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Chapters book store

Mostly I buy from the record clubs---gotta stretch that music dollar. Used-record stores get my business regularly, too. Only in desperation---if I can't find something I'm looking for anywhere else---will I venture into a major retailer like Tower or Virgin.

Tower Records. Nicely planned store with a large selection of jazz and new age music.

Borders Books & Music---I really enjoy the atmosphere. I have bought hard-to-find discs from Music Boulevard. The search functions come in handy. But the Internet does not have the same atmosphere as a book store for rummaging around.

I buy 90% of my music from CDnow, CD Connection, & CD Universe on the Internet. The other 10% is usually specialty music that I get direct from the labels. Out of the last 250 CDs I have purchased, maybe 5 have come from a local store.

Buying directly from labels is soooooo much better, but it is so rare to find a label together enough to manage to get you discs or LPs in less than 4 to 6 weeks! I do love knowing that no middlemen are getting their grubby paws on my music, but . . . 4 to 6 weeks?!?!

I purchase most of my new music through mail order houses because they have better selection and usually offer a discount.

Places like Berkshire are great to get older classical CDs. Places like Amazon.com and CDnow are great for hard-to-find CDs from small labels. Outside of that, $12.99 at Circuit City beats $17.99 at Tower.

Finding a diverse selection of classical music is becoming more difficult. The only retail outlet within driving distance of my home that carries more than a few bins of classical discs is Tower Records. But their prices are not very good. I refuse to pay $17 and $18 for a disc. The record companies need a reality check on their prices. And why are cassettes still so much cheaper than CDs? The retail prices have driven me more and more to online stores.

I don't buy music.

So far, for me, Amazon.com's combination of music, books, and video has been seductive.

You can find just about anything using the search engines on amazon.com. Delivery is within a few days at unbeatable prices. Why bother with anything else?

A&B Sound in British Columbia---I live in Washington State, and it takes only about 30 minutes to get to Vancouver, BC. I've heard that A&B has the cheapest CDs in North America: $10-$12 US after you've exchanged US to Canadian dollars. They're also a good hi-fi shop.

I mostly listen to Industrial music, and it is not easy to get in most stores. I go to a shop that specializes in Industrial and Gothic music.

80% of my CDs are bought used. $20 for a new CD is not reasonable.

Buying classical music is so much easier on the Web. With the catalog numbers I get from your magazine I can get any recording. Though I live just a few blocks from Tower, now I don't have to listen to alterna-teen muck.

I buy everything over the Internet now. It's cheaper and the inventory is larger.

The digerati proclaim the impending death of bricks and mortar. Regardless, browsing in a well-stocked record store remains a very satisfying experience. However, when I crave the shortest distance between desire and gratification, I shop the Internet, mostly Amazon.com.

Princeton Record Exchange. Lucky enough to live 10 minutes away from one of the best new and used record stores anywhere. I really take advantage of it. Just ask the wife!

Bop City, a new and used record and CD store.

Whatever I can't find at Tower I get through Amazon.com, especially gold CDs (which Tower stocks one at a time, apparently). Rarely, I will order from Acoustic Sounds or Elusive Disc.

I do not know how you would classify Tower Records in Shibuya, Tokyo, but they have the best selection of records in Tokyo as well as a comprehensible way of organizing the discs. Add to this that occasionally it is possible to find Stereophile in their magazine department, and maybe you can guess where I buy my records.

I use the BMG Classical Music Service for most of my classical purchases, a local specialty store (Dearborn Music) for jazz CDs and classical titles that BMG doesn't have, and Best Buy for almost everything else.

Even if they do charge a bit more than other types of music distributors, local speciality stores with atmosphere and a musically knowlegeable staff are the way to go for me. If we don't support specialty stores, even if they don't have the lowest prices, we'll lose this part of our society to "mega-bland" stores. If you're not careful, you might even make some friends in the process.

I look around in any store that sells music. Hey, you never know what you will find and where. I have found lots of goodies used, some at garage sales. The Internet for MP3s is a great source for emerging artists to show off their wares. I know the fidelity is supposed to be awful, but until you have converted them to Wave files and burned them on a CD you don't know what you're missing. They are not as bad as some of my cherished LPs. Hey, you have to admit that all formats---CD, LP, tape---have their dogs too. There is a lot of material that you would never get a chance to hear at all without the Internet. Even if it's not the greatest, after 30 years of learning to listen through snap, crackle, and pop, they aren't that bad.

As far as I know, there isn't really any other place to buy a new LP by a popular artist. There are of course several specialty internet/mail order companies that happily dispense those lovely black discs, but they seem to deal mostly in classical and jazz albums, which unfortunately I don't buy very often.

I usually buy my cd's from Blockbuster music.

I get over to my local discount chain (I question if they really discount) once a month, usually after I have reviewed TAS for some interesting selections. About 65% of my recent purchases have been through mail-order catalog. Through my son I have been exploring reissues of jazz recordings, and most of these LP selections come by catalog. My monthly budget is around $100, and I never exceed $200.

EITHER BARNES & NOBLE OR BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC.

Only two years ago, mail order was my preferential source because of my then preference for vinyl. But CD has come a long way and, frankly, I have no more room for vinyl.