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Permalink Reply by Jason Dominy on June 16, 2010 at 7:55pm

You have GOT to check out The Downplayer. Free songs from cool artists everyday. Includes B-sides, remixes of great songs, and lots of great indie music. I've gotten some great stuff from this site, and generally they release about 10 new songs every day!
http://www.thedownplayer.com/

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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on June 16, 2010 at 9:41pm

Zack-
People tend to gravitate towards things of their own preference. Certainly, one can think that baristas tend to have "good taste" in music, but that's only because your preference is similar to the baristas you've experienced.

While Spro has never offered music in either location, my other place did - for seven years. I'm not against music because I realize and understand that music can add a certain ambience to an establishment. However, I think that ambience needs to be well thought out and the music tailored to that vision.

My old place (with the music) had a very focused theme and environment. The playlist was very strict and controlled. We only played music that had been vetted out to deliver that environment and as much as I enjoyed that music in my personal life, there were a number of times that I wished I could play something else. But we never departed from our vision. This is what I'm talking about.

Too many shops allow music to be played willy-nilly. And while the baristas claim up and down that they're creating an ambience, typically that "ambience" is helter skelter and inconsistent. Some people like that aspect of the flophouse coffeeshop with crappy art on the walls, frat house decoration, disheveled and unshowered baristas, but I do not. Give me a clean, fresh and cohesive environment with great, friendly baristas in a setting that looks like serious business where I'm not second-guessing why I would ever spend $13 on a cup of coffee. A place where the baristas look good and are freshly showered.

For Spro, it's a complete departure from the coffeehouse norm. No music. No art. No Wi-Fi. No community bulletin boards mucking up the environment. Just a clean focus on really great coffee, prepared by the cup, to order with coffees from six different roasters brewed eight different ways, and served by friendly, knowledgeable and skilled barista craftspeople. That's the music we're interested in providing for our customers. There are other places that offer the rest.

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on June 16, 2010 at 10:01pm

Seriously guys... we've had this discussion before (many times), I don't think we need to have it again, at the very least, not in this thread. Please keep on topic, especially after a request from the OP to do just that.


One thing that has worked for me in the past when I'm tired of my music is to put out a sign that says, "Musician? We need your tunes!" Underneath that heading I'd put a quick disclaimer about the "tone/vibe/mood" of music that the shop tried to feature with an explanation that it isn't that other forms are inferior, just that we tried to set the atmosphere according to certain genres of music.

If you try this you'll probably get 20-30 albums in the first week, depending on your volume and demographic.

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on June 17, 2010 at 7:47am

the last time someone gave me their cd in a coffeeshop, it was packaged like a giant condom. the font and design on the outside was similar to a trojan, and the cd itself had the image of a condom printed onto it. needless to say, it was awful.

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