Believe it or not, there are still people who spend money to buy CDs (those round thingies which make sounds when they spin).
I have to admit to being one of these people. Nah, don't worry there are still stacks of them. There's just something wondrous about owning an album and being able to hold it in your hands. I mean, which of these would you rather have?
A gorgeous and colourful CD
..or a cold and grey mp3
Maybe using the Crazy Frog was the worst example in the history of the universe but anyway, here are the places to buy music in Sydney.
HMV
The casual music buyer may be tempted to buy from HMV with its numerous shop locations and bright purple logo. However, be warned that powering that big purple sign out front is not cheap which is why the prices are so expensive. The ambience is always great at HMV with loud music and a great range but unless you're in some awful Disney movie as a desperate dad trying to do all your Christmas shopping in one night, I recommend going elsewhere.
Sanity
Sanity is your BEST destination for strange prices like $23.67 or $4.72. Otherwise it's a lot like HMV.
JB Hi-Fi
The BEST place to find bargains. I don't know when these shops suddenly appeared but they're spectacular. There's one at Bondi Junction and a somewhat recently opened one in the city (Town Hall area, under the Galleries Victoria). They have a great range of new and old stuff at great prices. Plus they have many bargain tables which are great for browsing if only to laugh at certain people's failed careers
$3.99 is a brilliant price for the packaging alone.
Dick Smith Powerhouse
This is the ultimate BEST place to buy singles! It's a bit of a secret too but if you go to any Dick Smith Powerhouse (Not the regular Dick Smith), then you'll see that all their singles are only $3. That's only 99c less than a Sophie Monk album! They have all the latest releases and for half the price of what most other shops charge so go and manipulate their generous offer before Dick Smith feels the need to put his face on another product.
There's a really LOW joke to form from this Dick Smith Tasty Cheese but i'll let you figure it out.
Dirt Cheap CDs
This is the BEST place to buy albums in Sydney, everything from Aaliyah to ZZ Top. Chart albums are $15, older albums are $10 or less. There are two locations in Sydney city. One is just opposite the back of The Galleries Victoria in Pitt Street. It's between a sushi shop and Lowes and is usually quite crowded so people tend to just sort of browse by flowing in a rotation around the shop. The other one opened recently and it's in George Street near the entrance to Wynyard station. Dirt Cheap CDs has a great selection but I especially noticed a lot of great compilation albums. I noticed them because I kept thinking "Damn, what's with all the compilation albums, i'm looking for Bjork" which I soon found. It has a great amount of stock which seems to get refreshed every so often.
So if you're ever in need of a birthday gift for that irritating nephew of yours who's always singing about how his elimination is yellow fruit, be smart and try one of the lesser known shops .
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Update (19/07/05): Comment Contribution
Jenni McCartney said...
I located another cheap place for CD's last week called Rockbottom Music, all CD's $10, however there were no current releases, but there were plenty of recent ones. They had some great boxed sets for fans of the crooners, Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra 3 CD sets for $10 and some recent DVD releases as well for $10, not as good as Dirt Cheap for variety though. Located at 250 Pitt Street, a few step down from McDonalds on the corner of Park Street.