as someone who got into this in the late 90s when vinyl was well on its way out, its so weird to see stuff like ed sheeran on vinyl and in my local "cool" record shop. you just dont expect pop music to be the focus of a record store and having to hear the new macklemore record while i shop makes me want to just order off amazon because i really dont need to pay 8 dollars more on a retail markup to support a really poorly curated experience. record stores used to be places where i discovered new things and the focus of shops in my opinion should be in introducing people to things that they wouldnt have found on their own. i started by buying house and techno records and when you went into different shops, youd talk to some guy who worked there and he'd bring you out a stack of different stuff to listen to on the store listening stations and each guy at each shop would bring you something different. that was the experience that made sense to me. maybe im a dick but if i go to my local shop and ask the same question for albums id like i get recommendations of shit i already know about or dont like and i stump them on stuff i mention all the time. these people shouldnt own a shop. people who eat sleep and breathe new or un heard of music should own a shop because they actually serve a purpose that amazon, discogs cant deliver on.

tldr im old and bitter and i think i can do things better than the people who are doing it