17.6 Are there any good mail-order sources for recordings?
Description
This article is from the rec.audio.* FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Bob Neidorff others.
17.6 Are there any good mail-order sources for recordings?
Alas, Noteworthy is out of business as of November 1996.
BMG and Columbia also sell CDs mail-order, but have a smaller
list of offerings and higher prices. However, BMG and Columbia
have interesting deals to entice new customers. Read the fine
print before you sign to be sure that they are right for you.
BMG and Columbia both have promotional offerings to "members"
which allow you to buy two or three discs for the price
of one. These can be very good deals, if you want what they
have. Look at their advertisements in common magazines and
Sunday newspapers for a better idea of what they carry. They
list much of their line in their ad. Don't expect much more.
For more information on BMG and Columbia, see section 10.13,
10.14, 10.15, and 10.16 of this FAQ.
Tower Records has a mail order department which also sells CDs.
Tower is a large retail chain. Many have bought from their
retail outlets happily. They do not have a catalog of their own,
but will sell you a Schwann or similar catalog and offer to get
virtually any disc out of those catalogs. Contact:
Tower Records Mail Order Department
692 Broadway
New York City, NY 10012 USA
800-648-4844 or 800-522-5445
Another source is Music New Hampshire; 800-234-8458. They sell
many $3.79 post-paid sampler CDs and also many independent label
single-artist discs. Most single artist discs are $15.00 each.
Shipping is $3 for 1-3 discs and $5 for 4-up. Their stuff is
mostly obscure artists. They have Rock, Jazz, Classical, Folk,
Country, and Children's offerings. Affiliated with CD Review.
Music New Hampshire - Wayne Green Inc
70 Route 202N
Peterborough NH 03458-1107 USA
If you like the idea of buying CDs by Modem, consider
The Compact Disc Connection
1016 East El Camino #322
Sunnyvale CA 94087 USA
Voice 408-733-0801
Modem 212-532-4045 New York City NY
312-477-3518 Chicago IL
408-730-9015 Sunnyvale CA
617-639-0238 Boston MA
Telnet cdconnection.com
They have a collection of over 120,000 CD titles. People have
said that their service is excellent. Prices are fairly good.
Shipping is $3.50 for orders under $100.00 and free for larger
orders. They do not stock anything, but deliver from the
warehouses of their suppliers. This means that some items may
be back ordered or completely discontinued while remaining in
their on-line data base. They advertise 94.2% of orders in
1992 shipped, though not necessarily immediately. You can also
get their catalog from ftp.cdconnection.com
There have been a couple of music (cd/lp) mail-order lists
compiled on the net - one older list can be found via anonymous
ftp to ftp.uwp.edu in the file: /pub/music/misc.mailorder.rmm
Someone is revising this file and it should be updated or found
in a new file name there in the future.
Another list contains vendors that specialize in progressive
rock, electronic and experimental music, is maintained by
Malcolm Humes and posted sporadically to alt.music.progressive,
rec.music.misc, & rec.music.info. This also can be ftp'd from
ft.uwp.edu, in the file: /pub/music/misc/mailorder.progressive
Federal Music and Video markets "Discount Coupon Books"
featuring two-for-one CDs and Tape deals. They require payment
with the order, which many consider risky. One company that
distributes these coupon books for Federal Music is Reed Music.
The price from Federal or Reed Music with the two-for-one deal
is comparable to the price from Noteworthy. So far, no net
user has yet related any positive or negative experience with
Reed Music or Federal Music and Video. Federal Music and Video
has been in business since 1985, so is probably legit. However,
in that they require payment in advance it is probably safer
to avoid them completely and use a discounter like Noteworthy.
Occasionally, a new dealer will pop up offering free CDs
and/or a great coupon book. They may be a dealer for Federal.
Save your money.
There is a list of mail-order music companies on the web:
http://www.razorsedge.net
Most seem to be specialized smaller dealers.
When considering mail purchases of CDs, consider shipping costs.
It is common for people to charge between $1 and $3 per disk for
"shipping and handling". This makes mail order less attractive,
but may be equally balanced by a lack of sales tax.
Get archive "mailorder.txt" from "/pub/cd" on "jammin.nosc.mil"
for a complete list of mail order music sellers.
Continue to:
My Books
