Thirteen Ways To Find Music Without Bankrupting Yourself.
I am stingy. My pecuniary rectitude is sometimes so extreme that it embarrasses even its progenitor and makes conversation with more generous souls awkward - and yet, I also have a supply of music that I am certain will be able to serve as a the backbone for reviews in a zine lasting any number of issues. How can the two things be married? Where does a person find cheap music?
1. Look for old shops closing down and new shops opening up.
It's normal for shops to try to reduce their stock before they close. New stores cutting their prices to attract customers are not as common, but they do exist. When the JB Hi-Fi at Knox City opened a few months ago they were selling a stack of CDs at 99c each and drawing a crowd of customers. Compay Segundo was in that stack, along with Rachid Taha and Femi Kuti and a South African rock band whose name I forget and a compilation of Asian music and a Music of Iceland album which someone else bought before I did - it had happy Icelandic people in shorts and skirts skipping together on the cover, raising their knees at one another like Morris Dancers. I still miss that album.
2. Look for shops with bargain bins.
Even if you don't find anything worthwhile in them at first, keep checking to see if the shop replenishes its cut-price stock. I've found regular bargain shelves in large shops such as Borders and also in smaller independent places such as Big B's in Las Vegas and Gaslight Records in Melbourne.
3. Don't disdain secondhand music stores.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that simply because an album is cheap or secondhand it will necessarily be bad. Last Saturday I found a used sampler from Hemisphere for four dollars and bought it, half for its Thomas Mapfumo song, which was new to me, and half for the sake of its diversity - samba, fado, flamenco, ethno punk. The fourth song turned out to be worth the price on its own; it was the first Greek song I've heard that made me want to listen to more Greek songs.
4. Look out for samplers, promotional albums, giveaway discs on the fronts of magazines; and mid-price specials.
NorthSide's Nordic Roots compilations "showcasing recent releases from the diverse and exciting Nordic roots revival" are good examples of affordable CDs. The sticker on the front boasts that the CD is "Cheaper than food!" and while this isn't always true - depending on your taste in food - there's still satisfaction to be had in getting twenty-two songs for under eight dollars.
5. Go to the library.
You can't hold on to the CD forever, but at least you get to listen for a while and that's better than nothing. Borrowing albums is one way to find out if a certain kind of music is to your taste or not. Discover if your local library has a catalogue you can access online and use it to find out what they've got at other branches of the system. If travelling to other branches is difficult, try phoning them and asking for the CD you want to be sent to the branch closest to you. Have the title and call number ready when you phone. You could ask your local librarians to do the phoning for you, but some libraries levy small charges on this kind of request.
Some libraries cater to local migrant populations. This makes them good places to look for modern foreign-language pop and the kind of golden oldie recordings that charm the sentimental hearts of people far from their homes.
If you're fond of piracy be aware that libraries put copy-protection strips on their CDs, and, yes, they have been known to call people back after they've dropped off their returns and ask them why the strip has been removed. The last time I saw this happen, the accused person - a teenage boy - stood abashed with his face turned downward like a depressed moon while the librarian and his mother and his little sister in ponytails took it in turns to ask him what was going on.
6. Borrow from friends.
If they'll let you. Don't forget to let them borrow your albums in return.
7. Make use of travellers.
If you have a friend going abroad, give them a cassette and ask them to fill it with music from foreign radio stations.
8. Listen to music on the internet.
There are lots of band and label sites out there that make songs available for you to listen to. As with the libraries you can't keep the music but it's a good opportunity to try out something you might not be able to find anywhere else. Some sites will let you download songs and keep them for a price. I've never used any of these places but they could be worth checking out.
There are file-swapping services where you can download music illegally for free. The disadvantage of these, aside from the obvious (no pictures, no information; potentially bad sound quality; potentially long waits; record companies coming after you; guilt; bad karma) is that most of the songs on these services are not world music. They're lovely if you want Britney Spears but terrible if you're after Sotira Leonardou. This is not to say that you definitely won't find what you're after, but prepare to be frustrated.
You can also find internet radio stations that dedicate themselves to various kinds of music. Look at Live 365, for example.
9. Listen to your local radio.
Naturally. Even if you don't have a dedicated world music station in your area you probably have at least one general broadcaster with a world music show on their schedule. Find out when it's on.
10. Make lists of suggestions for birthday and Christmas presents.
People usually like to feel that they're giving you something they know you want, so if they start asking for suggestions make sure you've got some to show them. Give them a variety of differently-priced items to choose from. It's not fair to expect other people to buy you only the expensive things that you refuse to pay for yourself - and, more importantly from your selfish point of view, they might snort with scorn at the prices you're asking and deliberately get you socks instead.
If they're the sort of person who doesn't like choosing presents from lists then don't bother.
Oh. Beware of eager friends who realise in a vague way that you like 'that kind of music' but don't know anything more about it. You're likely to end up with The Greatest Hits Of Greece From Zorba To Zorba Touchingly Remastered By Some Tone-Deaf Moron With A Casio. But I thought you liked foreign stuff! says your sweet idiot of a friend. Your suggestion should not be, "Um, I like, ah, African music, can you get me some of that?" but "I would enjoy Pirates' Choice by Orchestra Baobab. Look under World Music. Look under Africa. Look under Senegal. There."
11. Enter competitions.
You might win. Someone has to.
12. Don't spend too much time looking at Top 10 lists or advertisements for The Next Most Important Release or any of those other urgent-sounding calls for your attention.
New releases are often the most expensive. It doesn't matter if a musician is new and exciting to everyone else or not - what's important is that they're new and exciting to you. An old release can be as exciting as a new one if you've never heard it before. If you feel better following a more experienced person's recommendations then look around for Top Ten lists that are several years old and see if you can find that music marked down to a more reasonable price.
13. Ask yourself why you want all this music anyway.
If you have any other suggestions, my email address is in the box below us.
