J & R stops selling CD's altogether, even online.

[Chalkperson]

In a move that would have brought a smile to Ebenizer Scrooge's face, the management at J & R took all the Music Division sales staff and their managers who were all herded into a conference room.

They were simply told that today was their last day, and they were to be laid off and to leave immediately.

Why they did this now, just before Xmas is not known, my friend Jeffrey has run the classical department for nearly 20 years, now they have thrown him on the scrap heap.

So that's all the large record shops gone from Manhattan, a couple of specialist ones remain open.

Amazon and iTunes are now the new and only norm for New Yorkers...

[jbuck919]

In a move that would have brought a smile to Ebenizer Scrooge's face, the management at J & R took all the Music Division sales staff and their managers who were all herded into a conference room.

They were simply told that today was their last day, and they were to be laid off and to leave immediately.

Why they did this now, just before Xmas is not known, my friend Jeffrey has run the classical department for nearly 20 years, now they have thrown him on the scrap heap.

So that's all the large record shops gone from Manhattan, a couple of specialist ones remain open.

Amazon and iTunes are now the new and only norm for New Yorkers...

Wouldn't you think that they would wait until afterwards purely on the basis of getting a last boost out of holiday sales?

Also makes me think of Ralph, whose favorite meet-up place was Tower Records at Lincoln Center before it closed. No general retail outlets for classical CDs in the entire City of New York? Happy heaven-help-us New Year.

[Chalkperson]

In a move that would have brought a smile to Ebenizer Scrooge's face, the management at J & R took all the Music Division sales staff and their managers who were all herded into a conference room.

They were simply told that today was their last day, and they were to be laid off and to leave immediately.

Why they did this now, just before Xmas is not known, my friend Jeffrey has run the classical department for nearly 20 years, now they have thrown him on the scrap heap.

So that's all the large record shops gone from Manhattan, a couple of specialist ones remain open.

Amazon and iTunes are now the new and only norm for New Yorkers...

Wouldn't you think that they would wait until afterwards purely on the basis of getting a last boost out of holiday sales?

Also makes me think of Ralph, whose favorite meet-up place was Tower Records at Lincoln Center before it closed. No general retail outlets for classical CDs in the entire City of New York? Happy heaven-help-us New Year.

It only leaves them with Electronics and Computers, they now have two empty floors, they already closed the four other stores on the block, the end is nigh I think. Except mail order of course.

[Len_Z]

I wonder what they'll do with the remaining stock. Just return it to their suppliers? Isn't there a limit on how much they are allowed to return?

Some kind of a close-out sale would be a token consolation for us, poor New-Yorkers who now don't have a single music store within subway reach

[lennygoran]

In a move that would have brought a smile to Ebenizer Scrooge's face, the management at J & R took all the Music Division sales staff and their managers who were all herded into a conference room.

How sad--now I'm sorry that we didn't stop by the store after visiting you. Regards, Len

[Harold Tucker]

I was in the store a few years back when one of the owners tore into some poor employee up in the classical department. It was a tirade that would make old Scrooge feel downright inadequate. I felt so bad for him that I had to take the subway up to Tower to buy something that would make me feel better.

[RebLem]

I wonder what they'll do with the remaining stock. Just return it to their suppliers? Isn't there a limit on how much they are allowed to return?

Some kind of a close-out sale would be a token consolation for us, poor New-Yorkers who now don't have a single music store within subway reach

This is what Berkshire Record Outlet is for.

[Febnyc]

I have been a customer of J&R since they opened in 1971 (?).

Originally they had one store on Park Row in downtown Manhattan. There were three floors in this place: in the basement were the opera recordings (first LPs and, then when they came into being, CDs) and this department was managed by Kenn Harris (author of some books about opera). The main (street) floor contained the "bargain labels" and the cashier. Up one flight were all the non-vocal items and boy! did they have a far-ranging inventory. Nothing came close - until, of course, Tower opened its gigantic stores on lower Broadway and, later, near Lincoln Center.

J&R grew like the proverbial Topsy - eventually taking over all the storefronts (about 8 of them) along Park Row. One small shop - an overflowing and Minotaurian-maze-like hardware store - kept their lease and remained in business in spite of J&R's grasp.

But over the past few years the classical CD department has suffered - regularly being relocated and, just as regularly, being condensed. Finally, it occupied a small area on the top floor of the main J&R building (into which, in the past year, all the individual store fronts have been consolidated).

A week ago I made my bi-monthly visit. The CD bins were half empty. I asked Jeff when he expected to re-stock. His answer froze me - he said there were no plans to do so and that they probably would dispose of the classical CDs. Well, as we see - more than just classical has been dumped. I was stunned - but not surprised.

An end of an era in Manhattan. The last place, really, to browse through discs and actually see and touch them.

And so we are relegated to the internet to find the new releases. Fortunately, there still are enterprising labels remaining solvent (Hyperion, Timpani, CPO, Naxos, and others) which are finding new and interesting repertoire. But no more "up close and personal" with this stuff - now it's point and click (either on the label's site or from retailers such as JPC, MDT, ImportCDs, Presto Classics, Records International and such).

But - for how long will the CD format itself survive?

[lennygoran]

But - for how long will the CD format itself survive?

I'm so far behind --what would take the place of CD's? Regards, Len

[stenka razin]

Klaus Heymann, the owner of Naxos has stated that he expects the CD to be about 25% of his business by 2018. He expects that MP3, FLACS, etc. will make up most of his companies business plus his subscription service where he makes all of his Naxos material available for a monthly charge.


Regards,
Mel

[lennygoran]

He expects that MP3, FLACS, etc. will make up most of his companies business plus his subscription service where he makes all of his Naxos material available for a monthly charge.

Mel so does that mean you have to download it to your computer and then burn it to a CD? Regards, Len

[Chalkperson]

He expects that MP3, FLACS, etc. will make up most of his companies business plus his subscription service where he makes all of his Naxos material available for a monthly charge.

Mel so does that mean you have to download it to your computer and then burn it to a CD? Regards, Len

If you don't want to stream the music from your computer you can rip your own discs.

[lennygoran]

If you don't want to stream the music from your computer you can rip your own discs.

Ah thanks--our computers are upstairs and I do most of my music listening downstairs--we recently got a new Vizio 50 inch TV and I see there are directions for hooking it up to a computer--maybe some day I'll give that a try. The remote control for the TV has buttons that say Amazon, Netflix and M-Go. Regards, Len

[karlhenning]

Still, 25% of your business is not "the CD is dead."

Cheers,
~Karl

[stenka razin]

Still, 25% of your business is not "the CD is dead."

Cheers,
~Karl

Karl, you are right, but, it means that the CD as we know it may be just about be over by 2018....sadly, my friend.
Can you imagine what will be offered to us? More Beethoven for Babies or Brahms for Lovers?


Regards,
Mel

[Chalkperson]

If you don't want to stream the music from your computer you can rip your own discs.

Ah thanks--our computers are upstairs and I do most of my music listening downstairs--we recently got a new Vizio 50 inch TV and I see there are directions for hooking it up to a computer--maybe some day I'll give that a try. The remote control for the TV has buttons that say Amazon, Netflix and M-Go. Regards, Len

You may only need to set it up with your. Network...maybe...

[lennygoran]

You may only need to set it up with your. Network...maybe...

Interesting--I'll call Comcast and see what they say? Regards, Len

[Lance]

Another one bites the dust. Unless you live in a city such as NY, most of us veteran collectors have resorted to online buying. Few young collectors I know download their music. Not me! I want the real thing I'm glad i have the collection I have, believe me. I am seriously thinking of selling off my huge LP collection, no cherry-picking ... one price will take it all. Any CMG offers.

[Chalkperson]

Another one bites the dust. Unless you live in a city such as NY, most of us veteran collectors have resorted to online buying. Few young collectors I know download their music. Not me! I want the real thing I'm glad i have the collection I have, believe me. I am seriously thinking of selling off my huge LP collection, no cherry-picking ... one price will take it all. Any CMG offers.

I'm selling off my CD collection if anybody is interested too...maybe even my SACD stuff...

[absinthe]

Interesting, this about CDs. They may rot and the format may die but LPs are making a resurgence. It miffs me to see LPs I gave away 20 years ago now fetching £25 and up. I don't have many CDs (compared with most members here) but I'll hang on to them until the price goes up or they rot! I don't know of any sizeable retail outlets for new recorded music in the uk.

[Chalkperson]

Last Thursday J and R fired the Vice President in charge of Music. Then on Friday they stopped selling music altogether, removing CD's from their online store as well.

I'm not so sure this is because the music business is in trouble, I think it's more likely to be J and R doing anything they can to shore up their business and stay alive.

Their future does not look good, Amazon has not only put the little stores out of business, now the big ones are starting to follow suit.

[some guy]

I thought we'd done this before here. Maybe not.

The CD and the LP are two storage mediums.

But so is the computer.

My entire CD collection will fit on a three terabyte external hard drive, with room to spare.

The hard drive doesn't change size as I add files to it. Its weight remains the same as well.

No more heavy boxes of things to pack around. Just one little, light box. (Well, two, actually. Computers are not as stable as CDs or LPs. They can lose their information more easily. Still two little boxes as opposed to dozens of large, heavy ones. It's perfect.

Downloads are easy, too. Sign up for a fee or pay per download. Some sites offer free downloads as well, or give you the option to pay whatever you like. (I usually pay 15 dollars per download at sites like that. Hey, if they can be generous, so can I!)

And no matter how much music you acquire that way, your drives stay the same size and the same weight.

Delightful!!

Now if only reading books were not such a sensual experience....

[Chalkperson]

I thought we'd done this before here. Maybe not.

The CD and the LP are two storage mediums.

But so is the computer.

My entire CD collection will fit on a three terabyte external hard drive, with room to spare.

The hard drive doesn't change size as I add files to it. Its weight remains the same as well.

No more heavy boxes of things to pack around. Just one little, light box. (Well, two, actually. Computers are not as stable as CDs or LPs. They can lose their information more easily. Still two little boxes as opposed to dozens of large, heavy ones. It's perfect.

Downloads are easy, too. Sign up for a fee or pay per download. Some sites offer free downloads as well, or give you the option to pay whatever you like. (I usually pay 15 dollars per download at sites like that. Hey, if they can be generous, so can I!)

And no matter how much music you acquire that way, your drives stay the same size and the same weight.

Delightful!!

Now if only reading books were not such a sensual experience....

Nearly Five years ago I posted a thread here saying that I could fit my entire CD collection, about 12,000 CD's into a shoebox.

That was using 500GB drives, now I use 3TB drives. 18,000 CD's ripped in lossless format takes up a 6x9x6 inch area.

I even download DSD and 24/192 Audio Files, so this means I don't even buy SACD's any more.

I only started this Thread for the collectors here. Those who collect little plastic cases with music inside.