On-line Stores & Sellers

[geralmar]

Since 1975 I've been a regular mail order customer of Berkshire Record Outlet, Albany, New York.  They specialize in heavily discounted over stock and discontinued classical CDs, so don't look for newer releases.  Their service is exemplary; unfortunately overseas shipping can be ferociously expensive.Their catalogue is massive and fascinating to browse through.

https://www.broinc.com/

[Spotted Horses]

Since 1975 I've been a regular mail order customer of Berkshire Record Outlet, Albany, New York.  They specialize in heavily discounted over stock and discontinued classical CDs, so don't look for newer releases.  Their service is exemplary; unfortunately overseas shipping can be ferociously expensive.Their catalogue is massive and fascinating to browse through.

https://www.broinc.com/

I've also patronized them in the past. At one point I started a thread "what did you find at BRO" but it filled up with griping about how they don't process non-US payment methods. I wonder if that is still the case.

[Gurn Blanston]

Looks like Archiv music is back up, but the drill-down search system that was the unique feature of the old site is gone. For those who didn't use it, you could select a composer, get a list of all compositions by that composer, then click one on one of the compositions to see a list of all releases containing that composition. For instance you could click Brahms, click String Quartet No 2, and see a comprehensive list of all CDs containing string quartet No 2. There is no way to reproduce that with a conventional search tool, since you can type Brahms String Quartet No 2, but it will match anything that contains Brahms, String, Quartet, and 2.

It was such a unique resource. Why would they scuttle it? 

This was the single best feature at any music shopping website.  When I was looking for a particular piece of music (which is how I nearly always shop for music), all of my choices were instantly lined up in front of me.  Your apt description of the follies of using regular search to find music is right on point. Why would they toss out such a super elegant solution? 🤯

🤠

[JBS]

If you're searching on Google, quotes around the term your searching for should limit the results. So "Brahms String Quartet Number 2" is supposed to bring up only results that contain the full phrase.

But I don't think this works on website search engines like Amazon and Presto.

[Madiel]

Presto has the capacity to bring up all recordings of a particular work, like Arkiv used to.

Amazon... good luck.

[Karl Henning]

I've also patronized them in the past. At one point I started a thread "what did you find at BRO" but it filled up with griping about how they don't process non-US payment methods. I wonder if that is still the case.

They originated in western Mass. (even had a brick-&-mortar presence here) and are a small-ish outfit. I don't suppose they've "grown" a great deal. I shouldn't be surprised if they "grow smarter" over time.

[Brian]

I just want to post a word of praise for Presto, which is already a favorite shop for many of us, but just exceeded my expectations.

Last fall they had a sale on Chopin Institute CDs, which are often hard to find elsewhere (even Amazon). So I ordered a bunch of them. One super-rarity, Kevin Kenner playing Paderewski on Paderewski's own 1925 Steinway, was backordered, unavailable with suppliers, etc. Shipment was delayed for about a month.

It arrived last night, and on the back it has a retail sticker from Poland for 50zl. (That's about US $11.) I imagine this means that Presto or their agent was so determined to complete the order that they tracked down a copy from a store in Poland. That's just excellent work!

The Daniil Trifonov Chopin Competition recital 2CD set was even harder for Presto to track down and only just shipped. Maybe they'll have a 100zl sticker.

Edit: Oh, let me tag @Paul_Thomas

[Brahmsian]

I just want to post a word of praise for Presto, which is already a favorite shop for many of us, but just exceeded my expectations.

Can't agree with you more Brian. To me they have become the platinum standard.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I just want to post a word of praise for Presto, which is already a favorite shop for many of us, but just exceeded my expectations.

Last fall they had a sale on Chopin Institute CDs, which are often hard to find elsewhere (even Amazon). So I ordered a bunch of them. One super-rarity, Kevin Kenner playing Paderewski on Paderewski's own 1925 Steinway, was backordered, unavailable with suppliers, etc. Shipment was delayed for about a month.

It arrived last night, and on the back it has a retail sticker from Poland for 50zl. (That's about US $11.) I imagine this means that Presto or their agent was so determined to complete the order that they tracked down a copy from a store in Poland. That's just excellent work!

The Daniil Trifonov Chopin Competition recital 2CD set was even harder for Presto to track down and only just shipped. Maybe they'll have a 100zl sticker.

Edit: Oh, let me tag @Paul_Thomas

Oh, nice!  Good to hear that!

Some years ago, I contacted JPC (in Germany) about an Ivan Moravec CD that I had heard about but couldn't find for sale online.  They said that they could get ahold of it for me from a company in Japan and I added it to an order that I was placing at the time.  And they came through for me! 

Great service!

PD

[Spotted Horses]

I just want to post a word of praise for Presto, which is already a favorite shop for many of us, but just exceeded my expectations.

Last fall they had a sale on Chopin Institute CDs, which are often hard to find elsewhere (even Amazon). So I ordered a bunch of them. One super-rarity, Kevin Kenner playing Paderewski on Paderewski's own 1925 Steinway, was backordered, unavailable with suppliers, etc. Shipment was delayed for about a month.

It arrived last night, and on the back it has a retail sticker from Poland for 50zl. (That's about US $11.) I imagine this means that Presto or their agent was so determined to complete the order that they tracked down a copy from a store in Poland. That's just excellent work!

The Daniil Trifonov Chopin Competition recital 2CD set was even harder for Presto to track down and only just shipped. Maybe they'll have a 100zl sticker.

Edit: Oh, let me tag @Paul_Thomas

Presto is definitely a platinum seller.

In the old days record labels would ship new releases to record stores, and the record stores could return unsold stock. (They record labels would always ship more than needed to artificially boost short-term sales figures). I wonder if that's what is going on with your CD.

[Brahmsian]

Speaking of platinum standard (Presto) to the opposite end of the spectrum (ArkivMusic)......

I used to absolutely love ArkivMusic's site until a couple of years ago when they completely "revamped" it. Well, I thought I would go back to check and see if they worked out the kinks and improved. I can't say it has and gave up after about 5 minutes of navigation. 😒

[Spotted Horses]

Speaking of platinum standard (Presto) to the opposite end of the spectrum (ArkivMusic)......

I used to absolutely love ArkivMusic's site until a couple of years ago when they completely "revamped" it. Well, I thought I would go back to check and see if they worked out the kinks and improved. I can't say it has and gave up after about 5 minutes of navigation. 😒

Yes, they got rid of their drill-down search feature, which was the only reason I visited them (in retrospect, I should have purchased more stuff there.)

[Madiel]

Seems to work fine here. provided you double-quote the search term:

All of your results are mp3s. You've got all the ones where someone actually used the title of the piece correctly. There will be a host of others where they did not, and many CDs will fall into that category.

[Brian]

Yes, they got rid of their drill-down search feature, which was the only reason I visited them (in retrospect, I should have purchased more stuff there.)

Presto has one now. Maybe you know this but for those who don't, here's an example.

[DavidW]

Presto has one now. Maybe you know this but for those who don't, here's an example.

Despite Presto being my #1 store, I didn't know they had the drill down feature before!  Now they really are my favorite cd shop.

[Spotted Horses]

Presto has one now. Maybe you know this but for those who don't, here's an example.

I had no idea. I see that you get to it by choosing "Composer" search and you would not notice that you can pull up all recordings of a particular work until you've already gone down that wormhole.

All hail Presto!!!!!

[Madiel]

I had no idea. I see that you get to it by choosing "Composer" search and you would not notice that you can pull up all recordings of a particular work until you've already gone down that wormhole.

All hail Presto!!!!!

You can also get there from just about any album. The "Explore" tab provides a list of works on the album, click on a work and it shows you all the recordings of it.

This is probably the route I take most often.

 

[Paul_Thomas]

Presto Music has launched its streaming service

Read More here...

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/5143--announcement-presto-musics-streaming-service-is-finally-here

[Que]

Presto Music has launched its streaming service

Read More here...

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/5143--announcement-presto-musics-streaming-service-is-finally-here

Interesting! I might seriously consider a trial, since they probably know what they are doing...

[DavidW]

They would need to have native support on BluOS to tempt me.