Research & Module 4

Excepts and important facts from interview with Beth Varden, manager at The Sound Garden.

- manager for two years, been in Baltimore since 1996
- two current locations for TSG: Syracuse & Baltimore
- TSG has been open since 1993
- plans to renovate, including larger section for vinyl
How has business been affected by the digital media revolution?
"We haven't really been affected by digital music. I'd even say that our business has increased. Not everyone wants digital files, and because we have the best prices, people come to us. Like, the people who don't have iPods or computers, they're still interested in buying music from a store."
"College-aged kids are really into vinyl as well, and we're the only place in Baltimore that you can buy new vinyl."

Do you think that physical music will ever become obsolete?
"Obsolete? No way, I don't believe it. When the CD came out, people said the same thing."
"People still buy it for its aesthetic value. And digital music is usually a downgrade in quality."

How is TSG important to Baltimore music?
- local music section
- consignment for local artists, don't need national distribution to be sold at TSG
- local artists like Dan Deacon, Beach House, Celebration all helped and supported
- in-store performances are usually reserved for national, touring bands but sometimes they'll feature local bands, like The Human Bell
- anyone can use their bulletin board to promote their band/show/venue

Slideshow for The Sound Garden w/ Audio

Text for Module 4:
The Sound Garden (full module here)

It's sort of like a scene from "Empire Records" or "High Fidelity". As you walk in the front doors of Fells Point's The Sound Garden, it's clear that there is one thing on everyone's mind: finding that golden treasure.

"Sound Garden is a freakin' mecca!" London Scalise, a self-proclaimed music junkie and vinyl collector exclaims. "You can't find everything you're looking for in those corporate stores. I'm there at least once a week."

When you walk in the front doors, the foyer is lined, layered and overwhelmed with concert posters and free magazines. There is almost always a line. In the heart of the store, CD shelves create rows and rows of mixed and matched album art. At Sound Garden, there are albums that you never knew you wanted until you found them at Sound Garden, the kind of albums that make a collection shine.

Beth Varden has been manager at The Sound Garden for two years now, but she's been shopping here for much longer, she says. Like many of The Sound Garden's customers, she believes that physical music will not lose it's importance and value in the face of digital music. "Not everyone wants digital files, and because we have the best prices, people come to us. Like, the people who don't have iPods or computers, they're still interested in buying music from a store."

The only place in Baltimore that carries new vinyl, The Sound Garden attracts both the dedicated old-timers roped into a record's high quality and the college student engaged by its aesthetic.

But not everyone likes vinyl. "You can buy two CDs here for the price of one at other places. Especially in the used section," longtime customer Tyler Miller explains.

To keep up with and support the Baltimore music scene, The Sound Garden offers consignment deals for local artists that aren't blessed with national distribution. There's a section dedicated only to Baltimore releases and the shop has even hosted in-store performances by local bands like The Human Bell. But that's nothing compared to the bulletin boards at the front of the store, which reads like an ultimate hub of Baltimore's up-and-coming happenings. If there ever is an epitome of Baltimore music, here is where is all exists.

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