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Most record stores play music over the store speakers, but I have not walked into any store that has some means of actively helping patrons identify the songs that they may hear while in the store. If a customer likes a song, but has no easy way of locating it, then a potential sale has been lost.
If record stores had in place small printers, scattered throughout, that would provide, free of charge, a printout of information (e.g., artist name, song title, and location of CD in the store) on the current song that is playing in the store, then people who like the song may be willing to use this info to help locate and buy the CD that contains this song. The printer could be combined with a small LCD-based panel that would allow the customer to scroll back several songs to be able to print out one that they may have missed. Of course, these printers would be connected to a main computer that could play the song or at least, send out the song’s information to the printers around the store.
The system would be relatively inexpensive: the printers used would be similar to the ones used to print receipts and the LCD could be small, like the ones used in answering machines or multi-line calculators.
The record store’s investment in buying the system would easily pay itself off by the additional sales generated. They can even keep track of, and promote, sales by giving a discount at checkout to those customers who used the printed ticket to help buy a record.
Some of you may be wondering, “why install this system if customers can just ask a store employee to help them identify the song?” The employee does not always know the song off the top of his / her head and in that scenario, he/she has to go and look for the song. Besides, some people may be dissuaded from having to find an employee to locate a song. The convenience provided by this inexpensive and automated system should help with staggering record sales.
- Thanks for looking! Any feedback is appreciated.
(?) CMJ's "in-store play" chart
http://www.cmj.com/...t_preview.php?id=32
here ya go [SquidInk, Oct 17 2004]
(?) Songlinkd
http://www.songlinkd.com/
"How many times have you heard a song and wished you knew who it was or wished you could get it before you forget it? Now you can..." [bristolz, Apr 19 2005]
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Annotation:
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Not a bad or difficult idea (especially if the store is playing MP3 tracks), but have you tried asking the sales assistants? Even in the megastores, someone will know what's playing. |
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And words of one syllable would *really* help bliss. |
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[miasere] - that link isn't set up quite right; could you jiggle it a tad? |
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I've been in a number of record shops where they either display the sleeve of the record/CD currently playing in a prominent position, or have some kind of sign/blackboard showing the name. Also, many record stores have some kind of horrible "in-store radio" with announcers naming the tracks played. And if the assistants have no idea what the song playing is, you should probably go to a better store. Having an automated system just seems far too complicated. Get to know your local record store assistants. They are your friends. |
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This is a good idea. The reason people don't bother to ask the assistants is because the answer will inevitably be accompanied by a sneery look of "what planet have you been living on for the past week that you don't know that this is the latest cool sound by MCarsehole and the clagnuts". Or equally sneery "so you like Kylie?".
Mind you it's difficult to blame them, it's probably the only chance they get to feel superior when they're on minimum wage and have the self-consciousness of the young wannabe hyper-trendy. |
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That's why I tend to shop in independent stores. They're often playing good stuff I've not heard before, and are willing to tell me all about it, should I ask. |
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Sleater-Kinney – “Little Babies”? |
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most music stores i have been in have a display that is like "Currently Playing" or something...and even if they dont, they will be more than ready to tell you the name of the song. i do this all the time, more often that not, in a store that doesnt SELL cds. |
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I would find a easier way to actually let people know what song is playing, then have printers thoughout the store but it is a good idea |
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For people with any musical sense, it should be possible to have a googlish-thing into which one could sing a small portion of a song that would search its database for the best lyric, melodic, and rhythmic match. Matching logic should preferably be designed to account for mondegreens and melodic oopses (for example, in some contexts a minor sixth can easily be mistaken for a perfect fourth). |
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[miasere] thanks for telling about
Shazam - it works! miracle of modern
technology. Does anyone know how it
works? I mean, does it extract features
from the music and match to a
database, or does it do a direct
comparison? Does it work if you hum
the track? (Just trying this...) |
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