Stephen Garland wrote:

Crumbs, I didn't think my trip to Woolies would start such an ethical debate. But I don't mind helping it on a bit.

neither do i, i feel somewhat to be a devils advocate, except we're all agreeing on the same thing which is unnerving ;)

David K says that to buy from a major store only helps them to dictate what you'll buy next. Surely, buying indie records from major stores will make them stock more indie stuff, which I hope everyone agrees is A Good Thing (except those people who don't want their favourite indie bands to become more successful, of course).

what i meant was that the large chains and corporates would eventually stock what they perceived to be 'indie' in a ploy to get money. they would only buy records in which they felt they were guaranteed a quick and healthy return on. the major difference between that and a real 'indie' store is that indie stores have a much better ordering ethic. the people in indie stores tend to be like us and love the music, they go out on a limb and when they here that promo that they love from say 'clinic' they buy the 7" in knowing that it's good music and that by playing it and supporting it they are helping good and diverse music survive. i recognise that indie shops may have evil bosses and money-lusting accountants, but the truth is that it's the staff in the indie stores which make the difference and support new music, new records and new labels. it is they that put themselves out by ordering 'risky' new music (i.e. without a guaranteed return, and without the safety of sale or return guarantees from the distributors.). larger chains have central buying policies which on the whole do not allow for local support from particular shops, it does not allow for a scottish branch to support a scottish band, hence the fact that only records which have 'national' appeal ever reach their shelves and things which have regional appeal tend to only reach the shelves when they've been proven to sell. the indie shops have got it hard with the proliferation of competition due to the spread of the larger stores which had until recently been happy with their captive city centre markets. indie stores are threatened with going bust for their continuing support of 'indie' music, every shop owner knows that the money lies in mid-price and chart records. b&s until know have not been either, and the indie shops supported them, and were probably where you bought 'sinister' from, now b&s are chart music (it's a fact, not a comment on their music), and still the indies support it. so now the choice is with us, do we help and support the indie stores that helped b&s and us meet, or do we choose to aid the very type of company that until very recently refused to stock records like 'sinister'? i, at every opportunity, will continue to support the 'indie' ethic and the 'indie' chain of supply as that is the way that i feel will always bring the great new music to my ears. either we're in this and we don't dilute our ideals and dreams, or we're in this and we do give up our beliefs for money, the latter being what most of you would call 'selling out', the earlier one being what the press, large record shop chains and majors would call 'indie-schmindie crap' or 'lost opportunites to exploit the act for the greatest possible return' but what i would call integrity or something along that line. now, i realise that this isn't one of those topics that will simply disappear, but maybe i've had a momment of clarity enough to be able to put my views across. cheers david kitchen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- david kitchen : merchandising and websites : jeepster records http://www.jeepster.co.uk/ http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/ mailto:shop@jeepster.co.uk jeepster recordings ltd, 217 canalot, 222 kensal road, london w10 5bn to subscribe to the news mailing list mail majordomo@jeepster.co.uk with the words 'subscribe news' in the body of the message there is no need to subscribe if you are on the 'sinister' list +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+