Being a Music Geek Used to be Difficult – Part 4

The iPod also brought with it another amazing feature which is both a pro and a con. It brought with it iTunes which essentially put the local record shop in your home, no longer did you have to visit Championship Vinyl (or other local record shop),you’djustneed to fire up your computer and voila you’d have access to anunlimitedamount of content (it would cost you, but it was priced competitively vs. physical media) . While it gave you access to that wealth of media, it started the domino effect wherein record shop after record shop closed down, or tried desperately to drum up business by trying to offer their own digital media solution to counter iTunes (and many if not all failed), or expanding their product offerings to include books, clothing and video games.
It was always an adventure to head down to the local record shop and sift through their shelves to find an undiscovered gem (there’s a reason I have the Sam the Record Man Neon Sign as the wallpaper on my phone). I spent a great deal of time in record stores, and can still remember my first visit when I was 4 or 5 to a record shop in Sunnyside Mall in Bedford and walking about withKiller on a Rampageby Eddie Grant on cassette (which I still have). I’ve seen many shops close down, and it’s nearly impossible to find one these days (other than Taz in Halifax, or Select Sounds in Bedford – which are very much the stereotypical record shop) that offers that experience, but it was always worth the trip there, as the return trip involved slapping on a pair of headphones and drinking in the music of your most recent accquisition.

About the author

Trev

A proud and over-caffeinated husband, father, runner and writer. I've written for the local weekly The Coast for over a decade and have since taken to creating and writing for HAFILAX for even longer. I hope you enjoy the musings of a guy who has loved music for the better part of 4 decades, and has an album of concert tickets to show for it.

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