Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Music news UPDATE! The end is nigh for Criminal Records
Posted by Chad Radford @ChadRad on Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 11:28 AM
According to 11 Alive’s post, "Store owner Eric Levin says Criminal Records has been increasingly unable to turn a profit since the rise of digital audio." The post later adds that Criminal will begin liquidating inventory immediately.”
D Day for the store is November 1.
UPDATE: According to Levin, "liquidation plans are in effect," but haven't been implemented yet. Levin also says that a "save Criminal Records" campaign is currently being planned as well, but it's going to be an uphill battle. The store has to raise approximately $150,000 by Nov. 1 to pay off a sizable debt that the store has accrued since moving to its current location at 1154-A Euclid Ave., in Oct. '08. Since the move the store has tripled its expenses while watching sales dwindle in the face music becoming increasingly available for free via the Internet.
Levin also added that one of the final straws showing just how bad the situation had become occurred in Sept. '10 when the Hoboken, NJ -based indie rock trio Yo La Tengo played an in-store performance for a crowd of about 350 people, but the store only sold 9 CDs and 11 LPs. "That was a real bummer that pretty much sums up the situation for everyone that's involved with this business," Levin says.
The campaign to save the store is still on the drawing board. No specific events have been confirmed yet, but money raised will be used mostly to pay a sizable debt that the store owes to the Georgia Department of Revenue.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
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Comments (48)
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For some reason I'd always thought that their traffic in vinyl and comics made them the rare exception. Sigh.
"Since the move the store has tripled its expenses while watching sales dwindle in the face music becoming increasingly available for free via the Internet." Seems an unnecessary bit of conjecture and moralizing; part of the problem is CDs cost a lot more than legal iTunes downloads as well.
Atlanta I feel your pain, but I wouldn't be blaming digital music for this. There were obviously some terrible business decision made here.
Everybody's hurting these days, and one of the first 'luxuries' I cut out of my budget after my layoff was $15-$20 CDs, comic books, t-shirts and the like... Sorry, but them's the cold, hard facts. Blame it on unemployment.
I used to do a "two-fer" weekly by buying my comic books (and usually other items) and eating pizza at Savage Pizza next door.
The parking in front of Savage and near and around Junkman's daughter kept things rather simple and hassle free.
Once Criminal moved to Euclid, going there was a hassle-especially with regards to parking- and no other L5P restaurants hold as much of a draw for me and I lost the convenience of proximity to Savage.
The move to Euclid lost my business. (NOT audio technology)
I'd love supporting local business and to continue to help float Criminal's enterprises, but Location^3.
Why buy music anymore? If you can watch it on youtube then you can strip out the audio for free. The record execs got away with murder charging us 20.00 per CD for YEARS. I'm sorry that the little guy gets punished too but this is what they get for being so greedy.
@ Charley Deppner
You do realize that they moved at most 500 yards away. There is a lot behind criminal and you are less than a 2 minute walk from Savage Pizza. You sir are one lazy bastard.
Charley Deppner: you are the reason Atlanta sucks balls. Sorry CR didn't have a drive-thru for your lazy ass.
Bummer.....but I still have no idea why they moved to a larger much more expensive space when the trend had already turned towards online music sales.
In related news: The world changed. The dinosaurs are dying or dead. And not a tear was dropped.
Everyone needs to get a fucking grip. Criminal Records is just another middleman standing between you and an allegedly participatory culture. They were in it for a percentage and now they're out of the game. Fuck 'em.
The 'new' location, 500 feet away, has 3x the expenses? Brilliant decision! They were already at the epicenter of all that suburban-hipsters-in-town-on-the-weekend money. What do they think could have possibly justified the rent increase?
@Charley Deppner -- Your fat self couldn't walk 500ft. around the corner? Seriously?
Seemed inevitable... if given the choice, why would someone want to purchase a dying/near death technology such as a CD?
Either way...sad to see a small biz go.
Everyone on here seems saddened by this. Now, do your part and make a donation. Save Criminal Records. Stop buying music digitally and buy it in-store. Don't just have a voice, be proactive.
@ Treble - A lot of people still buy music because we believe in supporting the artists. Funds don't just go to record executives but also to the musicians creating the music. I am a national touring musician myself so it's easier for me to identify and relate to independent struggling artists. I have been on the same sinking boat.
They lost me a few years back, over this stupid shit here:
http://winbatl.blogspot.com/2009/10/kicked-out-of-record-store-for-drinking.html
They've been dead to me ever since.
Loves me some Decatur CD though!
Don't be fooled by the politicians and the media...The depression is here, folks. Like I have to tell you that! While I'm here I might as well give another icy cold FUCK YOU! to George W Bush (I seem to never tire of it.) for giving away millions of AMERICAN jobs to Communist China amongst the various crimes committed while in office . CONGRATULATIONS on OPERATION DESTROY MIDDLE CLASS: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. No job, no house, no heath insurance, no money, no music...
@Stephen Crocker Why is it that nbo matter what the issue is asshats like you come out of the woodwork to politicize it? You whiny little bitch, why don't you run for office and fix things... I take it you are unemployed? Or underpaid? Some of us are doing just fine, in my case six figures and plenty of job security because I am good at what I do. Its EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY plain and simple.
For those of us who have a relationship with independent business and care about that kind of thing i.e. the heart and soul of our community, we get it and we don't want to see Crims die. It really is much more than just a record store. For those who want to say otherwise, your indifference and lack of understanding/apathy are what will eventually destroy the soul of the ATL.
Regardless of the fact that I don't ever shop there, I still hope they can find a way to stay in business. I don't need to shop there to care about their survival, the fact of the matter is that they are an employer in our city, and one of the few businesses that size that offers employees healthcare.
We should do what we can to keep local independent businesses like this around. This is about supporting the local arts as it is as much about anything else, a cause that I do personally throw a lot of my energy and money behind.
Lastly, the economy fucking sucks, and business owners make foolish decisions in hindsight. However, for any business to reach the 20 year mark takes numerous correct decisions, and we should be willing to help out with second chances for businesses in our community.
Too sad. I doubt that more than 10% of the current "record" buying public has even heard music the way it was meant to be listened to. Long live vinyl. Maybe Bob said it best - "...you should be made to wear earphones...".
First Movies Worth Seeing, and now this???
I am traumatized by this news. CR is in the triumvirate of coolest indie stores in the ATL: Acapella Books, Videodrome, Criminal Records. Most of the people working there are super-nice and knowledgable, and I consider it a vital part of the community. I do not get the infatuation with digitalized everything: books, music, films. I love me some tangible items; music and books are also a tactile experience, not just a visual/audio thing.
I will be devastated if they close and I plan to make a donation.
I think that the impending death of CDs and DVDs in favor of digital contributes to a corrosion of culture. And the death of books in favor of a freaking Kindle/eBook...don't get me started.
I do agree that CR made some bad business decisions, lthough...can they possibly find a smaller location in order to keep afloat?
Long Live Criminal Records! One of the best record stores ever!
Very sad. Not many record stores doing the things these guys did for the music community & for anybody that came in. I could always find really cool music, they always have stuff you have never seen. Free beer lots of times, free music every time you turn around. These guys will be missed! Probably the coolest store in town.
Am i the only one who read the AJC article and got the impression that the owner does not want the current incarnation of Criminal to be saved? I have no problem contributing to help pay off the debt even if they move loacations. Just curious really.
@Sissy Souljah -- It's telling that you both think Atlanta has a heart and soul and that trendster boutiques is where they are located. The assertion that the soul of a city can be found in its consumer culture is absurd.
I have news for you: Atlanta has no soul. It's singularly the most soulless city of its size. Hands down.
The 90s boom washed out what was left of the old southern character this town ever had and the reverse white-flight spearheaded by suburban college kids and young professionals in the last decade has killed everything else.
@pbassjoe -- I'm laughing out loud at how stupid it is to claim that "he way [music] was meant to be listened to" is vinyl. Music is meant to be experienced live. Not in your shitty living room staring at a rotating plastic disk.
Vinyl, MP3, 8-track, who gives a shit? What exactly do you think is gained listening to a modern album that was digitally mastered by listening to it on vinyl? Please do tell.
I find the vinyl medium superior regardless of how the material was originally recorded. Don't ask me how but it warms up the sound. It's typically much richer on LP. Try playing a CD then a LP of the same album. (Then try an mp3. Even they sound "fine" until you compare.)
who gives a flying fark? don't know how to run a business than you close... too bad levin ain't takin some of the hipsters w/him. pay your taxes and debts white people... the rest of us have to.
WHOOOO!!! I just wasted $4 renting Troll Hunter when I could've just read these comments!!!
Getting so heavily into the vinyl business and changing locations proved to be a poor decision. Vinyl outlets right around the corner (Wuxtry and Full Moon) sell vinyl for less markup and therefore sell more. And why would I buy a new release for $15.99 when I can score it at a show for $10 or on eBay for $12? The tight communal feel of the Aurora location ruled and I miss the outdoor shows. They should have ditched the entire toy section and put vinyl there instead of going for the big box feel of Euclid.
"I find the vinyl medium superior regardless of how the material was originally recorded."
...I bet you were that sucker that bought those 60.00 gold CDs back in the 1980's too.
That's funny Ramona, but wrong. I don't like any CDs, even "gold" ones. I guess making snarky comments is easier than trying my listening test, but you won't learn anything that way.
Another one bites the dust! And another one does and another one does... Is wax n facts next?!?
MP3 is the way to go. It won't be long now before all the record stores are gone. I wonder if people wrote opinion pieces about how awful it was when the telegram offices closed up and the milkman stopped coming by?
All the other music store clerks I've encountered since this news have been so very polite and not at all snide or sarcastic to me. I have a delicate and fragile spirit.
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