CD World: Beyond Deep Purple

Ten years ago, Western music was gold, smuggled through customs in suitcases. Then, about seven years ago, the trickle of vinyl began to grow into a steady flow of bootleg tape from Poland and Bulgaria.


Now, Moscow has moved into a new era of musical legitimacy.


Walk into CD World on Ulitsa Myasnitskaya and you see everything you would expect: multiply-pierced clientele; life-size images of the Beastie Boys; a metalhead clerk named Stepan who, according to the manager, "can talk for hours about Kiss."


The only thing you do not see is very many CDs. All that will come in time, says manager Serge Peshchkov -- CD World will beef up its 2,000-title inventory of top-quality Western discs to 5,000 over the course of the next few months.


In the meantime, the brand new disc shop hopes to undersell and out-market every other music store in the city. Most of the discs in Moscow are inexpensive bootlegs from China, the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria, which infringe copyright laws and sacrifice sound quality, the store's staff said. CD World offers luxuries such as two-week special orders and in-store play of any disc, a policy that has transformed many Western disc stores into second homes for low-budget music-lovers.


Entrepreneur Pavel Chernyshov and his partner, New York disc jockey Stanley Williams, are testing the waters with their tiny storefront, and hope to expand into a city-wide chain over the course of several years. If all goes as planned, Peshchkov said, they can open one store every five months.


Two days into business on Ulitsa Myasnitskaya, though, it is still a small world. Lining the walls are CDs representing every conceivable genre, from the Breeders' brand new "Last Splash" ($17.98) to "Kim Wilde: The Singles Collection" ($16.98). The selection is alphabetical, so that Frank Sinatra comes right in between the Ramones ("End of the Century," $17.98) and the Stone Temple Pilots' debut album ($18.98). Williams, who selected much of the inventory himself, said his taste runs to hip-hop and soul, then alternative rock, then disco. The store offers some of his recent enthusiasms, such as Salt N' Pepa's "Very Necessary" ($18.98), Dr. Alban's "Look Who's Talking" ($18.98) and "SWV: The Remixes" ($13.98).


Peshchkov said CD World was eager to cater to Moscow's resident foreigners, and that some of their inventory would focus on that audience. "You are not looking for Deep Purple," he said. "You heard that 20 years ago."


But building a store in Moscow, which has no niche for specialty stores, called for a nondenominational selection -- so beside Ice Cube's "The Predator" sits a stack of Abba's "Voulez-Vous" ($14.98) and "a lot of Freddy Mercury," Williams said. CD World also stocks the music magazines "Pulse" and "Paper," and plans to carry "Spin," "Rolling Stone," and "New Music Express."


The store is located in a beautifully restored building which its owners hope will become a center of commerce, along the lines of a Western shopping mall. Already in business is a Champion sporting goods outlet and a lighting store, and Chernyshov's company, ParMilla, has purchased space for a supermarket and a beer hall in the basement.


CD World has been selling discs wholesale for months already, and that may end up being one of the store's biggest bonuses -- special orders flow in regularly from Europe and America, and they guarantee delivery in two weeks. They keep an eye out for new releases, and can get their hands on the Rolling Stones' new "Voodoo Lounge" ($20.98) and the Beastie Boys' "Ill Communication" before they become classic rock.





CD World is located at 30 Ulitsa Myasnitskaya, on the far side of the building as you come from the metro. Its hours are 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., seven days a week. Tel. 207-7107. Nearest metro: Chystiye Prudy.