A few days back, my local alterna-music store resource didn’t have a disc I was looking for, so I call around and a Barnes & Noble in a swanky part o’ town had it. I had them put it aside and went to pick up my disc.
Not having been there before, I encountered for the first time these RedDotNet listening stations. They are so IDEAL!! You take whatever CD you want to sample, scan the barcode and it lets you hear not only high-quality samples of the music, but also pulls up AllMusic review and notes on the disc!! On a few of the units, you didn’t even need the disc – you merely just browsed the online archives. Interstingly enough, I didn’t find that as engaging as using the actual-CD-that-I-had-in-my-hand-type interaction.
I have been expecting the demise of the old brick&morter-selling-CD’s in favor of online distribution for years, but I am really impressed with this implementation for selling tradidional CDs. Although I can sample tracks via CDNow or some such e-tailer, not every track always has samples to hear. And they’re often of poorer quality. Sidenote: I hate RealPlayer.
I think I’m so impressed by it’s implementation. Even though many traditional record stores do let you audition some discs before purchase, it usually means waiting for a store clerk person to set up up at a listening station; and there is a limit to how many discs you can listen to; and so on…
Plus: to get the album details while you’re listening…that totally trumps plain old sampling. I have been an allmusic.com junkie for years and knew that they were affiliated with RedDotNet, but never knew what they were really up to.
Anyway, I recommend visiting a B&N just to check these things out! There is a picture of a station here.
BTW: If this is old hat to everybody and I’m just late in coming to the party, please pardon my enthusiasm.