Happiness in a record store

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

MAN ON THE SIDE  By Paul John Caña Happiness in a record store

On a recent trip to Singapore, I found myself wandering inside two of the biggest record store chains in these parts: HMV and Gramophone. Kids these days probably don’t even know what the inside of an honest-to-goodness record store looks like; they get their music from downloading off the Internet, or worse, buying the discs from their friendly neighborhood pirata. Which is too bad, because there’s something truly special about going inside a record store, combing the shelves and breathing in the aroma of records in their gleaming jewel cases. Here in Manila, the record-browsing-and-buying experience is all but lost. The once mighty and proud Tower Records chain declared bankruptcy three years ago, leaving its local branches (now operating under the name Music One) merely a shadow of their former selves. Music nerds rejoiced when the chain first opened its sprawling, three-storey store in Glorietta mall more than a decade ago. More than the relatively good selection of music, what I thought was really groundbreaking was the fact that the store employed knowledgeable music buffs as attendants. Finally, record hunters weren’t met with blank stares and clueless responses to legitimate music queries. Those really were the days. But all good things must come to an end. By now, most people hardly ever venture out of their rooms to get their music fix. Music downloading sites and software make searching for and procuring music as easy as grabbing a sandwich over lunch. The huge record stores are now a fourth or fifth of their size, or worse, have shut down permanently. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, but browsing through those shelves at Gramophone in Singapore, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of nostalgia—and good luck—for finding a few choice gems that were relatively cheaper than if I had bought them here in Manila. There is something truly special about holding a piece of music you really like in your hand, tangible and real. Perhaps this isn’t the proper time to debate the merits or disadvantages of the evolution of how we consume music, but one thing’s for sure—I sure miss spending those long Saturday afternoons just checking out the merchandise inside a record store.