Recently Racer challenged us to write about the place or places
where we buy our music. I buy a lot of music, a lot more than I really
should. Like many, I scour eBay and Amazon for deals but its usually a
last resort.
I like to buy vinyl first and
foremost. One of the best places in the Chicago area to buy vinyl is
Reckless Records. They have 3 locations in the city. One in the
downtown/Loop area, on the north side near Wrigley Field and one just a
few doors down from the famed Double Door. The place is run by music
enthusiasts and the staff generally has a good knowledge of what they
stock, even for lesser known bands. While they do carry stuff by
mainstream artists, they're main focus is on the smaller and unsigned
bands and labels. They have a good selection of both new and used and
sell CDs in addition to the already impressive selection of vinyl.
My
next two stops where I get my music, and its the bulk of my purchases,
is online directly through the bands and/or Bandcamp. I'm an on the go type
guy. It's impossible for me to bring my vinyl with me so I have to load
my iPhone up with music to listen to. I like supporting the little guy
as much as possible. I start with the band's social media sites to see
where to get it. My favorite place is through Bandcamp. I can order my
vinyl and get my digital download for my iPhone at the same time. FLAC
is my preferred format due to it being lossless so I can convert it to
any format I want (mp3 v0 is the format I use for my phone). Backups of
the lossless are kept in addition to the mp3 files I make.
In
the case that a band doesn't have a Bandcamp page (which surprisingly
is quite a few), I check to see if they have Bigcartel or similar site
for ordering . In the case that a band is signed to a label, I use the
same process but look up said label.
There you go. It's not the most exciting way but that's how I get it done.
-Soda Bill
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