BEAT STREET RECORDS R.I.P.

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  • If you own Serrato or Final Skratch, or an iPod, please be decent and don't come here with your RIP. You are the reason why record stores are closing everyday.

    HAHAHAHA!

    Did you ever go to Beat Street?

    I have no pity for a store like Rock & Soul or a guy like Joe Abejian losing business because he can't sell 100 copies of a wack 12" anymore. Sorry.

    Beat Street didn't lose its business because of technology - it was well on the way down back when I was raiding the underbins for Rawkus deadstock gold 8, 9 years ago.


    You sound like you own an iPod.



  • HAHAHAHA!

    Did you ever go to Beat Street?

    I have no pity for a store like Rock & Soul or a guy like Joe Abejian losing business because he can't sell 100 copies of a wack 12" anymore. Sorry.

    Beat Street didn't lose its business because of technology - it was well on the way down back when I was raiding the underbins for Rawkus deadstock gold 8, 9 years ago.

    Hating is

  • I am not hating on Beat Street, I am sad that it is gone. But it's not the fault of Microwave or Ipods.

    Full Disclosure: I own both

  • Fulton will never be the same..it pretty much sucks now..R.I.P beat street..Is the asian dime piece still up in there?

  • If you own Serrato or Final Skratch, or an iPod, please be decent and don't come here with your RIP. You are the reason why record stores are closing everyday.




    I own Microwave and I just ordered records from two different online sites in the past 5 days alone.

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    If you own Serrato or Final Skratch, or an iPod, please be decent and don't come here with your RIP. You are the reason why record stores are closing everyday.




    I own Microwave and I just ordered records from two different online sites in the past 5 days alone.

    Yep. I own dildo and I spent hundreds on records in the YAY the other week.

    How do all you anti Microwave doods feel about DJ Finesse, who works there, tearing shit up with it at the end of that video?

    It is what it is man. You gotta adapt to the times.

  • If you own Serrato or Final Skratch, or an iPod, please be decent and don't come here with your RIP. You are the reason why record stores are closing everyday.




    I own Microwave and I just ordered records from two different online sites in the past 5 days alone.

    Yep. I own dildo and I spent hundreds on records in the YAY the other week.

    How do all you anti Microwave doods feel about DJ Finesse, who works there, tearing shit up with it at the end of that video?

    It is what it is man. You gotta adapt to the times.


    I'm not anti-technology- i'm just sad that the advancment of it is closing down record stores. Beat Street was a place I went to a lot! That's all.

  • dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

  • I'm not anti-technology- i'm just sad that the advancment of it is closing down record stores. Beat Street was a place I went to a lot! That's all.

    they sold CDJs.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    It's not that it's closing them down. It's a major factor tho.

  • Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    SOILENT GREEN IS MADE OUT OF PEOPLE![/b]

  • dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    It's not that it's closing them down. It's a major factor tho.

    It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

  • It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

    because hip-hop sucks in '06 'til infinity

  • It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

    because hip-hop sucks in '06 'til infinity


    TRUUUE

    I actually blame hip-hop equally as much as Ser.ato

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    It's not that it's closing them down. It's a major factor tho.

    It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

    Really? Where?

    And I'm talking about record stores that sell records. Not stores that sell them as a freak side show.

    And when you say 12" and dance/DJ clientele. Who do you think kept vinyl going for the last 15 years?

  • dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    It's not that it's closing them down. It's a major factor tho.

    It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

    Really? Where?

    And I'm talking about record stores that sell records. Not stores that sell them as a freak side show.

    And when you say 12" and dance/DJ clientele. Who do you think kept vinyl going for the last 15 years?

    Wooah, easy there.

    Academy has had pretty good success with new vinyl and reissues. Etherea, just around the corner from me, seems to be doing well basically selling indie records with the occasional smattering of kraut or punk reissues and originals. But I don't stock new records because the markup is shit and it takes months for one title to sell out.

    As for a "freak sideshow"... vinyl has always been a niche market outside of DJ culture.

    You are right though, DJ culture preserved vinyl to see this day, but I can't really find the pity in my heart for a business that enforced its profitability by selling literally truckloads of total CRAP to DJs who HAD to buy it (note: the DJs that supported these stores were often the ones that did not have pool service therefore had to spend their own hardearned, when they were already the ones making the least). This was an industry which threw shit at the wall to see what stuck with no quality control whatsoever and supported itself on the backs of working DJs...

    I don't see a lot of DJs complaining about how they can no longer go to Beat Street or Rock & Soul to buy that new Mariah remix 12". I don't hear a lot of dudes bitching about how, with record labels in the shitter, they're not getting the promo service they used to get (because most of them never got it to begin with).

    I mean, I am sad to see an institution like Beat Street go. I am sad to see the city morph into something new and unfamiliar. But to blame it on technology, or to say that the culture somehow let it perish... I mean that is bullshit. Beat Street (which was NOT owned by DJs, or hip hop heads at all) made millions off the culture by selling records that now nobody can even give away. They had a good run, and probably care less about it than we do.

  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.

    It's not that it's closing them down. It's a major factor tho.

    It is a major factor to shops that cater to 12" and dance/DJ clientele. New vinyl is doing ok in the album format in other genres...

    Really? Where?

    And I'm talking about record stores that sell records. Not stores that sell them as a freak side show.

    And when you say 12" and dance/DJ clientele. Who do you think kept vinyl going for the last 15 years?

    I don't see a lot of DJs complaining about how they can no longer go to Beat Street or Rock & Soul to buy that new Mariah remix 12".

    is it rock and soul gone?

    i am bummed out, b/c where the fuck am i gonna buy my hip hop wax now? LabcabinCalifornia?

    as a dj who doesn't use Microwave, this shit hurts... going down to Beat Street once a month to stock up and then dinner at juniors was my shit... the last year has def. been downhill there, but i still feel bad... they were def. way more dirty south focused than Rock N Soul (a place where i went in to ask for Still Fly before it had really exploded and the Bobbito Jr. dude there gave me a look like i was nuts... 2 months later they had like 30 copies on the wall...)... i mean, they carried Laffy Taffy about 3 months before LabcabinCalifornia had it... plus, now i gotta go out to VP to buy my dancehall 7"s...

    i didn;t really care when Music Factory stopped selling records, (they had the best reggeaton vinyl selection in nyc), but this kinda bums me out...


  • You are right though, DJ culture preserved vinyl to see this day, but I can't really find the pity in my heart for a business that enforced its profitability by selling literally truckloads of total CRAP to DJs who HAD to buy it (note: the DJs that supported these stores were often the ones that did not have pool service therefore had to spend their own hardearned, when they were already the ones making the least). This was an industry which threw shit at the wall to see what stuck with no quality control whatsoever and supported itself on the backs of working DJs...

    I don't see a lot of DJs complaining about how they can no longer go to Beat Street or Rock & Soul to buy that new Mariah remix 12". I don't hear a lot of dudes bitching about how, with record labels in the shitter, they're not getting the promo service they used to get (because most of them never got it to begin with).

    I mean, I am sad to see an institution like Beat Street go. I am sad to see the city morph into something new and unfamiliar. But to blame it on technology, or to say that the culture somehow let it perish... I mean that is bullshit. Beat Street (which was NOT owned by DJs, or hip hop heads at all) made millions off the culture by selling records that now nobody can even give away. They had a good run, and probably care less about it than we do.

    well thought out and said!

    everything said is SPOT ON.

  • SLurgSLurg 446 Posts
    dude, I feel you on Beat Street but it was on its last legs before Microwave was invented.


    Microwave IS NOT CLOSING DOWN RECORD STORES.
    ...not Beat Street specifically may be, but it IS closing down record stores. All the stores I know who sells new vinyls.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    Wooah, easy there.

    Sorry JP, I didn't mean to come off as an "attack" or jumpin' on you. I'm simply a dude who loves technology who just happens to have spent a major part of his life around record stores. From the age of 5 I was bagging cheesy disco trash. Don't get me wrong. Dildo is amazing. I was talking about Final Scratch long before Stanton bought it, when many were talking about CDJ's being the best thing since sliced bread.

    I have no problem with this.

    I've always stated on here. Technology rules the day. You either step up or get left behind.

    But you will see new vinyl releases almost become extinct. Major vinyl distributors will close or move totally away from vinyl. Major labels will almost totally cut pressing (cept for special promo shit). New vinyl releases & record stores as we know them are dying.


    Academy has had pretty good success with new vinyl and reissues. Etherea, just around the corner from me, seems to be doing well basically selling indie records with the occasional smattering of kraut or punk reissues and originals. But I don't stock new records because the markup is shit and it takes months for one title to sell out.

    You answered this at the end. Those shops ain't doing well selling new vinyl releases. Nobody is off that markup. Let me repeat that NOBODY! And you, and anyone else thats been in the biz, knows this. Some just aren't willing to come to terms with it yet.


    You are right though, DJ culture preserved vinyl to see this day, but I can't really find the pity in my heart for a business that enforced its profitability by selling literally truckloads of total CRAP to DJs who HAD to buy it (note: the DJs that supported these stores were often the ones that did not have pool service therefore had to spend their own hardearned, when they were already the ones making the least). This was an industry which threw shit at the wall to see what stuck with no quality control whatsoever and supported itself on the backs of working DJs...

    I'm not gonna get into this. But your use of words like "enforced" and "HAD" are a bit misleading. The shit ain't crack. Nobody put the vinyl into anyones hands and had some big dude make them buy the record. DJ's bought these records because either, they had shitty taste to begin with or it was needed for them to somehow get paid in the end. And as we all know, alot of people got paid. From big named DJ's all the way down to that dude who plays cheesy ass shit at weddings. Hell, even dudes who put together mix tapes in their rooms were getting paid from pushing their shit. Even the biggest of named DJ's still bought records. They could get servicing without a problem. But the problem with getting serviced, is waiting to get that shit in the mail. When they could get it at a shop without the wait. And in the DJ music biz, you can't afford to wait.


    I don't see a lot of DJs complaining about how they can no longer go to Beat Street or Rock & Soul to buy that new Mariah remix 12". I don't hear a lot of dudes bitching about how, with record labels in the shitter, they're not getting the promo service they used to get (because most of them never got it to begin with).

    Of course DJ's ain't complaining. Who in their right mind would complain? It's free now. But ask in 5 years if anyone is making anymore money than they were with the advent of the MP3 & Dildo type deals. I'm betting they won't be. The first in line to be in for a hurting is the wedding DJ. But you will see it move up to dudes playing in clubs.
    We could talk about this all day, but being at work, I don't really have the time.

    I mean, I am sad to see an institution like Beat Street go. I am sad to see the city morph into something new and unfamiliar. But to blame it on technology, or to say that the culture somehow let it perish... I mean that is bullshit. Beat Street (which was NOT owned by DJs, or hip hop heads at all) made millions off the culture by selling records that now nobody can even give away. They had a good run, and probably care less about it than we do.

    I will say this... I do fine it slightly amusing that for a guy who says something like "a business that enforced its profitability by selling literally truckloads of total CRAP to DJs who HAD to buy it". Can now makes more money off of selling just one of those shitty ass records from back in the day (which for some at that time were considered bullshit or crap, but today it has value for whatever reason) than when the store who sold 50 of them when they were brand new. [/no diss]

  • Nah, I don't take it as a diss.

    You may assume that because I sell rare records that I don't discriminate between a great, truly rare item and some bullshit record from back in the day that a timmy-come-lately popularized on their rare rap mix CD and that people are sitting on literally boxes and boxes of.... that is not the case. And I try my best to be honest with customers as to what is a great record and what is a fad.

    What I am talking about when I say crap is shit that will NEVER have value. You could say that people back in the day didn't think that such-and-such record would be valuable.... but in hindsight they were wrong. It's my job to try and understand that process and predict it in the future... and most of the records that DJs have been spending their money on will NEVER accrue value. Look at those DJ Mixer 12"s from the disco era... they're still dollar bin fodder. Whereas some "random rap" crap that nobody cared about is worth hundreds. Killer Kuts will never be worth money, but I bet some Dipset white label will be.

    The whole game has changed, I will give you that... but having seen the other side of it - the side of buying endless Crooklyn Clan 12"s and Hot Trax and shit like that... I mean, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on shit like that... man. I mourn the change in the culture but not the downfall of the dudes who made all that cake.

    As for money.... I don't know man. I think you are incorrect in assuming that technology will phase out the DJ themselves... and I can tell you, from the perspective of a guy who spins like 3 gigs a year that my take is definitely better than if I had to go out and buy a bunch of bullshit 12"s in advance of any gig.

    Nonetheless RIP Beat Street.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    Nah, I don't take it as a diss.

    You may assume that because I sell rare records that I don't discriminate between a great, truly rare item and some bullshit record from back in the day that a timmy-come-lately popularized on their rare rap mix CD and that people are sitting on literally boxes and boxes of.... that is not the case. And I try my best to be honest with customers as to what is a great record and what is a fad.

    What I am talking about when I say crap is shit that will NEVER have value. You could say that people back in the day didn't think that such-and-such record would be valuable.... but in hindsight they were wrong. It's my job to try and understand that process and predict it in the future... and most of the records that DJs have been spending their money on will NEVER accrue value. Look at those DJ Mixer 12"s from the disco era... they're still dollar bin fodder. Whereas some "random rap" crap that nobody cared about is worth hundreds. Killer Kuts will never be worth money, but I bet some Dipset white label will be.

    The whole game has changed, I will give you that... but having seen the other side of it - the side of buying endless Crooklyn Clan 12"s and Hot Trax and shit like that... I mean, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on shit like that... man. I mourn the change in the culture but not the downfall of the dudes who made all that cake.

    As for money.... I don't know man. I think you are incorrect in assuming that technology will phase out the DJ themselves... and I can tell you, from the perspective of a guy who spins like 3 gigs a year that my take is definitely better than if I had to go out and buy a bunch of bullshit 12"s in advance of any gig.

    Nonetheless RIP Beat Street.


    Hey, I love convo's like this. I like talking record store shit with people that are in the know. Now that I'm out of the record game, I kinda miss it. Unless I go down to Play da Record and talk with Eugene or other owners around the world I know (If I somehow bump into them someway).

    One thing. Tho I dislike those bootleg dudes cause wholesale prices were always too much and for ever one record that sold well. 5 didn't and you were suck with dead stock. They did serve a purpose. DJ's could get 3 or four hits on one 12. Or there was a hot unavailable mix that went over well in the club. But whatever. This is all kinda like crying over spilt milk.

    I'm not upset with MP3's or dildo. I'm just sad with the fact that DJ record stores are on their way out. Forget about records... The social aspect of the store was the real shit. And in the future, kids will never know what it was like, to go down to the record store, hang out and feel the vibe. They'll sit at home in their underware and get something off the net (That isn't real) and never know about the sounds or the smell or the personal interaction with those also in the store.

    But C'est la vie.

    Peace



  • I'm not upset with MP3's or dildo. I'm just sad with the fact that DJ record stores are on their way out. Forget about records... The social aspect of the store was the real shit. And in the future, kids will never know what it was like, to go down to the record store, hang out and feel the vibe. They'll sit at home in their underware and get something off the net (That isn't real) and never know about the sounds or the smell or the personal interaction with those also in the store.

    But C'est la vie.

    Peace

    Definitely agree with you there. Although, to me that predated the technology - maybe it's just me getting older but as the music got more and more formulaic and people cared less and less about it you saw that people didn't really care to go to the stores every week and build on what new records came out, what were gonna come out, what the new hotness was... that seemed to stop back around the turn of the millenium.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts


    Definitely agree with you there. Although, to me that predated the technology - maybe it's just me getting older but as the music got more and more formulaic and people cared less and less about it you saw that people didn't really care to go to the stores every week and build on what new records came out, what were gonna come out, what the new hotness was... that seemed to stop back around the turn of the millenium.

    But thats the thing. The exclusivity aspect is gone. Nobody cares. The thrill of the hunt or knowing that only a few others had it made it special. There were times when something would drop and there would only be a handful in the whole city. Those days are gone... Now everyone and their sisters ipod's got it. To make it more painful, nobody really cares about an MP3 that doesn't really exist. Which, in the end, might make you not really care about the music. Which is suppose to be the important thing. It's all relative. Even in DJ music biz scene, there is such a thing like the butterfly effect.

    But whatever. I luv me some mp3's. I'm just not gonna sit here and pretend like it's going to make shit easier or better in the end. Cause there will be consequences down the line. To what degree, knowbody knows.

    But with all these stores closing (And lets use NYC for an example). Where is the home of hip hop in the city? Where do dudes goto when they come from other parts of the world? Do they goto that lil community centre room where Herc started playing parties and take a picture? Do they go and stand outside The Source or whatever record label and hang out? Do they hang in their hotel room and tune in a local NYC radio show? Or hang out at the park in the Bronx?

    I'm just wondering. Cause soon it's won't be a record store.

    Tho, I am really hoping they somehow find their way to ur shop and wanna spend dollahs on ur fine goods in any case!!!

  • Did Rock and Soul close too?





  • But with all these stores closing (And lets use NYC for an example). Where is the home of hip hop in the city? Where do dudes goto when they come from other parts of the world?
    never been to nyc, but how bout fatbeats?? do they carry new hip hop records that they dont have a hand in manufacturing??? i dont know

  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    Did Rock and Soul close too?
    Rock and Soul closed it's doors a while ago (forget exactly when).

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts




    But with all these stores closing (And lets use NYC for an example). Where is the home of hip hop in the city? Where do dudes goto when they come from other parts of the world?
    never been to nyc, but how bout fatbeats?? do they carry new hip hop records that they dont have a hand in manufacturing??? i dont know

    Well, Fat Beats has always been about selling the same type shit they distribute. Mostly geared to Indie stuff. Never much stuff on major labels. I don't even know anymore. Are all 3 stores open? Or have some closed down now?

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts

    Rock and Soul closed it's doors a while ago (forget exactly when).

    In dealing with those cats, I always was feeling a bit of shaddyness going on. But damn, I did get some great hook ups of buying in quantities of certain things there...

  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    Did Rock and Soul close too?
    Rock and Soul closed it's doors a while ago (forget exactly when).
    no shit? That sucks too. Ive only been there a few times, and was a little ehhhh on the prices, but it still seemed like a cool spot with good variety. Anymore when i goto nyc i hit up a-1 and the sound library. I want to hit up Good next time i get into town. All and all i don't think we will ever see the demise of boutique record stores that cater to a certain market, djs and producers, rock/punk collectors, etc... But the time has begun of the deaths of the corporate or mass warehouse record stores, like tower and beat street. There is just not that demand to get the new papoose 12" in bulk, like the way joints sold in the 90s. Paycheck summed it up pretty good in his post. I honestly could give a fuck about those places. Its sad to see them go, but its about time. Those places had a very good and lucrative run and its just not needed anymore. I like the vibe too of the smaller shops in the les or whatever. The heads there usually know there shit and can help/assist you when needed. Or just have a nice convo about music. Tower wasn't really like that to me. It was like the record walmart.
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