[I've updated this article; see my remarks on ArkivMusic in "The Winners" below.]
Of late I've been performing a number of surveys about music download vendors, from the classical point of view. (Here's one, and here's another, and here's another yet.) Thus it seems to me that an article about online CD stores would be in order.
The CD isn't dead yet, not by any means. CDs remain an excellent medium for high-quality sound; they're durable, easy to use, and come with handy album art and booklets. Furthermore, just about everything is on CD, while downloads remain a bit spotty, catalog-wise. Also, CDs are blessedly free of confusions such as file formats, DRM, and all that icky stuff.
There are a lot of online CD stores! As a result, I felt it necessary to restrict my choice of online stores, in order to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of choice that exists online.
The Stores
I chose my target vendors more by a process of elimination than anything else. My primary two criteria were: stores not requiring cumbersome currency exchanges, and no 'company' stores associated with a specific record label. I also stayed with commercial record stores, and not public clearinghouses like eBay.
My goal here is to look at the mainstream vendors. With that in mind, I sampled the following stores:
If your favorite isn't on this list, my apologies.
The CDs
I used a strategy for this test similar to one of my previous surveys: I shopped for eight different CDs at all of the stores in the list.
Eschewing the obscure, I focused on fairly basic stuff, from new releases on big major labels to the slightly less familiar. I was of the opinion that seeking out the truly arcane was of little value to this survey, given that anybody interested in such recordings is quite likely to know precisely where and how to get them.
Here are my selections:
- Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Symphony: Alma Brasileira - music of Villa-Lobos, on RCA
- Joshua Bell, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields: Vivaldi Four Seasons, on Sony/BMG (new release)
- Claudio Abbado, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala: Verdi Simon Boccanegra, on Deutsche Grammophon ("Originals" series)
- Kremerata Baltica: Vivaldi/Piazzola Eight Seasons on Nonesuch
- Thomas Fey, Heidelberger Sinfoniker: Haydn Symphonies, Vol. 10 (Nos. 60, 61, and Overture in D), on Hänssler Classic
- Andreas Staier, Concerto Köln: Salieri and Steffan Concertos for Fortepiano, on Teldec Das Alte Werk (2007 re-release)
- Marin Alsop, Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Samuel Barber Capricorn Concerto, etc., on Naxos
- Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony: Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, on RCA Living Stereo (2007 Sony/BMG re-release)
Criteria
First: price. Can vendor A sell me an album at a lower price than vendor B, without any extra strings attached?
Second: delivery time. Can a particular vendor get an album to me without a long wait? This could include shipping methods (i.e., can I get it within a day or so if I need), or stock (i.e., is the product listed as backordered or requiring extra shipping time?)
Third: shopping amenities. Does a vendor offer me the opportunity to sample tracks? Are there reviews available or extra information about the album in question? Does the vendor give me a list of all of the tracks? Is the album art available? Does the vendor offer recommendations for other albums, and if so, do they make any sense?
Fourth: imponderables. Do I feel comfortable shopping here? (i.e., is this a store which understands classical music and refrains from suggesting I buy a profanity-laden hip-hop album when I'm perusing Bach Cantata recordings?) Were the albums reasonably easy to find? Is there anything that makes this store particularly interesting, or offputting?
The Winners
I call a tie between Amazon and ArkivMusic.
Amazon offers a stellar classical CD experience, as one might expect from this leviathan of online stores. Everything was available at excellent prices, $109.86 being the total for all of the items on my list (not including shipping and tax.) Searching was effortless and near-instantaneous. Amazon offers links per item to its gigantic network of independent dealers, which make it the bargain hunter's paradise par excellence. Had I been willing to scatter my order amongst multiple dealers, I could have brought the price down by half, at least, if not more.
Amazon links to mp3 versions of its albums where available, sports a fine recommendation engine, and offers reviews, discussions, and all manner of goodies related to the album in question. As we all know, Amazon can get stuff to you in the blink of an eye if you need it quickly, but even if you don't pay the extra charges for overnight shipping, delivery times are generally excellent.
Note: Amazon was one of two stores (the other being TowerRecords) that offered the Joshua Bell/Vivaldi Four Seasons CD at an exceptionally low price.
ArkivMusic is the Nordstrom of classical CD stores. The prices aren't as low as Amazon, but at the same time Arkiv offers its wonderful catalog of ArkivCD reprints, which bring out-of-print items back into the catalog. Furthermore, Arkiv's layout is a delight; it's one of the very few online stores that invites leisurely shopping and browsing, organizing everything by composers, performers, ensembles, even down to the level of the individual work.
I find Arkiv's shipping to be on par with Amazon's, even allowing sometimes for extra production time for ArkivCDs, or tracking down hard-to-get items.
ArkivMusic is clearly a labor of love on the part of its management; thus I found its lack of the Andreas Staier recording to be a trivial objection. Classy, gracious, friendly, and endlessly inviting, ArkivMusic is a crown jewel among record stores.
[Update: ArkivMusic does have the Andreas Staier album, but certain critical database information had gone missing, so I couldn't find it. As soon as the fine folks at ArkivMusic read my article, they supplied the missing info, so now the album pops right up. There's that Nordstrom touch again...]
Honorable Mention
Tower Records (still alive online), for having all the albums for the lowest overall price, albeit presented on a garishly tacky site with minimal amenities.
HBDirect, also for having all of the albums at a reasonable price, but at potentially pokey delivery rates. There's a certain dignity to HBDirect.
Dishonorable Mention
Borders, for offering absolutely nothing that warrants its charging the second-highest price ($124.22) for the entire list -- ArkivMusic would have been higher had it stocked the whole -- while imposing a 2-4 week delay on one of the items.
Virgin Megastore, also for high prices, delayed shipping or missing items (two items with a 3-6 week delay), and a classical-agnostic, distressing online environment. From the main "Music" page, you'd never even know that Virgin has a classical catalog. I rather like Virgin's downtown San Francisco brick-and-mortar store (at least up on the third floor away from the distressing bombast below), but I will not be revisiting its online counterpart.
Charts and Tables
I offer full tables for each of the albums mentioned on the list; you may view a PDF by clicking here, or by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Download Linked File" (or its equivalent) if you'd like to keep a copy.
The table below gives the prices each store charges for the album in question, lists "Delays" (either in stock or in shipping), and gives the total price for those items that are available.
[Update: the Andreas Staier album (SS) is indeed available from ArkivMusic for $12.99, bringing the ArkivMusic total to $131.92.]
Comments
Have you looked at MDT?
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/home/default.asp
Thanks for bringing mdt up. I'm considering doing a later article including European and Japanese vendors, including mdt. There are some very interesting resources globally, of which I think mdt is outstanding.
That is all very fine! However, if you sample some British suppliers, you'll find much lower prices, fast deliveries (although the discs have to cross the Atlantic!), a far better knowledge of classical répertoire, and a much richer catalogue! As an example, try Crotchet or Presto! Efficient, fast and very reasonably priced! Very friendly too!God Save the Queen!!!
I'd like to add two points about Arkiv that perhaps only steady customers would know. First, their customer service is unparalleled. One of many examples: I bought a copy of Ethyl Smyth's "The Wreckers" (a 2 CD set)before they started reproducing liner notes with their ArkivCD reprints. When I wrote to ask if I could purchase a copy of the "Wreckers" booklet, they went ahead and shipped out a whole new set, CD's and all, for free.
Secondly, for each of the past three Christmases, they've sent me a $15-25 gift certificate. Do I spend more than the certificate amount? You bet. But I'd have bought all the stuff anyway.
To my mind, the extra buck or two you spend for a title at Arkiv pays for security. When I order something from them, I am absolutely certain that the item will be sent, will arrive promptly, and will be to my satisfaction. I've bought about 500 discs from them over the past 3 years, and maybe two of those have gone astray in the mail -- always replaced, promptly and for no additional charge. They're the best. Period.
I must agree with the assessment of Archivmusic but unfortunately they win by default. I purchase a great deal of my reading material from Amazon but I find their search function for classical music woefully inept with a great number of extraneous hits. I have purchased at least one CD from all the other vendors listed including the overseas ones and find the ocmments written to be mostly true. Having collected records of all types for a very long time, I worry about the health of Archivmusic. I am concerned that their trying to be all things to all men will result in their ultimate demise just like countless others such as Tower Records, Sam Goody, The Disc Shop and others whose names I have long forgotten. With Sirius/XM tottering on the brink and Apple trying desparately trying to make all music sound the same, I am running out of options except to fall back on the rather substantial library of prerecorded music that I already have.
Arkivmusic is the MOST expensive, and your article is deceiving as to that fact.
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