Observations part 2

The new U2 album Buying Experience

So I cruise over to Tower Records for my ritual that I have done since I could drive. I bought the new U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb". I have bought all the albums since Achtung Baby on the first day of release. I don't usually do this anymore with any other group since I have gotten older. I was the first person in Stockton to buy the 1st Beatles Anthology in 1995, I even got my picture and name in the paper. I was a local hero for one day. I actually needed to be the first person to buy that anthology because I did a presentation on John Lennon the next day and I desperately needed the "Free as a Bird" on CD. My professor had grown up in the Beatle times and I thought it was cool to get the CD days after the song came out on TV. This was wa-a-a-y before Napster or KaZaa. In fact, KaZaa would really suck on that 28.8bps modem I had back then on my 486 66mhz Packard Bell with an upgrade to 8 megs of RAM. I was the first to get 8 Megs of RAM as well.... I am totally digressing...

Yesterday's experience was quite a bit disturbing. I went to a Tower in the Sacramento area to buy my new U2 experience. I proceeded to the NEW RELEASE section and found a big display. Tower was confident in selling these CD's. There were lots. In fact there were three versions of the CD. One was just the CD. Then there was one with a CD and DVD limited edition package. Then there was one for the big collectors with a book, CD and DVD clearly labelled at $29.99. I pulled the CD/DVD combo pack out of the $11.99 slot, and then proceeded to check out. The girl at the check out was clearly at her first job post high school. She was new at the very least. She rang it up for $15.99 plus tax. I said, "Whoa its like, $11.99 back there." Now, I feel after buying quite a few hundred CD's in my short 30 year existence on this planet that I was ready to correct the young lady, just as I had helped the woman in front of me with the name of the group who sang 1985; Bowling for Soup. "Are you sure?" she says. "What?" I said, "The Bowling for Soup thing or the price of U2 because the Bowling for Soup thing is all over MTV2." She looks on the computer and wow, look there $11.99.

"I have to get my manager." she says.

So I wait. And wait. Hey it's four bucks. That is a quadruple percent Venti Mocha, sans whip cream. Less than 2 gallons of gas. A pint of Guinness at the bar...

Out comes a guy hanging on to his late 30's by the short ones, with really screwed up hair, reeking of cigarettes--both the legal and illegal ones. "Yeah, I am the manager."

So I presented my dilemma in my U2 purchasing experience.

And the bastard cuts me off and says "That one is $15.99, it's not priced, but that's what it is, there are 3 versions, do you want that one?"

Okay, the issue at hand here wasn't which CD I wanted but rather what price the CD I wanted was. (I love that sentence) So I took Mr. Dazed and Confused over to his store's CD rack and asked him to show me where it says $15.99. "I see 3 versions, but 2 prices, $11.99 and $29.99, show me the $15.99 price, the CD isn't even labelled with a price." I demanded.

"Oh it's a mistake, $15.99" the walking Cheeto says.

I gaze back at the register where the woman buying the Bowling for Soup CD is making small talk and rolling her eyes about me at the post-teen jockeying the register.

This is where I say, What the Fuck? Seriously people, we'd all use that phrase or some derivative of it right here and now no matter which red or blue state we lived in. I did nothing but question 4 bucks. 4 measley, stinking dollars. Their mistake, I caught them, F-You, $15.99, BS.

Tower Records is one of the biggest retailers, created right here in Sacramento. I can see the original store if I stood on my roof, its 8 blocks away. And they are going through Chapter 11 right now. There are plans to destroy one of the last independent theaters, Tower Theater, right above the old store.

Why are they in Chapter 11? Because of weed I guess. The dude running a store is addicted to hippy lettuce. The girl behind the counter sucks down X and goes to raves. This is what is left at their stores? This urban sub culture that was too cool for school? No wonder they went BK.

And why do we suffer bad experiences at record stores like this? Because no one gives a shit anymore about copyright. (Read http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ it is scary because we all break the law daily and the fines are HUGE!!!) We download and trade songs. I don't think we steal as much from the rich artists as we do the poor retailers. Of course, we could go online and buy by the song on Apple. But then we'd only buy the songs we'd want and then the artists will get pissed because they couldn't make albums, destroying their art and what not. Then the whole system would be screwed and we'd probably get crappy bands because there was no money in it.

U2 with their much deserved record deal from selling 100 plus million records probably makes 25% of Retail list price at $15.99 or roughly 4 bucks. I guess my 4 bucks paid their royalties.

Hmmm...ponder that!