about us
Soundscapes is an independent CD and music book retailer located in the Little Italy neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The shop was founded with the simple intent of carrying the best music of all styles and persuasions. Our inventory includes (but is not limited to) folk, jazz, world, psych, garage, prog, blues, soul, reggae, classical, experimental, noise, americana/country, electronic, hip-hop, R&B, metal and pop/rock. We also devote our energies to finding the best in reissues of all genres and imports from across the pond. Finally, our store has one of the city's best selections of local indie artists.
Soundscapes is a ticket outlet for many independent promoters and we regularly provide tickets for the town's cornerstone venues, such as The Horseshoe Tavern, Lee's Palace, The Mod Club, The Music Gallery and The Opera House, among others. A long-time supporter of Toronto's independent music scene, we have a large consignment section and a seven-year relationship with local indie club night Wavelength (the breeding ground for Broken Social Scene, The Constantines, Royal City and Do Make Say Think to name a few).
Since its birth in August of 1999, the store has quickly grown into one of Toronto's most-respected and loved music shops. Most importantly, our shelves are stocked not only by the tastes of our staff, but also through suggestions of many a regular customer. We pride ourselves on a relationship with our clientele that is based on respect and a mutual love of music.
History
In August 1999, Greg Davis first opened the doors on a modest shop in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood. The space used to be a children's clothing store. Now it was a fledgling CD shop called Soundscapes. Greg had arrived at this place in a very un-rock n' roll way. Although a native son of nearby Burlington, he had spent the previous two years as an accountant living in San Diego. Like a lot of number-crunchers he found his job profitable but boring. Unlike the majority of his cohorts, he decided to do something about it.
Greg's record-store-owner-by-way-of-accountant history was unconventional and so was his approach to the indie record shop. Instead of the cluttered bins and surly attitudes depicted in High Fidelity, he favoured clean lines, broad genre stocking, and wide-eyed enthusiasm. The idea was that while he was a huge fan of music himself, he had as much to learn as the next person. Soundscapes was to be a meeting place of like open minds, where the customer had as much to say about the stocking of the shelves as the owner himself.
When the shop first started, it had no more than a couple thousand titles and Greg was the only employee: day in, day out. In the years since, the store has greatly expanded with an inventory of some 20,000 CDs, books and DVDs, as well as over a dozen employees. The shop's well-chosen, always-improving stock ranges from folk, pop, rock and soul to jazz, classical and experimental, not to mention numerous reissues and import titles.
Press
Here are some articles that reference Soundscapes:
May 2008: New York Times: Frugal Traveler: O Canada, Where Have Your Bargains Gone?
February 2008: BlogTO: The Best Music Store In Toronto
December 2007: Eye Weekly: I Turn My Cameras On
December 2007: Toronto Star: Hipsters Find New Indie Rhythm
November 2007: Eye Weekly: It Began With A Card
October 2007: Pitchfork: Guest List: Kevin Drew
July 2007: Eye Weekly: File under Torontopia
July 2007: National Post: Counter intelligence
July 2007: Exclaim: Importing our own
July 2007: Toronto Star: There's life in record stores yet
June 2007: Globe & Mail: Stocking up on sounds for the weekend
April 2007: Pitchfork: Guest List: Tokyo Police Club
November 2006: Toronto Star: Rockin' bands shatter silence at library
October 2006: NOW Magazine: Best of Toronto: Music reader's picks
June 2005: New York Times: 36 Hours In Toronto
October 2004: NOW Magazine: Best of Toronto: Best CD/Record Store
June 2004: NOW Magazine: Store Of The Week
September 2003: Globe & Mail: Talk of the town
August 2003: Globe & Mail: The secret of indie record store success
October 2002: NOW Magazine: Best of Toronto: Best specialty record store
September 2001: NOW Magazine: Underground Sounds
Ryerson Journalism: How indie record stores survive
