You may have heard retail chain FYE will not be carrying the awesome new Scissor Sisters record. Why? Because its parent company is apparently run by a bunch of six-year-olds. Via MTV News:
“I complained at the NARM [the National Association of Recording Merchandisers] convention that [For Your Entertainment's] record prices were too high,” Shears told MTV News over the weekend at Baltimore’s Virgin Festival. “A few months ago, I went to go buy the new Raconteurs album, and it was like $18.99. Of course, I rounded it up to $20 when I made the comments, and now they’re denying it. They said, ‘Our records are not $20, they’re $19.99.’ And so now they’re not carrying our new record. I mean, even Wal-Mart is carrying it, but FYE is not.”But Shears is only partially accurate, because FYE isn’t the only chain that won’t be carrying the New York band’s Ta-Dah ? neither will Sam Goody, Strawberries, Wherehouse, Specs or Coconuts. Like FYE, those chains are owned by Trans World Entertainment, an Albany, New York, entertainment conglomerate that is one of the largest retailers of music, video and video games in the U.S.
According to Trans World President and CEO Jim Litwak, his company was just expressing its displeasure at Shears’ comments, which he said were untrue and unfair. And furthermore, he said the whole situation could’ve been avoided had the band bothered to pick up the phone and call him.
“Mr. Shears said that he tried to buy a Raconteurs album but didn’t because it was too expensive,” Litwak told MTV News. “But he didn’t bring it up to register, because if he did, he would’ve seen that the CD was on sale.
“So Mr. Shears made an incorrect statement at a convention instead of reaching out to us, to discuss our pricing,” Litwak continued. “We decided that it would’ve been nice to get an apology from them, so we reached out to their distribution company [Universal Music Group Distribution] to let them know we were displeased, and we never heard back from them. So we made the decision not to carry the band’s new release.”
…
“All they had to do was pick up the phone and talk to us,” Litwak said. “But they didn’t elect to do that. We were ignored, and he made those comments. So who’s the injured party here? Plus, FYE hates homos.”
OK, we made up that last sentence. But what the fuck?
Incidentally, you can buy the first Scissor Sisters album at FYE.com for only $28.98.
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TWE..doing their part to help stop piracy.
TWE..doing their part to help stop downloading piracy.
overpriced, yes. but people who shop at places like FYE and Borders for music deserve to get ripped off.
Does anyone know what happened to The Wall and their lifetime CD warranty?
I worked for the Wall as it was going out of business. Originally the higher ticket prices were to cover costs for the returning items coming in but I believe the policy died when the Wall did.
Crazy thing was, the employee discount didn’t even come close to other stores. I would actually go to Best Buy to purchase a new item and get it up to $5 cheaper than if I had used my employee discount and got it there.
Man who shops at these crappy overpriced record stores anyway? Their selection sucks and the prices are always way over the MSRP.
this fye guy is a douchebag. most of their discs *are* $18.99 — shears is just telling it like it is. and who the hell goes up to the register to ask if something’s on sale if it’s not marked down?
“hi, this says it’s $18.99 but could you scan it to see if it’s cheaper? oh, it’s on sale for $17.99? i don’t see that price anywhere on it. anyway, i still think it’s kinda expensive — can you please get the president and CEO of your parent company on the line so we can discuss this? that way i won’t have to complain publicly.”
Pretty sure these FYE types know they’re overpriced and are preying on the lazy consumer. It’s a lose-lose situation for SS and FYE: both lose revenue because of some moron at the top. Let’s see which group sticks around longer from here on..
> Does anyone know what happened to The Wall
> and their lifetime CD warranty?
Oh man, was the Wall expensive! The one at the mall I went to growing up replaced a Square Circle, which was previously called Record World. Now I think there’s a Coconuts there. I remember back in the day Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F was $18.99 at the Wall. Unbelievable.
i used to work at fye. they used to tell us that the cds were so expensive because unlike places like best buy, we didn’t have high end electronics or appliances to get money from. or something. anyway, it’s said that one of the reasons the wall went out of business was BECAUSE of that lifetime guarantee thing. story goes that so many people were returning products that the store couldn’t turn a profit. don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s what we heard. anyway, i DO know that fye bought up a lot of the wall’s inventory after they closed up. i had a lot of loyalty to fye for the two years i worked there, but they were not a fun company to work for, and now, i buy my cds at best buy.
Here in So. Cal. all of the Sam Goody stores have closed. Funny thing is they had a store liquidation sale. All CD’s were 12.99 at the start by the end I bought CD’s for as little as 1.99 and then sold them at the used place down the street for 5-6 bucks a piece.
I was under the impression that artists rarely make a lot of money from CD sales. . .sure, it helps with promotions, but the real money is with tours and such. . So, they’re just really screwing the record company, of which, I have no problem with.
…ah, yes, FYGoodySomeFruitHouse. Preying on the lazy, the young and the uniformed. As a former mega-record store *cough, Tower, cough* employee (we’re cooler because we aren’t actually IN the mall) I guarantee that the consumer of choice is the one least informed of their options.
For God’s sake, people. If you can’t find the album you want on the cheap at least pay full price at your local INDEPENDANT record store. (Yes, they can even get you that new Clay Aiken CD even if it makes them die a little inside…)
The Wall went out of business because those little “lifetime guarantee” stickers weren’t that hard to remove and put onto CDs that weren’t working.
the scissors’ label should share in some of the blame here – not just for failing to return the call, which I’m guesssing is likely true; but potentially for the original pricing arrangements.
Laura, artists DO make money from record sales. Yes, it might not be as much as from tours, merch, etc. but it does matter. If not for the money made from it, then the indirect influence that record sales will have on a label wanting to continue supporting an act. Act sells no records, act finds itself ass-up on the street.
This, of course, is ignoring the fact that the “it just screws the record label, and they’re all evil anyways so fuck ‘em” rationale is some of the dodgiest moral relativism I’ve seen on a grand scale in quite a while.
fye is shit. i’ve been in a few times. the used cds are few and far between… takes way too long to find something decent. when you do find one that interests you, it costs the same as an adequately priced new copy. if you find a new cd you’d like, barring shipping, you can get like, 2 cds for the same price. in the end, people overpay for the “convenience,” of it all. the mall is evil. go to an indie store, or just order from online. your wallet thanks you in advance.
/capn obvious, hopefully
oh, and i still can spot a belle and sebastian cd that was released years ago for 20 dollars. even “it’s a wonderful life,” by sparklehorse which was released in 03-04 is 20 bucks. AND i was that dude to go up to the counter and ask if the price was right, and god damn, the price was right.
Andrew said, “This, of course, is ignoring the fact that the “it just screws the record label, and they’re all evil anyways so fuck ‘em” rationale is some of the dodgiest moral relativism I’ve seen on a grand scale in quite a while.”
This is not a fact. This is an opinion. Please do not misuse the word “fact.” Thank you.
On the day of its release, I went to FYE to buy RocknRoll by Ryan Adams – FYE being the only music store near my ofice, and I was on my lunch break. I was dumbfounded when I looked at the cover of the CD, which had a sticker attached that read “Special Low Price” — but that special low price was $16.99! I still went ahead and bought it for the sake of instant gratification – I thought of it as a convenience premium. But I don’t think I’ve gone in there since.
Ah, good ol’ Albany keepin’ it real. Yeah, real dumb.
And as TransWorld keeps growing, the last independent record store of record in Albany (Music Shack) recently closed down due to low sales. Go Albany! Why do I live here?
I’m actually a fan of the Virgin Megastore for brand spanking new vinyl, within the first two weeks of release. They usually sell the new stuff for $11 – $13.
yeah, spaceboy music closed in philadelphia. a sad day indeed. yet there is still an FYE in every mall around me.
…for everything else, it’s all about Bleeker street. I thought all of you guys were iPeople; what do CD prices matter to you?
I’ve been procuring my CDs at Rasputin Records all my life. If you shop there 2 weeks after a new album is released, youll find a couple copies of it for $2-$5!! Even if it doesnt turn up in the used section, the sell it for the full price of $8.99!! That place has always been a bargin and couldnt think of anywhere else to be musically fruggle.
Even if Transworld HAD taken the record they would have made the label pay $3 per disc in advertising. So basically TWE is paying under $10 per disc and then selling them for damn near $20.
Scissor Sisters are better off without them … all of this free publicity will sell more records than Transworld ever could.
They are a few FYE stores in the Buffalo area. There used to be one or two in malls that had prices in the $18.99-21.99 range, which was a fucking joke, but now that Media Play closed down, they opened up stores in several of their former locations.
The ones not located in the mall offer pretty decent prices ($9.99-11.99 for new titles, and prices that are in the Circuit City area) and the cd buyback program they have is ridiculous. They were giving $6-8 and sometimes more for such shit like Eminem and Kid Rock. The used cd section was usually loaded with gems for low prices ($5-9 per cd, with most of the albums by Pulp for four fucking dollars)
The mall FYE are a whole different story. The prices are just fucking ridiculous. Most of the indie record stores in the Buffalo area suck as well, so I’m not loyal to any one location.
I work at an FYE here in Connecticut and I’d just like to say that it’s absolute bullshit working there. Aside from myself being an obsessive music/movie addict, the employees couldn’t give two shits about actual music. The assistant manager at my store barely knows anything that’s going on outside of his mother’s basement. I’m forced to pester people into signing up for stupid schemes which really is bothersome and obnoxious since if I don’t I get into trouble. I just want to work there to help people out in finding music and reccomending things, not forcing them to invest in crap so TransWorld becomes even more enormous.
It’s quite a bullshit place to work, really.
Funny I work at fye & have yet to have a single person who has asked for the scissor sisters new cd maybe it was a blessing in disguise saves me the trouble of receiving,tagging,sale pricing removing sale pricing and then eventually returning the product that no one really gives a shit about anyway.
To:!!! You are correct sir(or madam).Do they make you badger the customer for those stupid magazine sign-ups??? The reason I know about this is that I also work for an F(…)Y(our)E(mployees) in the Detroit area that was formerly part of the best music store chain in the State Of Michigan,Harmony House. For 56 1/2 yrs. this was a family owned affair,where we prided ourselves on having a staff that actually had musical knowledge. After FYE took over,they proceeded to turn our store(which was a place where serious music collectors could shop)into one of their mall store wannabees,complete with an array of crap that has NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSIC!!!!! The worst example of this was the stuffed toy versions of several popular TV characters. Some of our staff remains from the old company,some transfered from other FYE stores. If you took the amount of knowledge about music the FYEers have and put it in a thimble,it would rattle around like a BB in an empty freight train car.It’s sad that a company, supposedly based on music and movies, has to put so much emphasis on stupid magazine sales to boost its bottom line. Truly sad on another note is the recent passing of Tower Records. They were an icon in this industry and will truly be missed.
I’m very surprised this company is still in existence. I have never seen a store with such ridiculously high prices. It’s almost like they don’t really want you to buy anything.