As many people have hobbies and interests, I too have one. However, mine is one that is time-consuming and frustrating. My interest is listening to music ('frustrating' you ask? Read on.), and last time I checked it was a very common interest. However, the style of music I favor is different from the typical easy listening "radio" music. My passion is punk music. I have encountered a major problem when it comes to this interest of mine. I can not simply walk into a store and buy CDs I like. Most of the bands I like- Trigger Happy, DFL, One Hit Wonder, AFI, Union 13, Choke, The Living End- are on tiny independent record labels, which ninety-nine per cent of record stores neglect to distribute or carry in stock. I find the trouble I go through to get a CD ludicrous. I believe if you want to listen to something, or buy something, you should be able to walk into a store and get it. Some of the CDs that I like and have been able to get have taken me upwards of six months to do so. I have made orders from stores, but the CD never arrived; I have made numerous long distance phone calls to labels, distributors, and stores and still been unable to find what I'm looking for. I have searched the Internet to no avail. I have ordered CDs that cost me upwards of thirty-five dollars, which should have cost me twenty (keeping in mind that these CDs are not imports, all bands are either Canadian or American). Upon talking to distributors, they only distribute to stores, not individuals. Then I go to a store and ask them to contact the distributor for me, and they won't because it's too expensive and there isn't enough demand. I don't care if I'm the only person in the world who wants a certain CD. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET IT.
Take a walk into any local record store, and you'll find a "world music" section with varieties of Latin music, Celtic dance, and various other international music. Now, let's be realistic. How much demand in Sault Ste. Marie could there possibly be for these types of music? (I am not putting down this type of music, only commenting on demand, remember.)
When I speak of my grief in trying to find music that I like in stores, I am not speaking on just a local level. Even in large urban centers, though the selection is better, I have still encountered these problems. I find it unbelievable that there are literally thousands of independent record labels that record stores turn a blind eye to. Record labels such as Smallman, Raw Energy, Epidemic, Bad Taste, Sonic Unyon, Nitro, Epitaph, to name a few are worth looking into rather than being ignored. Just because my favorite bands are not signed to huge record labels such as Colombia or Sony doesn't mean they have no talent, it just means they may remain unheard of to a lot of people who might enjoy their music. I anxiously await the day where I can walk into a store and buy an armload of my favorite CDs because I believe that's how it should be.
