Amir-ul K.
Yelp
I've been spending money in Jerry's Records since January, 1995. I've spent thousands of dollars there. Recently, I offered them 19 new sealed CDs of mine for $60 trade value, slightly over $3 apiece. They rejected them, they don't buy locally produced work. They don't support local musicians.
I've lived in Pittsburgh since 1996 but I lived in Baltimore & in rural Canada & spent significant time in Buffalo, Berlin (Germany), Scotland, & in Adelaide & Melbourne (Australia). The 19 CDs had work of mine recorded in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Melbourne, Montréal, Windsor, Berlin, on the Ohio River, Munich (at the Marstall Theater, the adjunct to the opera house), Middletown (CT), with Anthony Braxton at the Marsh Room of the National Aviary, Olympia (WA), Barcelona, rural Canada, Toronto, & LA - but I'm local &, apparently, that means shitty & not worth supporting. Keep that in mind Donna Amato - you're a great pianist but.. you're local.
People in Baltimore had a similar attitude toward local musicians. Billie Holiday & Chick Webb moved from there to NYC to 'make it'. I'm 72, I've been playing music since I was 6. I think I've paid my dues. I'm a pioneering sound artist. I currently have at least 262 releases: 8 vinyl records, at least 29 CDs (commercially produced, NOT CR-Rs), & many more on cassette & as online files.
I figure $60 trade value for 19 new CDs was a pretty good deal for Jerry's. That barely covers my cost. If I got 10 recordings from Jerry's for $6 a piece in trade I doubt that they would have cost the store more than $20. If they sold my new CDs for $5 apiece that would be $95, $75 profit. The Jerry's employee who rejected my CDs said that I'd be back & I agreed - but after I left I thought: Why? Maybe it's better to not give them my money for awhile. If you're a local musician, you might consider doing the same.