Dear Jim, please fix it for me so they bring back Rob Gordon please…
1. High price of albums currently out of the charts and not in a sale ie. HMV Belfast charging £16.99 for Blur’s self-titled album 3 years after its release
2. Very little choice of non-dance vinyl albums..Virgin Belfast had zero in stock two weeks ago.
3. Pigeonholing music into Pop & Rock/Dance/Urban/Metal makes it hard to pick a random record to fit a certain mood, ie. if I currently enjoy Iron And Wine and decide to buy a similar album I could end up with something completely different. Better ways to categorise music would encourage more random purchases. And ‘random’ is the word of 2006, so sort it out.
4. Too few/broken listen posts. Need to install more informative listening posts with the ability to display information about the album and artist such as reviews and similar artists (saw this in a small shop in Jersey, was a great help)
5. Something I’d like to see them do more here is instore performances. Regular occurence in the rest of the world it seems. The only one I’ve ever been to is Bell X1 and accidentally stumbled into a Malachy Cush signing- He didn’t mind, he was glad of the company.
And another thing, why do they follow me around HMV just because I open the CD case? If you didn’t want me to you could’ve wrapped in plastic- I hate it when an album doesn’t have lyrics inside, so I have to check before I buy.
Words by Chris Duffy
14 responses so far ↓
Matt // December 3, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Dude – i know wot u mean – i hate having to go, emmm wheres the fridge albums? Oh, you dont have any, oh ok well wheres the electronic section… what do i mean? Uhhh like aphex twin and stuff – the dance section? Surely not…..
we need somewhere like avalanches….
The Editor // December 3, 2006 at 11:30 pm
You would think instore performances would be right up there street but it’s like these places aren’t even trying, because they don’t have to. Whereas a bad few weeks for an indie store can send it under
Andy // December 4, 2006 at 1:51 am
As a Virgin employee…
1. Agreed. Although there are some great bargains, though you really have to know your way around the store to find ‘em, and only staff know the place that intimately.
2. Virgin actually have loads, its in the racks, second row over. It just looks like its all dance as Spides don’t know how to put stuff back properly. But there should still be more, it just didnt sell enough to justify more – half our stockroom is vinyl that just doesnt shift.
3. Unfortunately, it suits idiots, who just happen to be our main client base. It’d be hard to organize stuff by similarity, thats why they employee staff – I’m always recommending stuff to people! That, or check last.fm before you leave the house.
4. Our listen posts are all in working order, but they’re still a bit shite feature wise. Virgin London have ones with displays n’ that (which may, or at least should, also list recommended artists also) – which we will likely get once the mony starts coming in with the Victoria Centre referb etc.
5. I know the new Virgin in the Victoria Centre will have a permanent stage, so this will happen a lot. Too few bands are interested, but the offer is always open. It happens in London a lot, but its still quite rare there too comparatively.
The Editor // December 4, 2006 at 12:10 pm
How come they’re uninterested? I suppose a lot of bands wouldn’t want associated with big corporations or something- but what about the little guys, the patiosounds or whatever of the world that get their CD sold instore but wouldn’t think to do a live thing.
Although I remember Red Organ Serpent Sound doing one in Virgin, wasn’t it? Were you working there then Andy? To be honest the only thing I buy from HMV et al these days are DVDs. That’s one thing I wouldn’t download (and I’m not talking illegally) the idea of waiting for a compressed version of a film is my idea of hell.
Ronan // December 4, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Belfast needs a FOPP store.
Johnny Mullan // December 4, 2006 at 3:55 pm
CD’s and DVD’s are cheaper in Dubai or Abu Dhabi (We have Virgin here but no HMV) but anways the post has inspired me to go to Virgin and buy High Fidelity! then i need to think about making a few lists as time is pushing on and i am not getting any younger.. Take it easy..
The Editor // December 4, 2006 at 5:44 pm
It’s a cosby sweater!!!
Sponge-Bob // December 5, 2006 at 11:42 am
one of the best music films ever, I must add
jojo // December 6, 2006 at 8:50 pm
amen ronan! i love that place and the staff are usually as endearingly pretentious as those in high fidelity!
PJ // December 10, 2006 at 11:52 am
Inspired to buy High Fidelity from Virgin?
You’ve really missed the point here havent you.
Johnny Mullan // December 11, 2006 at 10:25 am
Eh no, not really. As I explained there is only Virgin out here and as already mentioned they are much cheaper than at home. Do small unbranded record stores stock such DVD’s, I expect not besides I am 1000’s of miles from sunny Belfast and have no alternative…
jojo // January 11, 2007 at 5:00 pm
has duffed retired from the world of bitching or has he been snapped up by ‘grumpy old men’? i was looking forward to another rant, shall i be hoping in vain?
The Editor // January 11, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I’ll assign him something soon, but that amount of moaning saps the energy cells. I hope to hear from the Duffster soon
Sad46 // October 22, 2009 at 9:00 pm
How encouraging that most of the comments agreed with the author of the original author and that so many of the comments believed that segregation is part of the answer of how to save white children from black violence and dysfunctionalism. ,