Editorial: Rough Trade East
Record buying the way it should be?
Whilst humble, independent music stores dampen behind boarded windows that bear a distinct lack of posters, somewhat weary ex-managers sigh over their worthless CD collections destined for eBay, as the imminent termination of leaseholds ends a rapidly diminishing era. What a bleak image?! Recent changes to the music market have come as no real surprise, and we're pretty sure you web junkies are well aware of how and why it's all happened. But in an odd turn of events, Rough Trade have seen this as an unusual opportunity to expand upon their small, spirited chain of boutiques in a surprising bid to encourage music buyers to rekindle the old fashioned style of purchasing music, re-introducing the increasingly rare physical format.
What the big stores realised only too late was that it's the law abiding music fanatics willingly boycotting this era of free music who make up their only market left, and they're a difficult consumer to target. These remarkable individuals are not content nipping to Branson's megastores, where they'll be bombarded with adverts for every other commodity on the planet, and they won't be enticed to Big W's cardboard singles stand by a BOGOF bargain. They want recommendations to come from a music expert, not a spotty adolescent jobsworth whose apathetic shpeal regurgitated from that morning's team talk offers no evidence of an informed opinion. No, what these guys want is a social, music experience, complete with a coffee bar and comfy chairs. And the morning's paper…that'd be nice. Let's be honest-if they're paying for something that's readily available elsewhere for free, why shouldn't they get that little bit extra?
While the big shops were busy offering us a measly 10% discount once we'd spent over a ton in store, they forgot to give us an incentive to shop there in the first place. Rough Trade are offering us all the perfect ingredients for the music loving lifestyle that accompanies this rare breed of record buyers. The store's 5000 square ft area doubles as a performance venue where the gigs are free! Unfortunately, unlike Club Tropicana, the drinks aren't. And there's no tasty sale where you can pick up cheap, old, forgotten albums for £2.99, but that's the whole point. Here, music is less of a faceless commodity that can be traded like bread and milk, but a carefully considered selection to be made under the supervision of a dedicated team straight out of High Fidelity. Decent, specialist music is therefore sold at a price that keeps the artists and record company execs in their jobs. Some might argue that this is exactly what was wrong with the music industry to begin with; people other than the artists unnecessarily gain profit as record buyers merely assist in maintaining their heinous corporate pay packets. Perhaps it's far better that the record companies are phased out in favour of unsigned acts building up their own fan base on Myspace or such like, revolutionising the mainstream chart with acts like Koopa making a significant impact. But regardless of individual opinions on the industry in general, and no matter what may go on in the mainstream 'real world', this elite group of vinyl loving music enthusiasts should continue to be catered for, even if it is just in East London.
Rough Trade East is located in the Truman Brewery, London E1.
RSS Feed
