Canadian Music is Disappearing

Picture the scenario of someone walking into a record store, money in hand, and coming back out with that money still intact. You might wonder of course, why that money is still not spent. It might either be that they're out of stock of what you're looking for, or that the artist is no longer in their list of artists to stock.

That person was me. Just today, went to Music World to planned on getting something I had been eyeing for many months. I scanned the rack of CDs, trying to find what I wanted: Melanie Doane. I had found her quite easy to find in the past, so I was quite surprised that I couldn't find it. A clerk came to ask if I needed help, and I told him what I was looking for and he went to check "the book" once I told him the correct spelling of her last name. Came back and told me they don't stock her anymore. Huh? Asked why, and the answer came back that it didn't sell well enough. Ok, sure. Last I knew, she sold well enough.

Fine then, I figure I'll try something else I'd been eyeing that was easy to find in the past. And you know what? Same deal here. And then I start voicing my disappointment to the clerk. Met another clerk, this time a lady that understood my plight and thought the decision to no longer stock them was a stupid one. Can't argue there.

It seems as if all the music that I like and interested in is disappearing. It's not just one band, but two out of the two I had been looking for that I could no longer find. These are not the biggest money makers, I'm sure, but as I said in my previous post on this subject, how is a smaller band supposed to make money if the albums aren't in stock? A lot of these smaller bands need the bigger chains to support them due to their smaller influence. Some of these Canadian bands only tour specific provinces or areas and hardly venture out of it and the support from these big stores means more of a chance for someone who might not be familiar with their music to become aquainted with them. Example: Band might not tour selected location, but at least I can enjoy their music and hope that in the future they decide to tour further out. But with these stores cutting their support, it means less of a chance of success for these smaller bands, not to mention those that can't even get stocked in the first place that deserve a chance.

It seems that more and more with the experience that I've been having, that Canadian bands are disappearing from the shelves, in favour of bigger, more promising acts, that will probably just end up fading away in the next 2 or so years, and by that I mean both bigger Canadian and American acts that are pushing the smaller ones away. There ought to be some of the same Canadian Content Regulations put in place that the Radio and TV abide to that give smaller bands a fairer chance, even if those albums don't quite sell as much as the bigger bands. We need some protection for these artists.

So, while I am interested in buying this music, it seems foolish that these stores not make it available for those with money in hand. I would gladly pay money for something I want that is in stock. Is that so hard to do? I'm starting to feel frustrated and depressed that I can't find the music I want, and I feel it's the start of an ugly trend. Of course, it could just be that I'm just too out of touch with what I'm supposed to want, right? What's a poor guy supposed to do? Obviously, walk right back out with the money still intact.