bar, a little south of HMV on Yonge, which had a lot of imports and you could listen to stuff. It eventually moved to Queen & Spadina. It seems to be a nail salon now.
I also liked Tower for the couple of years it was there. The prices weren't any better than HMV but you could sometimes find some good stuff in the bargain bin or else take advantage of their inconsistent pricing: I remember seeing two copies of the same thing with wildly different prices, just because one happened to be a different pressing with different distribution. They also seemed to get some things in before the other chains, possibly because they were going by the US release schedule, I don't know.
JasonParis
Moderator
I believe the CD Bar became Republic Records when it moved to Queen/Spadina. Fond memories of that place whereby I'd circle items in the NME and get them to order them. Two weeks later... voila!
the lemur
Senior Member
Republic! That's right. Was there still that English guy running the place at that point?
JasonParis
Moderator
Yes! And Davy Love (of Blow Up and the new Old Laurel Pub fame).
Bruno Republic
Active Member
Not really. The CD Bar didn't move from the Yonge/Dundas spot; it went under. By the time the owner had a winning formula, he was so deep in debt that he couldn't pull the business out of the red. A former staff member at the CD Bar started Republic, but the owner of the CD Bar had nothing to do with it.
the lemur
Senior Member
Interesting, thanks. I thought the owner had moved the business or I guess more accurately that he was working at Republic initially. Do you remember his name or what he did after the CD Bar closed down?