Is Arkivmusic good to order from?

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh!  Please excuse my ignorance. I thought they were a company that's focus was on out-of-print CDs and reprinting them.

Oh, no, they are just a regular vendor (with the best web page ever), and about 5 years ago they started offering reprints of OOP items. First, just a disk, now they've added the booklet too. Really, if ll you want is to hear the music, and don't mind paying too much, it is probably a good deal. Many have said so. As I said earlier, I am afraid of CDR's so I haven't tried. Beyond that though, they are a very good vendor!

[Scarpia]

Oh, no, they are just a regular vendor (with the best web page ever)

Their drill-down web page organization must be seen to be believed, it's only weakness is that it is restricted to US releases.  But after I find the disc, I must admit I usually find a cheaper copy elsewhere.   

[Brahmsian]

I haven't bought any music from Arkivmusic, but I have had their website marked as a 'Favorite' for quite some time now.  I use their site frequently as a classical music works/recordings search engine.

[Gurn Blanston]

Their drill-down web page organization must be seen to be believed, it's only weakness is that it is restricted to US releases.  But after I find the disc, I must admit I usually find a cheaper copy elsewhere.   

Yeah, sad to say, so do I. I wish they could get their stuff together on that. If it wasn't for the price thing, I wouldn't buy anywhere else. Their sales are good though. Amazon never has a sale.

[Grazioso]

Oh!  Please excuse my ignorance. I thought they were a company that's focus was on out-of-print CDs and reprinting them.

It should be noted that Amazon offers a similar service, fwiw.

[chasmaniac]

Yeah, sad to say, so do I. I wish they could get their stuff together on that. If it wasn't for the price thing, I wouldn't buy anywhere else. Their sales are good though. Amazon never has a sale.

Their CPO sale of 3 for $33 gets me every time!

And yes, the site itself is a very useful resource.

I've bought a few ArkivCDs and haven't had a problem yet. Long-term, who knows?

[Scarpia]

It should be noted that Amazon offers a similar service, fwiw.

They do?  Amazon.com or one of the other countries?

[Gurn Blanston]

They do?  Amazon.com or one of the other countries?

Amazon US has it. It is a smaller size than Arkiv's, but I have seen several disks that they offer.



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Now playing:
Floregium - Bach CPE Wq 147 Trio Sonata in C for Flute, Violin, Cello & Keyboard 2nd mvmt - Adagio

[Scarpia]

Amazon US has it. It is a smaller size than Arkiv's, but I have seen several disks that they offer.

Hmmm, I've never come across one, that I noticed.

[Grazioso]

Hmmm, I've never come across one, that I noticed.

They offer it, via a subsidiary company called CreateSpace, for a large number of Marco Polo discs, for example. I bought one and was disappointed: no liner notes, no timings, and multi-movement works all recorded as single tracks. Will not buy these again. One of Amazon's rare missteps.

[Mirror Image]

Oh, no, they are just a regular vendor (with the best web page ever), and about 5 years ago they started offering reprints of OOP items. First, just a disk, now they've added the booklet too. Really, if ll you want is to hear the music, and don't mind paying too much, it is probably a good deal. Many have said so. As I said earlier, I am afraid of CDR's so I haven't tried. Beyond that though, they are a very good vendor!

I did not know this. Thanks for correcting me on this matter. I would not probably use them as I find Amazon Marketplace prices much more to my liking. I'll definitely keep a more open-mind next time I mouth off about something I know nothing about.

[Gurn Blanston]

They offer it, via a subsidiary company called CreateSpace, for a large number of Marco Polo discs, for example. I bought one and was disappointed: no liner notes, no timings, and multi-movement works all recorded as single tracks. Will not buy these again. One of Amazon's rare missteps.

Oh wow, I did not know that! What a massive cockup      I thought they were built on the Arkiv Disk model. Well, you wouldn't know otherwise if you hadn't tried one, I guess.



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Now playing:
Capella Academica Wien / Melkus  Haebler - Bach JC Concerto #1 in Bb for Fortepiano Op 01 1st mvmt

[haziz]

I have had no issues with both original CDs and with their ArkivCDs. It is a good resource to have since classical has now been relegated to less than a niche. Not surprising considering the give-away prices the majors have to sell their CDs for nowadays. US $102 for a box set of 103 Heifetz CDs! Come on? I do appreciate the savings, but it does illustrate that this distribution model for classical recordings is dying. I have not jumped at digital dowloads fully yet, since many are compressed MP3s or AAC files and I would rather have the original, or close to original, FLAC file and also prefer to have a physical CD to play should I wish.

The whole classical record market is in a sorry state nowadays however.

Back to ArkivCD, I do appreciate their service since I do sometimes wish to dig up out of print issues. Recently I got probably my third or fourth copy of the Markevitch cycle of Tchaikovsky symphonies. As my first box set of Tchaikovsky, I stiil think of them as the definitive recordings, though I certainly enjoy Karajan, Mravinsky, Pletnev, Litton and others.

I think ArkivMusic is owned by Steinway and Sons BTW.

Sorry for going off topic and rambling.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[Coopmv]

I have been on ArkivMusic email list for years, as I purchased CD's from it on a regular basis until a few years ago.  When Arkiv runs a good sale, the prices can be quite good.  Generally, Amazon MP vendors tend to offer the best prices for domestic etailers.  Over the past two years, I have been buying most of my CD's from MDT and Presto Classical, both are UK-based etailers.