I pretty much am immune to shopping with two exceptions, books and music. Now I think I might need to clarify a bit more, it’s not the love of purchasing a new book or record per say, its the actual physical pleasure of being in a good record or bookshop I’m thinking of. Now I live in Helsinki my pleasure in bookshopping is satiated in the Academic bookshop whose interior is by Aalto and which has a great selection of books and a cafe to boot.
Record shopping here is harder, the main shop I know is Stupido. But it’s an activity seems to be dwindling because of more and more online competition. In Edinburgh I used to go to Fopp which recently went bust, although some shops have been sold back to HMV. When I lived in London there was always Berwick Street, but they are having problems too, and the FreeRecord Shop Chain in Finland is leaving (good riddance), the trend appears more and more to be to downloading music. In Amsterdam I loved Concerto with their wide selection and second hand area and Midtown Records with their recommendation boards, they seem both still to be open at least.
So I find myself, as in Architecture, sitting on the cusp of the analogue and digital age with one foot in both camps so to speak. Record listening and shopping has never been easier in the digital age and with websites like scissorkick and hypemachine its truly a fantastic world of music out there. But what happened to my love of shopping for music in a music loving environment? Will this go the way of the Dodo, with real life music shops slowly dying out? I hope that like Stupido real life record shops and online shops can compliment each other and not kill each other off.
3 Comments
Most of my employment history growing up in Milwaukee was connected to the book industry; I worked behind the counter in an independent book shop for two years, a referrence library for two more, and then in the marketing department of a local independent bookstore chain. I have always appreciated the bookstore environment, even when it is corporate (I am a sucker for the American superchain Borders even though I know this makes me a weak and terrible person…heh). There’s something very communal about it that certainly doesn’t exist in most other places of commerce — though the record store is a notable exception. (There is absolutely no sense of place in most clothing stores, for example).
There was an article about making record stores into community anchors in the latest issue of The Next American City; I think it’d be worth your time to read it. If you don’t want to buy a copy, they always publish all of their content from the previous issue free on their website once the new issue comes out.
Brendan,
Thanks for the Link, I will check it out when it comes on the net. I don’t think anywhere here in Helsinki would stock it.
Always thought that some shops really can and do anchor places and give something back to communities. Add good food shops to record and book shop list, oh and being British I couldn’t but help mention a decent pub!
Oh, of course…the thing about being from Milwaukee — the unofficial Capital of the Corner Bar (in the US) in case you’re unfamiliar — is that I tend to think of the bar/pub as less of a place of commerce and more of a cultural institution…you know, something on par with the local art museum or library.