Greg Smith (gsmith@westnet.com)
V1.0, 5/2/96. Updates will occasionally trickle out as I find out things to add or change.
Most people pay too much for their CDs and put up with crummy service while they're at it. I watch the masses wander through big mall music chains, paying upwards of $16 and putting up with miserable selections that barely extend beyond today's top 40 crap. Over the last few years I've made collecting music my primary hobby, accumulating a collection of about 600 CDs at last count. I got burned myself at the beginning, but have made myself a much smarter shopper. Since I often field requests from people looking for information on how to find something rare, I decided to write down all the techniques I use and describe what companies I have found reliable to deal with. There's two sections here: the first gives ideas of where I look for specific titles, and the second comments on the different places I deal with. There is obvious and intentional overlap between sections.
Note that this is all off the top of my head; these are places I've found good to deal with (or have had many people tell me are reliable), but don't hold me responsible if you have problems. Be sure to protect yourself by making any purchases from mail-order companies via credit card, and make sure you check your statement to ensure everything was billed the way you were expecting. And if you don't agree with something I say here (after all, these all are just opinions), let me know about it instead of just getting ticked off about it. I appreciate the feedback.
Know your victim. Techniques for tracking down music vary depending on what you're looking for. The first part is figuring out what type of CD you've looking for. I usually check the catalog from Noteworthy music first; they carry all the mass market labels, so if they've got it I can probably find it in the local store as well. Next I check CD Connection, which has a much broader collection and has some imports mixed in, to see what they can tell me about it. If I still haven't found it, I check all the on-line import CD catalogs. Anything I haven't found at this point I assume is either from a small label or out of print.
These are the CDs that everybody carries. If all you want to get the latest Hootie and the Blowfish album (hopefully just to give to someone and not to listen to yourself), there's little reason to wander all around creation looking for it--everything from your local music store to Kmart will have a copy.
For regular CDs, I first scan the local papers to see anybody's having a sale that might include what I'm looking for. Often local music stores or big chains will have "Everything for $10.88" or such sales (Circuit City does this fairly often). If I can't find any of those, I usually take a trip to either of the two electronics chains around here: Best Buy and Circuit City. Both average new releases around the $12 point, way better then most any other local store. If I'm out of luck there, I'll place an order with Noteworthy music; they have most things in stock, and can get you things the next day if you want.
This is the hardest type of available CD to track down. Most small labels don't get carried by any of the bigger chains, and even the on-line CD stores can't carry them all. Usually I'll start by checking the catalog at CD Connection to see if they have it. If not, I'll use some of the internet search engines to try and find internet resources related to the music; maybe a home page for the band, maybe a mailing list about them. Usually whoever maintains these things can give you pointers to the specific label and what the ordering procedures are.
Lately I've been going to Best Buy first to look for imports; they have an excellent collection, and great prices if they happen to carry what you're looking for. Note that different stores carry different titles; I try to get to two of them to see what's around. Next stop is a trip to CD Connection to check their catalog, then German Music Express, then CD Europe. If none of them work out, I'll check internet resources related to the music while considering calling up some of the phone-based mail order vendors.
There's a number of companies who claim to track down unavailable CDs; I haven't dealt with any of them yet myself, but I will be contacting some soon and comment on the experience in a future update. What I usually end up doing is going to all the local CD stores and sifting through the used sections. It averages me about a year to find something out of print like that, checking the six or so used stores in the area once a month or so. Contacting other fans of the music is often a good idea, as that gets you more people looking for things for you (a well-placed e-mail message to a fan mailing list can often gleam the location of a for-sale copy of something difficult to track down).
As far as I'm concerned, there are three things the distinguish CD stores. First is selection; it doesn't matter how good everything else about them is, if they don't have what you're looking for a company is no use. Second is delivery time (often you can expedite things by using a faster carrier for your orders, but every company has a delay based on how big their inventory is and how well connected to their suppliers they are). Third is price. My baseline for relative price is Noteworthy music--they consistently have the lowest regular prices, although some places cut below them when things are on sale.
If you've got places you like, I suggest you check out the ones I recommend first before you send me something about them. I don't put negative reviews of specific companies here (in a CYA move), but chances are I've already checked out the place and dismissed them as not being satisfactory. If after looking at these places you really think you've got some place I should be checking out let me know, I'm always interested in broadening my suppliers.
Under no circumstances do I ever set foot in the mall chains. Even though they throw an occasional sale that makes their prices less then outrageous, the fact that they rob people blind the rest of the time makes me sick, and I refuse to part with any of my money there even I can find something I want in their dismal selection. If I can save one person from buying at the mall by writing this document I'll feel the time I spent was worthwhile.
This is a nationwide chain with a fair spread; if you've got one in your area, great, if not there is little sense reading further in this section. Best Buy has very good prices on what they carry, and a terrific selection (including what was to me an amazing selection of imports--I bought over 20 import CDs I had been looking for and had trouble finding in my first trip alone, and you can even look at the track listing and packaging there--which isn't an option at any of the mail-order import places). This is now the first place I go when I'm looking for something. Noteworthy is usually $1 or so cheaper per disc for regular releases. Best Buy has the consistently lowest import prices for the things they happen to carry--$14-$20 is the usual range.
Another nationwide chain that competes with Best Buy, Circuit City's selection is not as extensive but their frequent sales can often get you what they do carry cheaper then any place I know of. Pricing on things is about the same, $1 or so above Noteworthy per disc.
Most local stores don't deal in the volume that lets them have big selections or great prices. What I use mine for mostly is looking for used CDs; I occasionally find out of print things I had been looking for, not to mention frequent bargains. Here in Baltimore I'm quite fond of the Record and Tape Traders mini-chain around town. You can often find sales or coupons that make your local store end up being cheaper then anyplace else, but I find this annoying to have to depend on.
If I can't find it in Best Buy, this is usually where I turn next. The distinction here is that the following companies put their entire catalogs in an easily searchable database, letting me browse them at my leisure and locate things within a couple of minutes without even leaving the house.
If you need something that's not too obscure in a hurry, Noteworthy is the place to go. If you've got lots of CDs to buy (especially older ones), again Noteworthy is tops. They carry all the major labels for the cheapest normal prices around; most new releases average $12-$13, older ones usually are $9-$10. Their huge inventory means that most things get shipped out to you the day you order, so things get to you as fast as you're willing to pay for (even regular UPS ground shipments from there usually arrive to Mid-atlantic states two days after ordering, and they will Fedex stuff too).
Their paper catalog is great fun to browse because it's so big (friends of mine have been known to order as many as 85 CDs the first time they leaf through the catalog). It's a visceral experience that isn't duplicated using any on-line catalog. Noteworthy offers off-line computer software called ROEG that keeps copies of their entire catalog on your computer; you need only periodically call up their system and download the catalog updates (and it's easy to check all the new releases and to keep a shopping list). Using their computer software gets you another 3% off their prices even. Other available ROEG features let you catalog your collection just by picking CDs off the listings (saving a bunch of typing) and the ability to dial into Noteworthy and download or search song title information (it's not as flexible as CDCs capabilities and it will cost you a toll call to Noteworthy, but it's easier to use for larger numbers of queries and you get more information on certain types of music, like collections). I use ROEG to keep up with what new comes out (or is coming out, they often list future releases way in advance) and maintain a shopping list for regular releases.
Since most of what I want nowadays is obscure, I don't order from them quite as often lately. But back when I was first putting together my collection, I was placing orders with Noteworthy every couple of weeks--it's way cheaper and easier then any local store I've ever dealt with for big purchases. The shipping rates are low and scale up as you order more. For most people buying quantities of "normal" CDs greater then two (to offset the shipping charges per item), Noteworthy can't be beat. There's a ton of new on-line CD stores out there anymore, but none of them I've tried come close in price, inventory, or delivery time for regular releases. Another factor is that, because of their better packaging, out of several hundreds of CDs ordered from them I've never received one with a cracked jewel box (it's fairly common from other companies and it's not all that expensive to fix, but it is annoying).
Call 1-800-648-7972 to get a free catalog, point your WWW browser at http://www.noteworthy.com or telnet netmarket.com. I recommend the catalog and ROEG software, I'm not fond of the interface on their WWW site.
CD Connection fits right between Noteworthy and the import-only places. They have a huge selection of CDs (over 140,000, a mixture of regular releases and imports). There are many more CDs from small record labels represented in their catalog, but not nearly as many imports as the import only places like CD Europe or GMX. And they have an incredible amount of information available as your browse their on-line catalog; song titles for each CD, ratings, reviews, and recommendations. The trade-offs are that they are a bit more expensive then Noteworthy (averaging $0.50-$1.50 per CD by my estimate) and take 2-3 weeks to deliver (a little quicker if you're on the West coast). US Shipping costs are fixed at $3.50/order and they do eliminate them if you order more then $100 worth of stuff. If I had to pick one store to buy from, CDC would be my pick. They aren't the best in any one category, but they're close to the top in all of them.
Call 1-408-985-7905, (preferred) telnet cdconnection.com or http://www.cdconnection.com
CD Europe is based out of Florida, where they have a monstrous selection of available imports (and not just from Europe). They are the most likely to be able to track down very obscure stuff for you. It will cost you though, and they aren't fast--they say their average delivery time is 6-8 weeks after ordering, and I've found that to be optimistic. US shipping is fixed at $3.50 and goes regular US mail. Since it's all imports, you won't find any information about the CDs from them except artist, title, price, and (if you're lucky) release date. Despite all that, I keep ordering from them, because even though I'm not totally happy with their delivery or prices they sometimes are the only ones who can find certain things for me.
Call 1-954-481-8984, (preferred) telnet cdeurope.com or http://www.cdeurope.com
This fairly new company is based in Germany but have a computer system in the US to place orders on. Their imports range all around the world (not just Germany); their selection isn't quite as big as CDE, but it's close. You can order off their comprehensive on-line catalog, again limited to just artist, title, and price. Delivery comes via US-mail right from the Netherlands to you (usually with a cool collection of foreign stamps) in 2-3 weeks. This has become my favorite place for import orders lately--the selection is quite good, prices are reasonable (with shipping fixed at $3.00 no matter how much or little you order anywhere in the world), and delivery time is excellent for this category.
Call 011-49-211-575602 or (preferred) telnet musicexpress.com
Personally, I rarely get this far. If I can't find it from one of the vendors mentioned already, I assume it's out of print. But if you are looking for something difficult to track down (like imports) and don't have the time or inclination to go browsing all around the world via the internet trying to track down stuff yourself, these companies will do it for you with excellent service.
For the music I collect, Thoughtscape is the easiest source to deal with because Scott the owner is a fan of many of the same things I like, and accordingly keeps them in stock for other fans who are looking for a quick fix when they find out about something. If he's got it, he can get it to you more quickly then any of the other import places I've mentioned, because none of them really stock anything. I've never actually called them up myself, but frequently refer other people there and everyone has been very satisfied.
Call 1-800-435-6185.
Another very helpful company I see frequent mentions from satisfied customers buying the music I listen to is RPM. They have a WWW site that lists only some of their catalog (as far as I can tell), but I get the impression you really need to call them up to get the whole scoop.
Call 1-214-681-8441, or http://rpmrecords.metronet.com