Road Records - CD a Month Subscription Offer.

Spiritoftheseventies

Heard about this on McLoone last night. For a subscription fee, you are sent out an album of month.
Is it good value. The Villagers got album of the month this month which suprised me.
That said as McLoone said it is supporting the local music record stores so might give it a go.

http://www.roadrecs.com/stock/shopping.php3?start=1&action=4&artist=ROAD%20RECORDS%20ALBUM%20OF%20THE%20MONTH%20CLUB

judas101

Like the idea but it is quite expensive.

There's bound to be at least one or two not to your tastes also.

Mr E

If they did it by month, I'd be tempted.

Spiritoftheseventies

Think you have three options. Forty the cheapest option. Would have to see a few albums of the months up first but its sounds like a runner though

rovert

Whats wrong with HMV?

Spiritoftheseventies

rovert wrote: »

Whats wrong with HMV?

Rovert this works like a book club. Its a collaborative effort. They send you out an album and then the club give its feedback on the album.
Its sounds like a good idea to me but will look at next album or two just to see what the choices are.

Miguel_Sanchez

rovert wrote: »

Whats wrong with HMV?

Some people prefer to support local record shops. Also there's a lot of Irish releases that HMV just don't stock.

Mr E

What if an album comes out on the 15th of the month (and you buy on release date), only to find roadrecs send it to you 2 weeks later?

If they said "Here are our 3 albums of the month, pick one.", wouldn't that be a better option?

Spiritoftheseventies

Mr E wrote: »

What if an album comes out on the 15th of the month (and you buy on release date), only to find roadrecs send it to you 2 weeks later?

If they said "Here are our 3 albums of the month, pick one.", wouldn't that be a better option?

Yeah cut off dates for chosing album of the month would always be a sticking point. Looking at the start off price package, its £47 quid for three months. Albums are priced at £12 if you look at display price for High Violet on there.
So thats three albums at £36. P&P I guess is £4 per album. Which when you think about it is the same as the journey into town and back if you were to buy it in store.
Seems okay and again I think the important part is its helping the Irish stores.
I think you look at place like Freebird records which was a terrific place to browse for new and second half records.
So yeah I would give this venture a thumbs up overall.

rovert

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

Some people prefer to support local record shops. Also there's a lot of Irish releases that HMV just don't stock.

Ask em to order it in

Spiritoftheseventies

rovert wrote: »

Ask em to order it in

Not sure if the bigger stores cater for the smaller Irish labels. And its not really the point of the record club anyway.
Take a read of link in OP Rovert to get a feel for what the subscriptions are about.

loyatemu

you're paying ~€14 per CD for albums that you may not actually want or like.

I'm all for supporting local record shops, but if you want CDs sent to you by post you might as well buy them off amazon for less and choose them yourself.

Spiritoftheseventies

loyatemu wrote: »

you're paying ~€14 per CD for albums that you may not actually want or like.

I'm all for supporting local record shops, but if you want CDs sent to you by post you might as well buy them off amazon for less and choose them yourself.

Yes but its a record club. As such its a collaborative process.

AnonoBoy

loyatemu wrote: »

you're paying ~€14 per CD for albums that you may not actually want or like.

I'm all for supporting local record shops, but if you want CDs sent to you by post you might as well buy them off amazon for less and choose them yourself.

Is the idea not that they're chosen by people who "know their stuff" so you might get stuff you've never heard of before. Yes you might get stuff you don't like but it's obviously aimed at music heads who have the cash to spare and want to try something different.

Of course you could always just go into the shop and buy their CD of the week yourself but I suppose it's handy if you don't get into town much.

Howard the Duck

I think it's a good idea. It says that if you really hate the cd they'll change it for one of your choice. I signed up for it for 6 months.

JimsAlterEgo

needs to be cheaper 10 per cd, most "alternative" cds are <14 now, villagers was 11.99

H8GHOTI

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

needs to be cheaper 10 per cd, most "alternative" cds are <14 now, villagers was 11.99

It's very good value. It even states that on their own website
May I point you to points 4 & 5 from the link posted above.

4. we hope this will be a cool hassle free way of introducing you to some of our favourite new music each month, at a greatly reduced price too.

5. the cost of each cd for the twelve month period works out at only €13.00 [plus €10.00 post / packaging], that sounds like a bargain to us.

I bolded the important parts.

Miguel_Sanchez

The new Villagers album is only 1 euro more in Road than it is off Play.com

So it's not killing you on the price.

rcaz

rovert wrote: »

Whats wrong with HMV?

They're a multinational corporation who only care about making money and have no interest in the artistic value of the things they sell? They cater to the lowest common denominator and have no intention of fostering or encouraging anything that won't shift stock?

rovert wrote: »

Ask em to order it in

You just sound anti-independent record shops here. What's wrong with Road?

rovert

El Pr0n wrote: »

They're a multinational corporation who only care about making money and have no interest in the artistic value of the things they sell? They cater to the lowest common denominator and have no intention of fostering or encouraging anything that won't shift stock?

You just sound anti-independent record shops here. What's wrong with Road?

These comments dont make a whole lot of sense in tandem. How can they only be interested in making money as you frame it when if they dont have an album of "artistic value" in stock they will order it for you in most cases at least?

rcaz

rovert wrote: »

These comments dont make a whole lot of sense in tandem. How can they only be interested in making money as you frame it when if they dont have an album of "artistic value" in stock they will order it for you in most cases at least?

In the case of ordering in an album, it's a special case when they've got a guaranteed customer. If they weren't sure they were going to sell something small-time, they wouldn't have it in. Not part of their regular business.

rovert

El Pr0n wrote: »

In the case of ordering in an album, it's a special case when they've got a guaranteed customer. If they weren't sure they were going to sell something small-time, they wouldn't have it in. Not part of their regular business.

Define small time, a lot of records Road stock are stocked in HMV and Tower or at least can be ordered. The Villagers being a prime example last time I checked they didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator. I’ve an RSS feed set up to alert me if that happens likewise when they sell out (man).

rcaz

rovert wrote: »

Define small time, a lot of records Road stock are stocked in HMV and Tower or at least can be ordered. The Villagers being a prime example last time I checked they didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator. I’ve an RSS feed set up to alert me if that happens likewise when they sell out (man).

Well of course they can be ordered by HMV or Tower, they're the two biggest record shops in Dublin owned by huge corporations. They can sell what they like.

The thing I was annoyed by most was your 'What's wrong with HMV?' remark. Do you think we shouldn't bother using independent record shops? Do you really think HMV is a better shop? If an independent record shop run by a small few people who are in it for (primarily) a love of music, has what you wants, why bother getting some heartless money machine to order it in for you?

rovert

El Pr0n wrote: »

Well of course they can be ordered by HMV or Tower, they're the two biggest record shops in Dublin owned by huge corporations. They can sell what they like.

The thing I was annoyed by most was your 'What's wrong with HMV?' remark. Do you think we shouldn't bother using independent record shops? Do you really think HMV is a better shop? If an independent record shop run by a small few people who are in it for (primarily) a love of music, has what you wants, why bother getting some heartless money machine to order it in for you?

As some other patrons of it go there to SMASH THE SYSTEM and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE ruining the more likable aspects of buying from an indy for me at least.

All Im saying HMV & Tower aren’t devoid of albums of "artistic value" nor are the Irish charts for that matter, even though going by the tone of your posts that you people regard that as a compendium of music preferences of the lowest common denominator or something.

You are attritubing all these positions and statements to me which Id didnt say. I like Road and buy from there when I can. Other times I use huge corporations.

Spiritoftheseventies

rovert wrote: »

As some other patrons of it go there to SMASH THE SYSTEM and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE ruining the more likable aspects of buying from an indy for me at least.

All Im saying HMV & Tower aren’t devoid of albums of "artistic value" nor are the Irish charts for that matter, even though going by the tone of your posts that you people regard that as a compendium of music preferences of the lowest common denominator or something.

You are attritubing all these positions and statements to me which Id didnt say. I like Road and buy from there when I can. Other times I use huge corporations.

Rovert you are totally missing the point of this thread. Its a record club. You subscribe it, they send out a record, then you give feedback.

H8GHOTI

I don't see that mentioned anywhere on the page you linked. About it being a club & providing feedback. Where did that come from

rovert

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Rovert you are totally missing the point of this thread. Its a record club. You subscribe it, they send out a record, then you give feedback.

Im not missing the point of the thread merely replying to El Pr0n posts. Yes I read the OP, I understand and like the concept as it gives ROAD a (another) form of regular cash flow.

Spiritoftheseventies

H8GHOTI wrote: »

I don't see that mentioned anywhere on the page you linked. About it being a club & providing feedback. Where did that come from

You can buy albums seperately off Road Records. But these albums are selected. McLoone was also taling about it last night.

Miguel_Sanchez

El Pr0n wrote: »

Well of course they can be ordered by HMV or Tower, they're the two biggest record shops in Dublin owned by huge corporations. They can sell what they like.

I'd like to point out that Tower Records in Dublin is not owned by a huge corporation. It was previously part of a chain but is now an independent shop.

Also Road do say on their page that if you hate a CD they send you they will exchange it for another CD that you'd prefer. Sounds like a good offer to me and a good way to be introduced to some new music that you might never hear otherwise.

rcaz

rovert wrote: »

As some other patrons of it go there to SMASH THE SYSTEM and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE ruining the more likable aspects of buying from an indy for me at least.

All Im saying HMV & Tower aren’t devoid of albums of "artistic value" nor are the Irish charts for that matter, even though going by the tone of your posts that you people regard that as a compendium of music preferences of the lowest common denominator or something.

I never said they were devoid of 'artistic value', I said they only care about money. Money is the bottom line, regardless of value. Independent shops, while they of course have to make money, are also part of a scene, and stock very small time records (David O Doherty's single? Didn't Little Green Cars have a CD in there too?) and supporting them helps to keep whatever musical scene there is in Dublin going.

rovert

El Pr0n wrote: »

I never said they were devoid of 'artistic value', I said they only care about money. Money is the bottom line, regardless of value. Independent shops, while they of course have to make money, are also part of a scene, and stock very small time records (David O Doherty's single? Didn't Little Green Cars have a CD in there too?) and supporting them helps to keep whatever musical scene there is in Dublin going.

But you dont have to spit at the window of Tower on your way to Road Records is my point in a nutshell.

johnny_ultimate

I like the idea behind this. I have an emusic subscription and I've discovered some fantastic albums being able to pick up random stuff at a relatively small cost (usually a fiver an album). This seems to operate in a similar manner, although I do somewhat agree that one album a month has a high chance of being either hit or miss with your personal taste. That said, I agree that it seems to be functioning more as a record club, and the returns policy is very generous. 47 euro for three blind albums, though, is quite a high price.

Good initiative, and I'd definitely consider subscribing when I hear examples of some of the albums being sent out.

lordgoat

WTF?

End the pettiness guys, have a read of the link in the OP, this thread is about the deal on offer from roadrecs, if people want to compare road and hmv and tower - i'm pretty sure there's a consumers affairs forum.

I think it's a bit much too, for a "blind album" They should be a little cheaper, BUT I totally understand it. We do need shops like Road for up and coming unsigned artists. A friend just released his solo album. HMV wouldn't stock it, so at least Road would. This money does help them trucking along and is a useful cash point. They'll be providing good music because, if people don't like what they're sending out, they'll just stop subscribing them.

But still.

It's a bit much

JimsAlterEgo

Papa Smut wrote: »

I think it's a bit much too, for a "blind album" They should be a little cheaper, BUT I totally understand it. We do need shops like Road for up and coming unsigned artists. A friend just released his solo album. HMV wouldn't stock it, so at least Road would. This money does help them trucking along and is a useful cash point. They'll be providing good music because, if people don't like what they're sending out, they'll just stop subscribing them.

But still.

It's a bit much

agree - they should be able to do 10 or even 12 with a minimum commitment of 6 months

palethinboy

It is a really fantastic offer, however i do think it is a little too exspensive, if my financial situation was not so tight i wouldn't mind, but the little money i do have at the minute goes on albums i know i'll like.

hopefully in the future i can afford this luxary;)

DavyD_83

Love the idea, and would love to support Road.
Just cant afford it right now.
Pity its not a Monthly subscription, i'd happily sign up for the year if the cost was spread out in some way..

smackbunnybaby

I have been availing of this offer since February and find it an excellent idea.
It is true that some albums aren't always what I like but I will listen regardless and form an opinion on them to at least argue with people here over about, rather than blindly slam an album.

The albums are always timely and you receive them in the post, so for a few quid extra you are actually saving on a bus fare into town and back and also maybe saving spending more money you don't have on other items while in town. It's all about the hidden savings.

Also I like to think that I am helping a family who need money to survive and have been a great to help to numerous Irish bands over the years.
They would never think twice about stocking any old local bands demo to help them get off the ground.
At the end of the day this is a husband and wife and their small staff running a business for the love of it, not to make a profit, but to survive.
They have tried to adapt their business model to suit times, it is similar to the Rough Trade cd club model, where you put your faith in the tastes of the shop owners to help you out in your busy lifestyle by recommending music.

Do people not get excited about blindly buying an album anymore?
Do you have to search for rapidshare leak of an album?
Can the first time listening not be the time you bring the album home after buying it in a shop?

palethinboy

yES A MONTHLY SUBSCIPTION WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER OPTION FOR PAYMENT THAN A ONCE OFF LUMP SUM..........Ah sorry for the Caps lock!:D

does anyone know if there is a list of roads previous albums of the month so people can get an idea of what to expect?

lordgoat

I'd drop them an email, i'd say if you asked to pay monthly as well they would be very accomodating. D & J are tow of the nicest people you'll come across.

smackbunnybaby

The ones I remember were,

Owen Pallett
Field Music
Villagers
Besnard Lakes

It's only being going since January so I am missing 1 i think?

palethinboy

i don't have any of those & also wouldn't mind owning any of those! this seems perfect for me!