RE: Rootdown 99


Dirk van den Heuvel (dirkv@groovedis.com)
Wed, 6 Oct 1999 19:01:18 -0500



Mark,
Brings up a good point about downtempo records not selling for certain
stores. Due to the scarcity of downtempo deejays, clubs, etc. downtempo
records require a bit more attention to buy and sell. By this I mean someone
at the store has to know the records and the customers and play a bit of
matchmaker (anybody who deals with me either a store or individual will know
by experience what I'm talking about here). If the store just buys stuff, no
matter how good, and doesn't have an active client base and knowledgeable
staff it won't sell. Some stores don't really do well with downtempo, some
because they don't buy enough or the right record (which usually means they
don't buy from us :>), or they don't have the clientele or someone on staff
who champions the records (or a listening booth). If we didn't bust our ass
to tell stores about records, or play the records for them down the phone,
they wouldn't sell either (except the big obvious ones). Same goes at the
store level. "Buy them and they will sell" just ain't true. At least not for
downtempo tracks (or anything off beat or fringe for that matter).

Dirk van den Heuvel (dirkv@groovedis.com)
Groove Distribution
www.groovedis.com
Your Guide To The Underground

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Turner [mailto:mturner@netcom.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 2:59 PM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Rootdown 99

Dirk said:

> downtempo records made. Since we specialize in downtempo and jazzy beats
we
> have a good overview of what comes out and there is definitely enough
> records every week for Mark to play a whole night of downtempo or
> (post?)acid jazz tracks, the question is can he find them? In many cities,
> at many stores the answer would be no. The stores don't carry it, or don't
> stock many copies so for a lot people or deejays it may APPEAR that there
> aren't enough records. But there are.

One of the best record stores I've ever shopped at regularly was
Drop Beat in Oakland (now sadly defunct). When they first opened,
their stock was pretty much evenly divided between: house/techno,
drum'n'bass, and acid jazz/downtempo. Over the course of the
year or two I went there, I saw the downtempo section slowly
shrinking, with good releases sitting in the racks week after week
while much of the stock in the other sections turned over quite
rapidly. Bottom line: downtempo didn't sell. So it doesn't
surprise me if stores with limited shelf space choose to fill it
with other types of music.

Props to Dirk for supporting the downtempo/jazzy beats and
making it available to us via mail order. :-)

--
Mark Turner         | "Jazzadelica" with Rocky Rococo on KFJC
mturner@netcom.com  | Sundays 10pm-2am, 89.7 FM, Los Altos Hills, CA



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