When I went sa ATC, years ago, siguro mga first time ako pumunta dun, tanging mall lang na may Tower Records! I mean that famous tower records na galing states. All kinds of records, mapa video, CD's and may vinyl collection pa sa basement. Dun ko din nakita yun box set ng Joy Division na di ko nabili kasi walang pera. hahaha Which eventually pagtagal nagkaroon na di ako dahil sa mabait kong english trainer!
Napapadaan ako sa National Bookstore here sa Quezon Ave, eh di lang malaking national bookstore ang mayroon, may Music One na dalawang floors, parang tower din at pwede ka pang makinig ng sounds.
Actually parang mag isa lang ang may ari nun tower and music one dito sa pinas dati. hehe Sikat din si Odyssey at Astrovision, kanyang kanya lakihan ng pwesto and release of new albums and home videos.
Years past, well yun tower sa ATC now became a fashion retail shop. Music one, matagal na wala, kahit sa greenbelt branch. I don't see one either kahit saan. Odyssey eh maliit na lang, bumibili pa din ako pero phillips headset lang. hahaha Astrovision, well, paliit na paliit yun pwesto. They sell console games na din and surprisingly vinyl.
Due to internet and well technology advances, halos mawawala na sila. Lalo na these days na dumating pa ang music streaming services such as spinnr and spotify and the likes. I mean, parang collecting music eh katamaran na din, bayaran na lang yun mga music streaming services to fulfill yun audiophile needs. It's sad, unlike those days na pupunta ka ng music store, pakinggan yun cd after some songs and bili na. Now, specific song eh pwede mo na bilin, not the whole album.
I don't like that neither. hehe I prefer getting the whole discography or album, kahit isa lang trip kong kanta, eh ok na yun. Minsan kasi kala mo panget yun album, eh maganda pala. hahaha
Videos or movies, well, may netflix, may illegal, at faster release ng theatrical version dito. Dati huli tayo sa mga theatrical release, months talaga. Ngayon, some blockbuster films, eh una pa tayo kaysa sa US. Great examples, Cap America 2 and Avengers, una tayo sa US. hahaha Kahit minsan tumingin ako ng mga videos, although yun bago talagang mahal, pero yun iba mura na, wala pa din bumibili. Like I said before, video rental shops were gone, well, sadly baka ito din. =( Kaya di lang videos or daniel padilla albums ang binebenta nila, they go to music accessories, video and even karaoke! Geez.
Malungkot kasi mas maganda yun lalabas ka ng bahay, tapos tingin ka ng mga albums, test every album and out na. Kahit wala ako bilin, basta babalikan ko siya. hahaha These days, with the power ng net, eh parang di ka na lalabas ng bahay. Load lang and net connection, ok na. I prefer still going out and check albums. Pero now siyempre check lang sa net kung ano maganda, and ehem, get it in the other way. haha
Pero importante pa din sila, I mean lalo mabuti yun mga artist na they prefer selling albums di lang sa itunes but sa record stores, and mas special edition agad. I hope tuloy lang nila yun. Even yun mga box sets, kasi di naman lahat dito eh can afford ng net, lalo na pag mataas na speed. hehe Kaya mabuti nagbebenta na legal na box sets, keep it that way. =) At maganda pa, benta ng tickets! So some record shops eh exclusive or pati sila nagbebenta ng mga tickets ng concert so maganda yun, para may pumunta din sa kanila.
Well, pagtagal di natin masasabi with the new strategies na ginagawa nila will keep them afloat but I still hope they will be there..
For a long time. =)
Sad to see, that the only Video City we have di lang sa barangay, kundi sa buong QC siguro or even NCR eh wala na sa may Suki. Dahil na din sa technology, the mobile entertainment, torrents, youtube or ehem persons like me eh di lang almost gone ang video rental shops.. Wala na talaga. Obsolete.. None.. No more!
Wayback those elementary days when betamax and VHS tapes were the king. Although those days eh nagstart na ng pirata directly from film houses, pero marami pa din video rental shops noong. Medyo mahirap magnegosyo nun ha.. Siyempre, iisipin mo san ka kukuha ng mga papahiram mo. Paano pag di sinauli yun pinahiram mo o sinira pala, mahirap yun kasi mahal ang mga blank tapes dati. Lalo naman ata yun equipment! hehe How about the customer infobase, I mean, di pa gamit ang computer noon for customer database, you will need to use a lot of index cards! ahahaha
Then, the setup ng shop with a lot of pigeon or small holes to fit yun tapes. At siyempre, isama mo pa yun update ng films. Video city was big at that time, they have the biggest chain of rental shops, at ayun mga pinapahiram nila ranging from new titles for 2 days, tapos 3 days and yun mga luma 5 days. I did have a membership card noon from them at hiram naman ako. hehe Kung wala si kuya ng mga epektos, let's go at video city! Eh may mga viva titles pa sila na alam na.. hehe Hot titles!!!
I still remember, may competitor pa sila, ACA video then blockbuster video set up one branch dito sa may east avenue.. All of them, had a opportunity to earn sa video rental, ang dating na lang eh paramihan ng titles, pagandahan ng shops and other strategies.. Unfortunately, good times never lasts. They did survive when VCD arrived, but when DVD arrived, bluray, youtube, internet, cinemas are releasing the same or earlier dates of flicks.. They approached their inevitable doom.
Now, may video shops pero on sale but wala bumibili.. Di ko alam kung ano ginagawa nila dun sa mga films na yun pag di nabili. Ang daming CD nun ha. Video City is gone, it's competitors went down first, ACA gone and blockbuster never expanded. Di lang dito, even in other parts of the world, example na lang sa US, blockbuster malapit na mawala because of netflix and others. Amazon na din. Japan you just need to order then ayun na, nasa pinto mo na yun flick na gusto mo. Movie channels now showing selections, a variety of selections at dumadami pa ang movie channels which prompt na di na kailangan magrent.
Pay per view also, lalo na sa US na it's there all the time. Ah.. There, so due to a lot of access in flicks, di ko pa nasama ang mga pirata. hehe Wala na talaga, sad to say.. But maybe I should thank this one because without it, siguro di ako mahilig sa films lately. I still remember, mga after dinner, lalabas ako ng bahay tapos punta na sa isang maliit na video shop tapos nakatitig lang ako mga matagal tapos pipili lang ng isa o dalawa, 15 pesos ata bawat isang tape. =)
Now, all I need to do, is to wait some hours and presto! Sit back, relax and enjoy the movie!
