Tracks

Tracks is probably the worst record store in Bloomington. All of the other stores have that record store feel, but Tracks dedicates their time to IU apparel and over priced records. An Album for $ 10 at there would be a $ 3 at the other stores. I would skip over this place and go to the other stores.

You gotta love tracks!!! Great vinyl! Great apparel! They gave my campers a free hat during a scavenger hunt type game. Great local place. Support it!!!

Always check out Tracks when I visit IU. Nice range of IU apparel at good price. Usually leave with 5 – 6 garments. Looking forward to being there this week.

It really sucks Tracks got overtaken with IU memorabilia, but I was very impressed with their record selection. Possibly the best in town for punk/​indie records. Best prices too. Sign up for their VIP list, new records go on extra sale every week for VIPs and all you have to do is give your email. I saved 40% on the record I wanted. Would give 5 stars if half the store wasn’t filled with shitty IU gear.

Seriously, has one of the most diverse music collections I have ever come across. You can find old classics on vinyl, or you can choose from a variety of mainstream and underground artists on cd. If anything, you could just stop in to add to your IU attire. The manager and employees design much of what is sold, so as to provide clothing students and parents would actually want to wear in a regular basis. I don’t even go to IU and, yet, I own more clothing with the IU logo then I do of my own school (all from tracks). This should speaks volumes about the quality and aesthetic appeal of the clothing sold at this store.
If you are passing through for a game, or are currently a student, I highly recommend you make some time to stop in at Tracks on Kirkwood.

I can’t comment about the music selection, just the random IU apparel they sell. It’s cheap and probably falls apart after three washings but 2 shirts for $ 13.98? Okay, you got me. The staff only makes eye contact with you if you need assistance or you make a purchase. That is also fine with me. It’s small in here and it smelled like onions but again, cheap gear if that’s what you need.

Very rude staff. Not a record store anymore. It’s basically an IU gift shop. I did find a cd in there after I had looked everywhere first. Only shop there in an «emergency».

Great selection of IU apparel, but I do miss when Tracks was a real record store. Now it kind of reminds me of the Discount Den at Purdue, still a campus landmark, but not filled with all the cool stuff I want. Tracks was always less pretentious than any of the other record stores. I guess it’s good that it still has that yummy record store smell.
This Boilermaker is really happy with her IU hoodie though!

Ive/we’ve been to Tracks many times over the last several years and HAVE ALWAYS come out the door with something purchased! Granted, some, NOT MANY, albums are rather overpriced for the condition they are in, BUT there is so much other goodies that eschew that ‘so-​called fallable problem’, one SHOULD BE ABLE to get something he/​she/​they are in the mood/​looking for! (I/​we ALWAYS have… my wife and I!) For those hollering/​bitching/​whining/​etc that Fleetwood Mac albums at $ 6 to $ 8 dollars are too much to spend… I say, «Put It Back Where You Got It From and Go Someplace Else, D-​I-​G, okay!!! Do these same folks go to their ‘local beer garden/​hang out/​pizza joint/​chain restaurant/​Starbucks/​ice cream parlor’ and BEMOAN THEIR high prices and DEMAND/​ASK for a reduction in prices? Doubt it, so then the why so’s when it comes to music, let alone any other kind of media inc. dvds/​books/​etc??? Oh I get it… one needs to express the ‘entitlement mentality’ i.e. ‘financially compensate me’ because of the habits/​vices/​addictions/​etc I have already (cigarettes/​booze/​foodie blowouts/​et al). So you MUST DO THIS for me!
Nada Nada Nada chilliun!!!
Whine Whine Whine that retailers are rip-​offs, capitalistic pigs, and many other grandious names to make one ‘feel good’ that they are being ‘wonderous champions of justice on the cheap’!!! Get lost!
And for those ‘bellyaching’ they get squat for their ‘sell-​offs.’ Is what brought in, already what they have numerous copies of? If they are not going, then what does one ‘expect’? (I know the place doesnt know how to ‘price’ stuff thats why it just ‘sits’! Didja ever hear of consumer stupidity-​not understanding the nuts and bolts behind retail 101?)
For the clothing aspect? Well if ya’ll bought more music/​cds/​dvds and anything music related (like the turntables/​receivers/​cartriages Tracks sells), then would there be a ‘need’ for other merchandise to be sold? Well, it goes back to the ‘consumer mentality’ of the above! (None of ya’s want to be blamed for anything!) About the issue of not knowing Tracks sold music and video, isnt that what the Internet is for?! (Amazing in this day and age, with computer info available at one’s fingertips, that ‘googling’ isnt part of the mental process to obtain important info to make proper decisions? Okay…)
Its great, as mentioned, Tracks sells turntables, receivers, and stylus… thats a thing of the last century! (Something else taken for granted!)
The only ‘complaint’ I have is that there should be a little more care in ‘grading/​pricing’ certain used discs. BTW-​Ive never seen anything ‘repriced’ on any of their goods, outside of SALE PRICES on their new sealed vinyl!!!
BTW-​one CAN bring back their merchandise (new or pre-​loved) if its not in good playable condition and get a refund/​exchange. So whats wrong with that?
Tracks is as good as good can be… so quit the ‘loose lips’ and support music retail.

I really liked Tracks when I first came to Bloomington as a freshman back in 2005. It was always a good place to find used CDs and I went there frequently. Something, however, happened a few years ago. They started selling IU clothing. I think this happened right after the Steve & Barry’s closed.
I don’t necessarily have an issue with them carrying the apparel, it’s more that they devoted the front half of the store to the merchandise. If one didn’t already know Tracks sold music and video, they wouldn’t know it walking past today. And in order to make way for the apparel, everything else in the store is horribly cramped, making it hard to browse.
I still go if I’m trying to find something specific, but usually only if I’ve already looked at Landlocked and TD’s and failed to find that item (which is rare).

Tracks is a pretty cool little shop. I ended up walking out of there with stuff that I didn’t even know that I wanted, not to mention a few things for which I had been looking for a while. They have a ton of used DVDs for cheap – $ 4 to $ 8 per movie. I also saw Seasons 5 and 6 of Curb Your Enthusiasm for $ 25. I didn’t look too closely at used CDs but I did pick up a brand-​new copy of the New Pornographers’ recent release Together for only eleven bucks.
They also have a bunch of LPs and a big rack of IU t-​shirts, not to mention all the recordable media (DVD-​Rs, CD-​Rs, even VHS and audio cassettes) that you could ever need.

This place is one of the only places around town that buys back dvds and music cds. That is great considering how most everything is moving toward HD and digital. The biggest downside of this place is that they are nit picky on what they will buy back. The condition isn’t as nit picky, but which titles they will buy back are kind of crappy. I walked in here with a big box of dvds and games, about 26 titles. They bought 16 of them and I walked out with $ 6 and some change. I only sold them the ones they chose to save a trip and because there’s no telling if ace’s pawn shop would buy them or how much they would give. If you’re looking to sell, it’s not worth the gas money to sell them here. You’re much much more likely to get better offers on Onestart (if you’re an IU student) or craigslist.
Their prices are also pretty high. When I was waiting for their «offer,» I looked around and they didn’t have any newer games. The older titles they had like for ps2 are about the same as you would expect at gamestop. Why buy games here when you can get the same price at gamestop, plus a much larger selection?
If you come here, I would recommend doing so solely for hard to find media like LP’s or to sell back dvd’s and games that clutter up your home and if you don’t care about how much you get back. I can see why they charge more since they are a struggling townie based store, but I don’t see why they don’t seem to show an attempt to at least compete with any other local store like best buy. My bottom line is it’s not a great store, but better than nothing.

WTF, Tracks?
Tracks was never my favorite music shop when I lived here back in the day, and it’s even more ridiculous now. I used to work in a chain music store a few doors down (it’s long gone now), and even in that competitive a market, Tracks’ price on new stuff was almost always higher. That said, every now and then, you could find a good deal on used stuff. Alas, those days are apparently gone.
Look, I get that Bloomington is a pretty cool town with lots of cool people, many of who still buy and hunt out vinyl. But I really need someone to explain to me how ridiculously overpriced the used LPs are at this place. For instance, if you have eight copies of the same old Fleetwood Mac album priced at $ 6-​$ 8 each and they’re not selling, why not drop the price?
Similarly, it would be nice if I could wrap my mind around the idea that a lot of these old albums have old Tracks price stickers on them that have been written over in Sharpie with significantly higher prices. It makes me think someone there read an article about how vinyl is relatively popular again and thought, «Finally! Let’s up all the prices on this shit that practically nobody wanted in the first place!»
I’m not going to lie: There’s an album there I really want and would be willing to purchase for $ 6.99, but the fact that I can see the old $ 2.99 sticker beneath the new higher price keeps me from it solely on principle.
Get a clue: If beaten-​up old copies of records didn’t sell at $ 2.99, they’re not going to sell at $ 6.99 or $ 8.99 or $ 10.99 or whatever ludicrous price you choose. Granted, I’m no MBA candidate or anything like that, but it seems whoever’s running Tracks needs a refresher course in how to actually SELL stuff.
BTW: Chris D., since you’ve chosen to call me out, allow me to tell you I’ve been in Tracks hundreds of times in the past few decades. The staff might be nice, but the prices are still ridiculous. And you can call it a music-​focused store all you want, but that certainly doesn’t explain the new sportswear section that takes up ¹⁄₃ of the store. The people who own and run this place appear to be out to make a buck, plain and simple. They don’t give a crap about music. Not in the way those at TD’s or Landlocked do, to be sure.

Tracks rocks!
Huge selection, lots of used CDs and some random DVDs and LPs. The floor has some cool Persian rugs, and the employees are always helpful– some of the most music savvy people I have ever met worked there.
There are always some recently released discs available to listen to with headphones.
The franchise stores cannot have the service a store like this provides, these guys care about what the customer likes and have the knowledge to suggest similar artists. I live in a town where there are only franchise stores– nothing like Tracks. So you Bloomingtonians are blessed with a cool shop and will not know what you are missing until you don’t have it.