Guest E.C Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 All Ages in Camden is pretty much the only independent punk record shop left in Britain and when I was in there recently, I was speaking to the owner who was saying he was starting to feel the strain more so than ever.I really think with the likes of Spotify, it's becoming easier and easier to just...not bother buying anything. It's heart-breaking, but I guess if that's the way "the future" is going, then a lot of shops will be lost in the shift.Out of interest, how does The Cavern do?! I've never heard mention of it being on the verge of closure, but any time i'm in, it's rarely busy and...it's a bit of a dive/mess in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 The Cavern is brilliant! I got Green by REM in there recently for £5. Fucking ace. You have to fairly rummage around, but I think that’s a beautiful thing. They have heaps of old blues, r ‘n’ b and soul records too.As for Spotify. I have the premium membership and use it every day, but always as a supplement to the music that I buy. It’s great for discovering new bands and genres, plus you can stream it with 3G, so I use it instead of uploading music to my I phone. I only really started collecting music properly when I left university, but now I buy CDs and records every week. I try to spend £30-£40 in OneUp each month too, as well as picking stuff up from Amazon and the likes. I’ve started buy more from indie labels and distros too. I see why Spotify is ruining the chances of music stores, but I feel I can justify using it. I do feel bad about it though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gold Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 I reckon it's impressive that they've held on this long.However, I would have chewed my good arm off for Spotify when I was a kid. Montrose didn't have a record shop, so I was looking at a train ride to Dundee or Aberdeen to go buy a vastly overpriced piece of plastic, then stuck liking it or lumping it. I can do without the Sex and the City-esque retail therapy of prancing around a record shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tam o' Shantie Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 v impressive that they have held on this long. i'd be sad to see it go as I spent endless hours/days and thousands of pounds in there over the years...not to mention close personal ties to Raymond & his family.would i be in there now if i was a 14 year old kid? probably not. everything is available on the internet, legal or otherwise. it's now pretty hard to keep track of new music. I use a soundcloud stream to do that most of the time for me. my vinyl buying habits are pretty limited these days and i have virtually no use for a cd...no cd player or optical drive on any of my computers. most of the music I play out gets sent to me for free actually, from labels/artists who i'm friendly with. the rest I usually just buy on www.boomkat.com. vinyl now pretty much limited to interesting pieces (etched, coloured, picture disc etc) and/or supporting hardworking labels who deserve it (LuckyMe, Numbers, Donky Pitch, loads of others). i'm most likely to splash out on classics that I love but don't already have LPs of, oldies/rarities that I stumble across, and the odd release from small & decent labels.i do think that unfortunately a lot of record stores simply haven't changed their strategy to keep up in any way with the music industry & the internet and there's not much we the public can do about it. the previous booming market of 14-65 year olds buying CDs just isnt there anymore. young and young-ish people just download everything. to survive record shops need to actually spend a moment of their time and think about who actually buys the stuff they can sell nowadays. if you dont specialise and cater to a small crowd then you're fucked imo. people who are into music in a big way are possibly more likely to buy vinyl than CD now. the key scenes for vinyl purchases to me, are any and all electronic/club scenes, punk/hardcore etc and indie? record shops should be specialising in this stuff. not to mention 2nd hand vinyl for the hip hop heads.look at rubadub in glasgow: go there any day of the week and find new 12"s. every time i go there i buy vinyl. not to mention a myriad of DJ and production equipment. yes, there is actually a market for this in glasgow at least. maybe aberdeen's music scene makes this irrelevant, i dont know. a lot of smaller shops also sell digital music. surely all of us would at least buy mp3s from 1up if this were possible!perhaps aberdeen needs a stronger creative scene to get things moving again. who knows 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 RBS once sent me an annual report which had a table showing the where I spent the most money with my debit card - unsurprisingly 1-Up, Oddbins and Aberdeen Football Club were top of the pile. Other than bookshops 1-Up is the only shop I enjoy visiting. Even if I have to go in to town to buy something boring like clothes or Xmas shopping I will treat myself to a visit and come home chuffed. I guess bookshops will eventually be a thing of the past with all your kindles and what not and I'll have no desire ever to go into town and will just become some sort of smelly hermit who hoards CDs and books and hates young people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 An acquaintance of mine works as a music teacher at a secondary school. He recently asked a class of 13/14 year olds if anyone had ever bought a CD. No hands went up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Ive been sitting trying to remember what the last cd i bought was, i honestly couldn't say. I dont think ive been in one up or any record shop in about 4 years now, there's just no point. I've never been one who needed to have the album as a physical thing so when it became easier to buy it online i changed to that method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 I am going to be gutted if One Up close their doors.I seem to very much be the minority nowadays, but I am just not a fan of downloading - I just much prefer having something physical for my money and am happy in the fact that the cd I buy will work equally as well on my ipod and computer after ripping them to digital (at my chosen settings too, not whatever the company deems suitable), I can take that disc downstairs and play it in the cd player there, I can stick it in the cd player of my car or hand it to a friend for a listen (or play it in their car/house). Sure most of that may be just as easy with downloads using USB drives and ipod docks, but I just prefer using cd's.I may also be something of a luddite in that I enjoy listening to albums - I want to stick on a disc and listen through it all, not just skipping back and forth between my current favourite tracks in an endless array of playlists.Do record stores have a future? Unfortunately I can't really see it as they stand, but I really do have my fingers crossed that they can diversify and remain profitable before I am forced to resort to Amazon and downloads for music... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootray Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 You can still buy stuff at HMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Ive been sitting trying to remember what the last cd i bought was, i honestly couldn't say. I dont think ive been in one up or any record shop in about 4 years now, there's just no point. I've never been one who needed to have the album as a physical thing so when it became easier to buy it online i changed to that method.I've bought tons of CDs off Amazon Marketplace because it's way cheaper than in store or downloading and I'm a skinflint. When I last went into a shop and bought a CD I have no idea.EDIT - Yeah I do. I bought two Seasick Steve albums for my dad, which he's never listened to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 I'll always stick to buying CDs for the sake of having stuff to play in the car, though I do think record shops are a thing of the past since prices are always higher than what you can buy on the internet. Still fun picking up weird stuff in the second-hand section. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'll always stick to buying CDs for the sake of having stuff to play in the car, though I do think record shops are a thing of the past since prices are always higher than what you can buy on the internet. Still fun picking up weird stuff in the second-hand section.You're assuming cars will always have CD players! There was a piece about 1-up on STV http://player.stv.tv/programmes/news-at-six-aberdeen-north-full/2012-10-15-1800/ (see around 17 mins). Captain Tom is on there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsum_Fantastic Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 You can still buy stuff at HMV.Cheaper on the internet. HMV isn't independent so I don't try as hard to buy things from there. I feel the same about Forbidden Planet for my comic needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootray Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Cheaper on the internet. HMV isn't independent so I don't try as hard to buy things from there. I feel the same about Forbidden Planet for my comic needs.Aye it was just the guy above was making out he'd never be able to buy cds ever again as soon as One Up closes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I haven't bought a CD in years and half of what I had has been sold to music magpie. The other half is sitting in storage at my mums and will be shifted some time. It's a bit of a shame considering how much I used to enjoy browsing One up and other shops and picking up loads of albums. First couple of years at uni one up was getting a huge chunk of my bursary and loan. However the way things have developed with the internet my taste in and knowledge of music has expanded in a way that I just don't think would have happened if things had stayed the same. I actually stumbled across a cool shop the other day with a great selection of vinyl. Looking through it all did make me feel a bit of nostalgia for buying a physical product. If ever get to the point where I have a large amount of disposable income I'd like to think I might invest in a record player and start building a vinyl collection. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphas Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I like having a CD collection and fully intend to keep adding to it. I generally only use iTunes as a preview and download or use Amazon if I can't get what I'm looking for in One Up. You're always likely to find a few gems or bargains by raking around on the shelves and I prefer this far more than browsing through websites. Unfortunately I'm probably in the minority who still like this and we have a generation coming through who only know about downloads, iTunes, Spotify and will continue with this as they get older.I think it is great how everyone is getting behind One Up and independent stores with the threat of them closing but with the convenience of the internet and the shift in buying behaviour it's maybe just prolonging the inevitable. I really hope they can survive in some form or another so when I'm an auld mannie I can still root around for some decent buys. If this happens I can at least look forward to teleporting down or sending a robot in to do my shopping so I guess there are some positivies to look forward to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm hoping the campaign inspires a few would be collectors who maybe don't own any cds yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 To be very harsh, the only thing that will come of this will be to save One Up for another few weeks, they have been on their arse for the past few years from what i have been told. If they had managed to get the original idea of having a recording/practise studio in there years and years ago they would have had something to fall back on, sadly they never got there.All this will do is get people into the shop for one day, no more, people just dont buy music in the same way anymore, and sadly one up have just not kept up with what the public want. I used to love the shop when i still bought CD's and actually would only buy from there, or FOPP, and i would be sad to see it go, its been a part of Aberdeen and the music scene for as long as i have and much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I have to agree that there's a massive amount of things they could be doing, but for some strange reason aren't.I heard Kilau are having some sort of problems with where they are. Get them to open up in One-up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Yes, they could be trying a number of things to stay active for as long as possible, but is it anything that other defunct record shops haven't tried in the past, and subsequently failed at? Probably not. I don't really think there is a bright idea which will make them prosper. I think it's simply a case of when, rather than if. It's a massive shame when an indie goes down, but it's almost impossible to counteract, since the internet has everything cheaper, as well as distros at gigs and bands selling their merch direct to the customer, the record shop is the expensive luxury which it would be great to have around, but difficult to sustain. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootray Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Maybe One-Up could change to internet sales? Remove the overheads. Look at potential download sales too. They've already got contacts with suppliers, etc and they could still support local bands. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Surely One-Up should've been doing online sales as well as the in-store stuff for a while now? Seems like a major opportunity lost.Banquet Records in Kingston did this and they seem to be doing okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Surely One-Up should've been doing online sales as well as the in-store stuff for a while now? Seems like a major opportunity lost. They were talking about getting a website on the go in 2000. Twelve years later they have a website but it's fucking awful and they still don't offer online sales. I believe there's a large collection of out of print stock and vinyl in the shop that would be perfect for online sales. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 They were talking about getting a website on the go in 2000. Twelve years later they have a website but it's fucking awful and they still don't offer online sales. I believe there's a large collection of out of print stock and vinyl in the shop that would be perfect for online sales.It looks like it hasn't been updated in a few years either. Check out the "History" section.One Up are still moving forwards with the music of today from the new metal sounds of Limp Biskit to Badly Drawn Boy and Cold Play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 See, as much as I love the shop and want to see it flourish, that almost angers me. Facebook pages and stv news segments are all okay. But bloody hell. It's coming to the point where most stores have a better online store than IRL. Yet one-up's answer is just "if you want us to keep going you better come in and spend money." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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