Jan. 23, 1000Pagc 7
The Daily Nebraskan
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By Kathy Shultz
Staff Reporter
Nationally and locally, music
cassette tapes are gaining in popu
larity, and compact discs aren't far
behind, according to Lincoln music
retailers. Cassette sales began to
increase about 14 months ago, said
Rod Ferguson, co-owner of four Pickles
locations in Lincoln.
Although cassette sales have been
steadily growing ever since, they
have yet to outnumber album sales
at Pickles, he said.
"Cassettes currently account for
about 40 percent of our sales, while
six months ago they only accounted
for about 30 percent," he said.
At The Record Shop in the Cen
trum Mall, however, cassette sales
account for 65 to 70 percent of total
sales, said Lisa Steward, manager.
In order to deal with the "cassette
buying trend," Steward said The
Record Shop will be increasing their
cassette inventory and deleting the
number of albums they carry.
Record sales at Dirt Cheap Rec
ords, 217 N. 11th St., on the other
hand, outnumber cassette sales two
to one, John McCallum, owner
manager, said. McCallum said Dirt
Cheap provides a variety of imports
and independent labels that simply
aren't available on cassettes.
On a national level, A&M Records
sell 60 percent albums and 40 per
cent cassettes, said a public rela
tions official for A&M. MCA Records
sell 40 percent albums and 60 per
cent cassettes, Glen Lajeski, direc
tor of marketing for MCA said.
Local retailers, as well as national
retailers, agreed that cassettes and
albums may be pushed aside by the
up and coming compact discs, or
CDs.
A CD is a smaller disc than a
record that has music on one side. It
turns at a much faster rate than an
album as a laser beam reads the
music, as opposed to a metal needle
that could scratch the surface.
"Their sound quality is supreme.
. It's the closest one can come to the
recording studio," said Steward.
Albums and cassettes have a
tendency after the first 10 to 12
plays to lack dynamic range, unlike
CDs, McCallum said. As for durabil
ity, "short of dropping them on the
floor and stepping on them or melt
ing them, they are almost
indestructible," he said.
Retailers say the price (CDs cost
almost twice as much as most albums
and cassettes), and the limited
availability may be holding consu
mers back from making the change
from albums and cassettes to CDs,
but prices are expected to decrease
soon. The demand is currently much
higher than the supply, retailers
said.
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