propermusic.com — The Home of Specialist Music

Propermusic.com is part of the Proper Music Group of companies, also comprising the labels Proper Records, Specific Jazz & Navigator Records and the distribution companies Proper Music Distribution and Proper Note. We also publish our own Properganda magazine and run our own recording studio. You may already be aware of us but if not, you can find a potted history of our company here.

Propermusic.com exists to provide a dedicated online home for music of the specialist genres – broadly the music you used to find upstairs (or maybe in the basement) in record shops. Of course these days there are far fewer shops, let alone those with dedicated floors to specialist music. Before we go any further though, a word of warning. We’re not here to try and take away business from existing retail outlets. If you currently use AN Other retailer (and certainly if they are a bricks and mortar High Street shop) then please stick with them. And if you don’t but you’d like to, there is a list of shops we’d recommend here.

So why are we here? Because it’s a sad fact that there has been a dramatic decline in music retail outlets over the last 10 years and frankly who knows where it will end? One thing is for sure though – we want you to be able to continue to purchase what you want and as importantly we want artists and labels to be able to continue to put their music into the shop window. There is far too much good stuff to leave it to chance. As the number of retailer’s declines and those that remain are forced towards other product categories, this often leaves music on the margins well, marginalised. We’re here to ensure that doesn’t happen.

And so what can you expect? Well, we’ll focus on Folk, Blues, Jazz, Country, Americana & World. We’ll dabble a bit in Classical too. We’ll also sell anything else you might want because frankly we’re an internet store and we can. So if you want to buy Beyonce as well as Richard Thompson or Keith Jarrett, then that’s fine. We just won’t feature Beyonce on our home page. Ever. That’s a promise. And if you sign up to our mailing list we’ll only ever send you info on stuff that you may actually want. No Beyonce there either. Promise. Given the reputation and success of our sister companies we’ve got quite a bit to live up to so we aim to make your shopping experience as enjoyable and as efficient as possible. You’ll also see that part of our site is a blog dedicated to bringing you news, reviews and features that may help you along the way. And if there is anything you ever want to tell us then please give us a ring on 0208-676-5148

A word about our pricing. We call it sustainable pricing and much like other products that are sustainable, we’re not in it to make a quick buck or to screw someone else over. We want to ensure that every time we sell a CD that it benefits everyone and that it’s sustainable: That you can afford to buy more and enjoy them, that we can stay in business and finally, that the artists can continue to do what they do best. And there is something else you should know. Most of the big names in UK music internet retail utilise a circular shipping process that takes CDs out to the Channel Islands and back in order to avoid VAT. We understand why they do it, we just don’t agree. We understand why you the consumer might like it, but we still don’t agree. So please remember that in our UK & EU pricing 20% of every £10 goes in VAT and that might not be true elsewhere.

Finally, thanks for coming to visit and thanks for your interest. It’s all about the music.

The team at Propermusic.com