Walmart and Broadway

[ariel0098]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:21pm

This may seem as a stupid question. Why doesn't places like Walmart sell cast recordings? and does best buy sell them, if not why?

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:24pm

Well, most of the people who shop at Wal-Mart - financially challenged adults and college students - have a very limited interest in theatre. The space taken up by cast recordings, which msot likely wouldn't sell, is better holding rap, pop, et. all: music the demographic Wal-Mart caters to will actually by.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:25pm

Walmart gets its low prices by buying bulk from large distributors such as Disney. It's next to impossible to buy bulk cast recordings because OBC recordings have limited appeal and are only produced in relatively small quantities.

[ariel0098]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:26pm

ok but does Best Buy sell CR's?

[shines]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:29pm

Walmart sells a few CR's. I bought Hairspray there, and have occasionally seen older things like Phantom or Annie. I believe Best Buy sells CR's. Smaller ones may not though.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:31pm

Because people who shop at Walmart are idiots.

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:33pm

Best Buy sells them but you have to look under the "soundtrack" aisle...idiots, apparently they don't know the difference b/w a OBC and a Soundtrack
Updated On: 7/12/05 at 03:33 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:34pm

Umm. Walmart definitely sells cast recordings. My Walmart has quite a few. They even have Piazza, and Spamalot - no Bee or DRS yet. They also have Wicked, Hairspray, Chicago, and a lot of older ones. Other walmarts I've been at - also have cast recordings.

Best Buy also has a great selection of cast recordings. Most places put them under SOUNDTRACKS. Though stores like FYE, and Coconuts have a section for "shows" next to the soundtracks. All record stores should do that.

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 03:34 PM

[musicnmath]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:35pm

Best Buy, yes. definitely. BUT...they don't have them *right* when they come out. And they don't carry everything. Nonetheless, their selection was better than I expected.
Updated On: 7/12/05 at 03:35 PM

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:38pm

Best Buy does carry them, but Borders has the best selection I've found out of all the suburban stores.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:44pm

Any department store carries only the best-selling titles. Cast albums do well in major cities where shows play but less well in smaller towns which have maybe one or two theatre fanatics who buy everything.

Best wasy to encourage your local Walmart or Best Buy to carry cast albums is to ask them why certain titles are not in stock, and when they are in stock, buy them there. Sales will translate into more new releases of that genre being brought in.

Best Buy does carry cast albums in some stores (some Best Buy stores do not carry CD's at all.) Media Play used to be a good chain for getting cast albums, new and old but they have really cut back on the floor space given over to show & movie music the past few years!

[keggss23]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:45pm

Tower Records has a "showtunes" section and they have a great selection.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:47pm

Most people who shop at wal-mart are not cultered enough to want them...

I say MOST...I occasionly find myself in that dreadful store...

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:50pm

and Borders (at least here) has seperate sections for Broadway/West End/Whatever cast recordings and movie soundtracks

best Buy lumps them all together

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:50pm

Give it time. Before long they will OWN broadway along with everything else at which point they will be MORE than happy to start carrying cast recordings.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:50pm

Give it time. Before long they will OWN broadway along with everything else at which point they will be MORE than happy to start carrying cast recordings.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 4:01pm

Most big chain stores that carry CD's will most likely have cast recordings. I live in the shore area of NJ, and most of the chain stores here that carry CD's have cast recordings. You got to look through the soundtrack section. The only store I encountered that didn't have CR's was Kmart. But I haven't looked for CR's in Kmart in a long time.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 4:02pm

In my experience, the best places to buy Cast Recordings are bookstores that sell CD's. Around the Boston Area anyway, most bookstores have large quantites of CR's, usually in thier own sections but most of the time mixed in with soundtracks.

Elphaba-WOW, they have a whole section for West End, etc.? What I wouldn't give for that.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 4:36pm

Yeah, my Best Buy has a lot of cast recordings, got all shook up there - woot.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 4:40pm

My best buy has like..nothing..well it has some stuff..
and borders charges $20 for their cast recordings....it's psycho!

Media Play isn't bad..they put a lot of them on sale (Wicked is FINALLY $14, and they have Tick Tick Boom and We Will Rock You for like $11!) and you don't have to search through "Soundtracks" like all the other stores out here. They actually have a "Musicals" section...

Broadway gets no respect

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 5:14pm

Has anyone tried buying the "Sweet Charity" cast recording today? Would it be at Best Buy/Borders?

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 5:25pm

Barnes and Noble is excellent that is the only area that sells lesser known shows. They also carry Broadway solo artists.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 5:39pm

I would look for the Charity recording at Borders or Barnes & Noble. Or if you have a Tower records near. Best Buy most likely won't have it the week it's released.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 6:42pm

They also don't carry many fat-free products.

[James2]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 6:43pm

When I went to my town's Wal-Mart yesterday, they had multiple copies of the CDs of All Shook Up and Spamalot.