![]() “It was 20 years ago, so I don't remember all the details,” he says, “but I remember talking to Dick Hayne, and saying, look, there's an opportunity here to really get into the culture business.” Part of that was choosing the music they played in their store more carefully. To this day, I know that album backwards and forwards.” Eventually, he couldn't stand to hear it one more time. “It becomes the fabric of the retail buying experience.” In 1992, that music was Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way. “Part of working in a store is that you hear the same songs over and over,” he says. But back in 1992, he was putting himself through college with a bunch of jobs, including one as a security guard at Urban Outfitters' flagship Philadelphia store. Today, he's at a company called SynchTank, after many years in major label A&R. One person who's a big fan of music shopping at Urban Outfitters is Jason Jordan. Is this something we should be worried about? Is Urban Outfitters devaluing musical culture, or doing the important work of actually putting music in front of people who are in a mood to spend money? In recent years, Urban has gone big in music sales, becoming one of the nation's largest retailers of vinyl records (they were already probably the nation's largest backless tankini and Charlie Brown Christmas Tree retailer). They're putting small record stores out of business? Their CEO is evil? Somehow nothing in my size ever makes it to the deep sale rack? Something. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that I couldn't really articulate why I felt like I shouldn't shop there. Still, I thought, I probably shouldn't buy a record at Urban Outfitters. And pretty decent ones! And not super expensive (generally between $10 and $20). Instead, I kept finding more and more crates full of more and more records. ![]() ![]() Basically, the vinyl equivalent of a sidewalk dorm room poster sale. Dre, maybe some new dance records like Niki & The Dove, and not much else. ![]() I had certain expectations about what I'd find: Bob Marley, Dr. The other day, I found myself flipping through records in massive clothing chain Urban Outfitters. ![]()
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