Cheap CD buys

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Ran
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Cheap CD buys

Post by Ran »

I'm sure this topic won't get much traffic, but...

If you are into "boxed sets" Walmart has some for $20. Pink Floyd "Is Anybody Out There?", a Bruce Springsteen cd/dvd, and Aerosmith's Pandora's Box were the ones that caught my eye. There were a couple others, but I can't remember what they were, so they couldn't have been that important.

Speaking of cheap CDs, I was collecting Pepsi Points. I got an email saying I had until the 12/31 to use them. I just hit 60, so I could get a CD. Not a whole lot of good stuff on there I was interested in. I narrowed it down to a Jim Gaffigan comedy CD and Johnny Cash Live Folsum album. Went with Johnny Cash. They shipped it for free.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

I might have to stop by Wally World. I only saw a couple I have last time I was there (I try to take advantage of Costco's insane markdowns on box sets every Christmas and get at least one). Speaking of Costco, they had some new packs of four CDs, mostly original albums, for $18.99. I grabbed one by the Ramones, since I figured that was the least likely to hang around. Mrs A got a Bette Midler one. Ick. Those two are both four albums (Ramones is Ramons, Road to Ruin, Rocket to Russia, and Brain Drain). There was also Chicago (four original albums, three from when they were a good jazz fusion band and one of their much later ones), Foreigner (three albums and a cheapie compilation), Aretha (four cheapie compilations--as awesome as she is, this seemed the dog of the bunch), and Otis Redding (all compilations, though the cover art made me think two of them were from when he was alive).

The Pepsi points kinda blow. They're not consistent in putting them on drinks, they're stingy, and it takes an assload to get anything. I figure I'll snatch up some MP3s by one-hit wonders on Amazon with them. I'll be lucky to get 20 points by the end of the promotion at the rate I drink soda. You made a good choice with Folsom Prison. Is it the original, or the new 2-disc expanded one? (If that one, I'm going to go buy a shitload of Pepsi this week.)

In sad news, I went to BMG to decline my Weezer featured selection (it's been out for like a year, right? anyway, I got it for like $5 at a closing Circuit City). They're no longer accepting new members. Their current sale is good (2/3 off, plus free shipping if you order four), but they've REALLY scaled back their selection. It appears there's a new service called yourmusic.com, which will be replacing it (I assume existing members will be forced over at some point). You set up a "music queue" and they send you a CD every month. It's $6.99 per CD, with free shipping.

Sounds pretty good, right? I started reading details; this is BMG, after all, so I knew it had to be too good to be true. If your music queue is empty, they send nothing. You still get charged the $6.99 that month. Harsh, but reasonable, I suppose. Here's where it got squirrelly: if the first CD is backordered, they send the second. If the second is backordered, they send the third. If the third is backordered, they don't go any further and send nothing, and you still get charged. Given how shitty BMG has always been about having anything actually in stock, this sounds like an excuse to just charge out the nose without sending anything. Especially when they have the same really scaled-back selection. I guess if you could make sure #1 was the obscure CD you want, and #2 and #3 were ones you might not want as much but are ones you're reasonably sure will be in stock, it could work, but their history of keeping sufficient stock on even the newest titles is shitty, and I wouldn't trust it.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by Ran »

It was this cd.

Foreigner jogged my memory. One of the other boxed sets was Journey. In my mind, Foreigner and Journey are categorized under cheesy 70s-early 80s rock bands.

I have a BMG account, but I don't think I've used it since 2001. Besides the crazy shipping fees, I don't know my password. At some point I saw an ad for yourmusic, but I don't think it is worth it. That Johnny Cash cd is probably the 3rd cd I got this year.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by Jargo »

:( another big chain store is going. this time it's former Virgin music store - Zavvi. Still got HMV stores which are pretty good but they're more expensive than [s]Virgin[/s] Zavvi.

Haven't actually been out and bought a CD for a while. Not been a lot of stuff around to my liking. I may have a wander in the new year. see what ambient chillout choons I can find. Reiki healing ambience whalefarts and synth. bit of panpipes in the background, a few tropical bird squawks. sound of the sea or a waterfall. a blow job while stoned and listening to that stuff is just...........

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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

Okay, back to the BMG thing. I had some music points available, and that program is being canceled at the end of next month. They're running a 2/3 off with free shipping deal, so I ordered eight CDs to get enough music points for a freebie before I lose out. Five of these were the five Steely Dan albums I don't have, and there was Smokey Robinson and I don't recall what else off-hand.

I ordered them on Saturday. When they updated the status yesterday, all but one CD was out of stock.

So fully 7/8 of my order was out of stock. Steely Dan and Smokey Robinson aren't the hottest sellers in the world, but they're not obscure, either. I think every Wal-Mart on earth has at least one of Steely Dan's original albums.

Given that the new club simply charges you and doesn't send anything if the first three CDs on your list are out of stock, this really wouldn't bode well for them. Any inclination I might've had to join was shot to hell by the confirmation that their inventory control is even shoddier than it used to be.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

In my fruitless quest for the Speed Racer Thor-Axine car at 99c Only stores, I've noticed a lot of CDs, mostly for 99c, but some for 49c. A lot of the CDs are clearly garbage--obvious shareware or burned CD-Rs, which I'm not even sure how they're selling. I've seen quite a few 90s CDs by unknown bands (the only one I'd heard of was Tad, a Seattle grunge act).

So, today, I jotted down a lot of the names in my phone's memo pad, then, just now, looked up the bands to find samples of their music. A couple of them sounded pretty good. I might pick up a few.

Some of the stuff I saw (good and bad):

Tina, Age 13 (can't find much about this group, but the tiny bit I could find sounded like fair-to-middlin' 90s not-quite-grunge, not-quite-punk hard rock that's not quite good enough to like--I might grab it at $0.49 anyway since what I found could be not representative)
Cabria (muzaky jazz band, I'll likely pass)
Vanderhoof (these guys sound like a 70s hard rock combo--definitely grabbing this one next time)
Figgs (not bad, sorta generic 90s rock, sounds worth $1)
Tiny Lights (weird but catchy, almost a throwback to the Partridge Family)
a CD single cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by some German (???) girl--I looked this one up a few days back and don't recall the name
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

Circuit City will be closing in nine days, and finally got to 60% off CDs. Since CDs were the only thing they carried where their regular, non-sale prices were below MSRP, there are some deals there, even though the vast majority of good stuff has been cleaned out.

I got the new Oasis album for $5.60 and the deluxe 2-disc version of the latest Bob Dylan Bootleg series (which I was really surprised to find) for $7.20. They also had the newest albums by a lot of other popular acts--I remember seeing Al Green, Jay-Z, Keane, The Bravery, Gnarls Barkley, and Beck.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

At least one local Circuit City appears to have packed up all its DVDs and CDs to ship somewhere. :( The sign says they've got five days until closing, and they had a full rack of each two days ago. Today, nothing. Literally. They had two TVs, a handful of wires, and the fixtures. I find it tough to believe they cleared out 500 copies of Janet Jackson's latest CD in two days when no one wanted it at all before, so I can only assume they're being sent to some other outlet.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by Diabolical »

I tried to go to my CC back on Monday to see what was left and they were closed.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

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I know they closed some smaller ones before others, but all are supposed to be gone by next week (the signs seem to indicate Sunday and Tuesday on different ones locally). I read that the four liquidation companies will own whatever's left, and it might end up at Marshall's, Ross, TJ Maxx, Big Lots, or 99c Only. (I kinda have a feeling 99c Only won't be getting much, if anything, from Circuit City, though.)

I just found out the Virgin Megastore over in Ontario (about 40 minutes away, but I don't go there often) closed in January. I would've been interested more in their graphic novel selection than CDs, but they were one of the few large stores with a good selection left.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

Anyone else here?

Borders appears to be liquidating the music section in most stores. All CDs except for bestsellers are 1/2 off, so I'm guessing maybe they're only going to stock bestsellers in most stores and have the larger sections online or in select stores. Given that they generally have (had?) the best selection of out-of-the-ordinary titles, including music stores, they've got some good stuff. I finally have a collection of Dylan and Springsteen that I'm not ashamed of. Also, I got the badass 5-disc Carter Family box set for only $14!
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by Senor JabbaJohnL »

I was just in one the other day and got the newest Franz Ferdinand CD, but for regular price. I did notice that their other CDs were on sale, but didn't know they were getting rid of it all. That's a shame (if true).
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Re: Cheap CD buys

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Maybe I was wrong. I got an e-mail about the clearance and went to one store, and everything was 1/2 off. Went to another to see if I could find any other must-have goodies, and, apparently, aside from a very few stores that are getting rid of all their CDs, most are just running 40% off selected titles. No recent titles or guys like Dylan and Springsteen on sale. I did find the 2-disc June Carter collection among the sale stuff, though.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by Diabolical »

From comics blog The Beat:
Borders looking shakier than ever

A post at Consumerist rounds up a variety of bad owen surrounding troubled big box bookstore chain Borders:

Yesterday’s post about Borders closing down its unprofitable CD and DVD sections prompted a tip from the owner of a small music label. He says his distributor has already cut off shipments to Borders once for nonpayment (in November 2008), and on Monday the distributor warned labels that they’ll have to agree not to hold him “liable on any future shipments to Borders in case they file for bankruptcy.” Borders’ CFO left in January, which is rarely a good sign for a troubled company. And this morning, the Detroit Free Press notes that the bookseller is facing being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. We may not have to wait long to find out; CEO Ron Marshall is hosting a conference call with analysts and investors next week.

The grim comments section has even more baleful signs, including this:

I work at a B&N in a town where there is also a Borders, and I’ve been hearing various grumblings from customers recently, from Borders not being able to special order certain items, or requiring that all special orders be paid for ahead of time. These weren’t always small-press books either, some of them were from major publishers. Word was that it was because their suppliers were not getting paid and were severely limiting what they could get. The above story seems to support that.

Borders’ financial troubles have been a point of much worry among comics publishers and distributors — some of the smarter among them are making future plans around the idea that there will not be a Borders around very soon. At the very least, proceeding with caution around the retailer would seem to be a necessity.
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Re: Cheap CD buys

Post by anarky »

Shit! I had no idea they were that bad off.

Of course, embracing the internet by having a website run by your biggest competitor (amazon.com), then leaving them and waiting a full two years to launch a replacement... Should've known something was fucked up there.
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