Los Angeles RECORD STORES Recommendations Needed

[Jazz Vinyl]

Going to L.A. later this month. Can someone body a record store short list for jazz vinyl.

Ambeoa, Atomic, Record Surplus...good stops?

Big Thanks!

[Adam]

Yes, those are three.

There are 2 or 3 on Pico in West LA (by Barrington) but I always have trouble with the names - Record Trader? Is Record Surplus one of them?

How is Rhino's vinyl these days? They are on Westwood in West LA, and it woudl be easy to go by them and the stores on Pico.

And you should go by Aron's when you go to Amoeba.

I'm sure there are many more, but I'm not a vinyl hound.

Adam

Going to L.A. later this month. Can someone body a record store short list for jazz vinyl.

Ambeoa, Atomic, Record Surplus...good stops?

Big Thanks!

←

[Tjazz]

Rhino Records has gone downhill. Just about gone. (don't waste your time)

Record Surplus (Pico /Barringto) very good.

House of Records is on Pico too, but I'd pass. Too expensive and messy. Not much selection.

1) Amoeba

2) Record Surplus

Arons has a website.

[Jazz Kat]

Ameoba on Sunset Blvd. is awesome! You want lp's? They got it! cd's? They got it! tapes? they got it? new? they got it! used? they got it! vhs concert performaces? they got it! Posters? They got it! 45s? they got it! A seperate room for jazz/blues/classical? they got it!

5 stars! Worth a trip to LA alone.

[Adam]

uppity

[Adam]

Well, in today's really depressing news, Aron's is closing. I drove by yesterday and saw the banner. Here's an article, below. Considering that I've been going there since high school, when they were across the street (yes I went to Fairfax)... sigh.

I also went by Rhino Records the other day. I would say that only 1/4 of their retail space now has records. The rest is pop culture stuff, comics, games, pinball machines, etc.

Amoeba and the internet have really done them in.

Aron's will take a bit of time to clean out, i think.

[i attached a bunch of comments from blogging.la after the article -- I guess the big question is the future of record stores in general.]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ar...ines-california

Final Spin for Long-Playing Store

Music fans will no longer be able to find their vinyl groove at Aron's,

which is closing after 40 years -- a victim of fads and finances.

By Daniel Hernandez

Times Staff Writer

November 19, 2005

For 16 years, John Wyatt has come to Aron's Records on Hollywood's

Highland Avenue to get his fix of obscure, cheap vinyl records. On Friday,

he made one of his last purchases: $206.23 for what he estimated to be 100

LPs from rock to reggae to hip-hop, all packed into several black plastic

bags.

Wyatt forked over his cash with a hint of remorse, but not because of the

amount. Aron's Records, a music lover's staple since 1965, is closing.

"For me and my friends, it's definitely sad when a record store closes.

There's just fewer and fewer places that sell vinyl," said Wyatt, a

32-year-old DJ who lives in Mount Washington. "I never switched over to

CDs. I like the sound of vinyl. Believe it or not, there's thousands of

records you can't get on CD."

Aron's owner, Jesse Klempner, announced the closure to his employees

Wednesday. Word spread quickly among hard-core music fans that Aron's was

going out of business, another victim of the rising costs of maintaining a

small music store and the growing popularity of pirated and downloaded

music.

"It's just been rough for several years," Klempner said Friday, with

"STORE CLOSING" and "EVERYTHING MUST GO" signs hanging overhead. "The

labels are no longer supporting independent stores. [Listeners] are either

downloading or copying from friends?. There's a lot of good music coming

out; they're just not buying it, and people are on their iPods and MP3s."

Riverside resident Philicia Devereaux, 35, came into the store with a $100

limit. She was barely through the first half of the alphabetical listings

in the Rock and Soul CD section, and her arms were already full: Patti

LaBelle, Fantasia, Will Downing. "It's so sad," said the special-events

promoter. "I come to Aron's for things I can't find anywhere else, for

anything I don't think is in my collection."

She added wistfully: "It's the Internet. Film is next."

Klempner, a folk music fan who confesses a deep affection for the rock

band the Kinks, has worked at Aron's since it was on Melrose Avenue near

Fairfax High School. He has managed the store for almost 30 years, and he

became owner in 1992, he said.

"We've had Madonna in here, the Kinks, Prince came in once with his

bodyguard, [Quentin] Tarantino is a regular person here," he said,

referring to the director of "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" movies.

The store is decorated with film and classic rock posters. Delicate,

vintage vinyl records line the walls. Punk rock stickers and rare

collectors' box sets are for sale. The customers include aging rockers

with white hair, hip-hoppers in backward caps and Rasta men in dreadlocks.

Aron's will officially close "when it's empty," Klempner said.

The closure spells uncertainty for Klempner's roughly 30 employees,

several of whom said Friday that working at Aron's is more than a job;

it's practically a tribe of music lovers. In the same breath, several of

them took a swipe at Amoeba Music, the giant record store on Sunset

Boulevard that they blame for taking some of their customers.

"It's a scene. It's big, chaotic," said Ali Hyman, 18, whose job at Aron's

was her first. "Everybody here is awesome."

Co-worker Albert Gomez, 28, offered a forceful critique of the

competition: "We brought everybody the Ramones, Iggy Pop, the classic

rock, the classic blues?. I was taught music here?. How can you forget

your roots? Your background?"

===========================

Assorted comments from blogging.la

Have you been to Fox Hills Mall lately? (dead air...) There's I think a

dozen shoe stores, but not a single music store. Remember when there used

to be at least three or four in every mall? The only reason Amoeba tends

to be packed all the time is their vast quantity and awesome prices on

used CDs. Its location by the Arclight is a huge help too.

==

Aron's is closing because of a crappy location. But it survived for years

in that crappy location because people would casually go to a record store

and buy music. Amoeba indeed improved on Aron's setup, and may have stolen

some customers, but the reality is people infrequently buy hard copies of

music nowadays.

==

Aron's didn't survive for years in that crappy location because people

were more inclined to casually go to a record store, they survived because

there were no other good independant record stores in the area. None. And

as far as I could tell, Aron's never did anything to compete. I don't know

anyone who used to shop at Aron's who's returned there since Amoeba

opened. No exaggeration. They have, however, been to Amoeba...as well as

buying tracks from iTunes and the like.

==

How about they just admit that their employee's own disdain for customer

service drove away the people who were willing to put up with them in

exchange for a decent selection, until Amoeba came along? Amoeba's clerks

are surprisingly helpful and friendly, which is amazing considering how

many more people come through that store than at smaller places where the

employees often have far larger attitudes. I worked at another indie

record store in Southern California for three years, and we had a meeting

on the night before we reopened in a new location. The main idea the owner

wanted us to remember, if we forgot everything else he said that night,

was that "we are not going to be like Aron's Records" - and everyone there

knew exactly what he meant, even though we were 60 miles from Hollywood. I

really think that Aron's put themselves out of business.

==

Man if most of you are the music fans of los angeles than we really have a

problem. First, the traffic is just as bad if not worse around amoeba than

at aron's. Second, the parking at amoeba underground is impossible to get

into on the weekends and so you have to park on the side streets or at the

arclight. Third, amoeba prices for used cds are way higher than other

places around time. Fourth, arons might have some attitude but music

stores should have personality. If a little 'tude bothers you, go shop at

walmart. But the real deal here is that the thrill of the hunt for music

should trump petty concerns like traffic and parking. If all people care

about is convenience and all they want is to listen to compressed music

via the ipod then people are really dumb as I have long feared. I own an

ipod for travelling convenience but I don't compress the damn music so I

can go around like a retard and say hey all my music is on here. Man those

people who say that and listen with $20 headphones are not real music

fans.

==

Downloading IS killing the record store industry, and it doesn't matter if

its legal or illegal. While Amazon may have damaged some sales from

outlets, the immediacy of downloading, plus the ability to choose select

songs instead of entire albums, is why record stores will continue to

close. And don't think people will still need record stores for vinyl or

other types of high quality sound, because as download speeds and audio

formats improve, eventually online music quality will EXCEED what has been

previously available.

==

I'm not convinced that downloadable music quality will improve. The

average consumer is content w/the crappy compressed quality of

low-bit-rate mp3s on cheap headphones. Why do the music companies need to

spend more money improving formats, or on greater bandwidth for downloads,

when most people don't care? CD/vinyl-quality audio (quality unavailable

in downloads) will become a fringe market, and the last vestige of the

"record store" as we know it (selling micro- & specialty-label CDs, used

CDs, & vinyl -- there won't be any new mass-market CDs anymore).

==

Checked out the new Virgin at Hollywood+Highland. Surprisingly nice. But

no surprise: the highlight and focus isn't the music - it's assorted

"cool" merchandise. More Wacko! than Record Town. If this is Virgin's

"flagship" store then music obviously isn't their main concern anymore.

==

Amoeba makes the majority of their profit on used: buy low/sell high.

(which I'm sure it's very similar to other like-minded record stores). The

more they charge for new releases (which have raise $2-3 over the past 2

years), the more margin they can pull in on used. This is why their used

selection is larger than new stock. New stock they are buying at $8-10 on

average from their distributor for a $13-16 retail. Used stock they are

buying at $3-4 on average from consumers and selling at $8-11 (yes, i saw

a $10.95 used CD yesterday, it was a new release). And very often, they

even turn a potential return (the purchase of used) into more profit when

the consumer exchanges for credit. Amoeba summary: Too expensive, too

picked over, late on imports, very little deep stock.

[ep1str0phy]

Amoeba stole Aron's used album flow. First went to Aron's a couple of years ago, after Amoeba had opened--practically nothing, although they have a fine "new" section.

I almost hesitate to say this--because it's been my trove since high school--but there's a fine little joint called CD Trader somewhere down Ventura Blvd. (in the SF Valley). Cheap prices, obscure selection. Just don't steal my OOPs. Please.