Comet Records (temple bar) RIP

mike65

Another one bites the dust

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0328/1224293223066.html

COMET RECORDS will finally burn out in the middle of next month when its doors close for the last time, the owner of the shop in Dublin’s Temple Bar confirmed yesterday.

Comet’s tale has been one of ups and downs since it first opened on Chatham Street off Grafton Street in 1984 as Halley’s Comet appeared in the skies over Ireland.

“It has been on the cards for a very long time. There is a whole generation who have never paid anything for music and I don’t know if they will ever be prepared to pay anything for music.”

He said the shop would cease trading on April 15th but added that until then he would be selling off stock for €4 or less.

Hi ho.

iamstop

Yeah, another one goes. I went in on Sunday and picked up a load of stuff for not all that much.

It can be cool to go to these sales and buy stuff for cheap that you wouldn't normally risk €15-20 on.

All records are/were €4

yammycat

Selling physical copies of music is history

Setun

More sad news for independent record shops in Dublin. How many are actually left now? Off the top of my head there's still Spindizzy, Trout records, Tower (have been independent since the Tower franchise went bust), The Rage (on fade street where Road used to be), All City in templebar. Sad City Discs is gone too, that was a great store.

endabob1

Very Sad, many a happy teenage afternoon was whiled away in there, a decent percentage of my music collection came from there, RIP Comet

smokedeels

Daddio wrote: »

Trout records

The had a massive sale on two weeks ago, 5 cds for 25... something like that, could they be closing too?

Daddio wrote: »

Tower (have been independent since the Tower franchise went bust)

I'd say they are living off boxset sales and the other misc items they sell.

Setun

Picked up a curious cd from Comet today for €4 - Steve Harris + Zaum: Above Our Heads the Sky Splits Open. Never heard of the musicians before, but the album cover is interesting Plenty of bargains to be found in there though - Fridge's second album is there, and I also noticed a compilation of Okinawan ambient dub for a few euro too

Jus.Me

smokedeels wrote: »

I'd say they are living off boxset sales and the other misc items they sell.

diversifying is the only way the independent record shops will survive.

Setun

Jus.Me wrote: »

diversifying is the only way the independent record shops will survive.

Sadly as internet speeds get faster you'll have even more people downloading films too, and then where will the likes of Tower be? I can only hope that the minority who actually enjoy the act of browsing in a record store will keep active around Dublin and support the few remaining.

smokedeels

Diversifying makes sense, but music isn't the only form of media that people feel no obligation to pay for.

People are downloading free PDF versions of books and comics, and look at that new place The R.A.G.E, I heard they are selling vintage games, but most people will be happy to stick to emulators and download ROMs for free.

I think Richard Branson called it when he said there won't be a psychical record shop left by 2020. I can't see many DVD, comic and books shops left either.

teekayd25

Jus.Me wrote: »

diversifying is the only way the independent record shops will survive.

Along with ensuring that they have a strong online presence, which Tower at least seems to; from what I have seen they have a fairly busy Amazon account in addition to their own actual website. Tower is welcoming to Irish acts and that's one reason why I hope it stays in business . . . if HMV or even Golden Discs went bust tomorrow, it wouldn't affect me in the slightest (although I would feel for anyone out of a job etc.).

My question is, which of the Dublin second hand shops would now be the best for Irish vinyl (rock and pop, as opposed to trad), going back over the last 20 or 30 years? There's still one or two things that just can't be found online.

Jus.Me

teekayd25 wrote: »

Along with ensuring that they have a strong online presence, which Tower at least seems to; from what I have seen they have a fairly busy Amazon account in addition to their own actual website. Tower is welcoming to Irish acts and that's one reason why I hope it stays in business . . . if HMV or even Golden Discs went bust tomorrow, it wouldn't affect me in the slightest (although I would feel for anyone out of a job etc.).

My question is, which of the Dublin second hand shops would now be the best for Irish vinyl (rock and pop, as opposed to trad), going back over the last 20 or 30 years? There's still one or two things that just can't be found online.

alot of people think the online sales are bad for physical shops too. Some shops refuse to sell online because they think all the best stuff will fly out in online auctions and there will be no point in coming into the shop, this in turn means they wont sell t shirts and other random merch that keeps them in business. Also, if there is no physical shop they wont get the people bringing in the used collections.

but there are many shops that manage to do both..

teekayd25

Jus.Me wrote: »

alot of people think the online sales are bad for physical shops too. Some shops refuse to sell online because they think all the best stuff will fly out in online auctions and there will be no point in coming into the shop, this in turn means they wont sell t shirts and other random merch that keeps them in business. Also, if there is no physical shop they wont get the people bringing in the used collections.

but there are many shops that manage to do both..

Yeah, I can definitely see the logic of that position for anywhere dealing mainly with second hand product.

However, I think if you're an independent dealing in new stock (like Tower) then not having an online presence is a huge risk . . . a great example of how this business model can succeed are these guys. As far as I know they have just one store in an unfashionable part of the English midlands, but do a fierce trade on eBay etc.

Of course an award like this can help too :
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Rare-record-shop-voted-best-Britain/article-1854559-detail/article.html

ponsonby

Does anyone know who owns the old comet records building in temple bar id love to rent it ? But cant find out about it ?