Fall Conventions Cancelled
Record conventions in Ontario that were scheduled for the Fall are being cancelled due to COVID-19. These include:
- The Guelph Record and Music Collectible show (09/20)
- Newmarket Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show (10/20)
- The St. Catherines Record Show (11/08)
- Toronto West Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show (12/8)
Unfortunately, these events are dependant on crowds and safety could therefore not be guaranteed at these events.
I suspect events outside of Ontario will also be concerned over these concerns. Please contact the convention operators for details.
New Music Streaming Service
Amazon Music HD is now up and running and offering millions of tracks at 2 to 10 times the bitrate of other services.
New users from Canada that live outside of Quebec will be able to take advantage of a limited time offer to listen for free for 90 days.
App & iTunes Card Offer
PC Optimum members that purchase a $50 App & iTunes gift card at Shopper Drug mart stores on or before August 28th, 2020 will get 7500 points, which is basically a $7.50 value.
Additional information on this offer can be found by clicking here.
Record Store Day Update
Several Record Store Day events will occur at participating retailers, starting at the end of this month.
On August 29th, 2020, this first of three series of limited-edition recordings will be made available, followed by a second series on September 26th and third series on October 24th.
These releases were spread out to limit the crowds at these participating retailers, in response to COVID-19. And masks and social distancing will be required to enter these establishments.
For your information, disposable face masks are available from Amazon.ca, Living.ca and your local Giant Tiger, Rexall Pharmacy, Canadian Tire and Shoppers Drug Mart stores.
More Ontario Theatres Open
Cineplex Entertainment and Landmark Cinemas have opened several of their theatres in the province of Ontario, with limited showings and extra precautions to keep COVID-19 from being spread.
The newly converted Cine Stars Theatres in Western Ottawa and Burlington have also been opened with the above-mentioned precautions.
By the way, I’ve also noticed that Canadian Tire stores now sell both masks and face shields, although I couldn’t find the latter listed on their site. Disposable face masks are also available from your local Shoppers Drug Mart and Giant Tiger stores, as well as from living.ca online.
My First Impressions of Amazon Cash
First of all, a disclaimer; This blog is affiliated to Amazon but I have not been asked by them to review this service.
That said, Amazon Cash is a service that was announced in June 2018 that allows people to add funds to their Amazon gift card account at a participating retailer by using cash or debit, instead of using a credit card online.
This can be quite useful for students and people who don’t have credit cards. And yesterday I decided to try it out, to take advantage of the offer I had mentioned on this blog two days back so I printed a bar code from the site and went to the nearest participating retailer to load money into my account.
The procedure is relatively easy – They scan your bar code from your printout or Amazon.ca app (or punch in your phone number), you give them the amount you want to add to your accounts and they give you a receipt. But unfortunately, you may encounter cashiers and staff at these participating retailers that are unaware that their store offers this service.
My local Circle K convenience store was listed as a participant on the Amazon.ca web site but the staff member there had no idea what I was talking about. And when I found someone that knew how to add funds to my account, miles away at a Canada Post Outlet, he told me that very few people use the service there and that he just learned how to handle Amazon Cash deposits a few days back.
I suspect this payment method is likely more popular near colleges and universities, some of which have shops and bookstores that are listed as participating retailers. And in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.
I guess I could have called ahead to make sure the convenience store staff knew how to add funds to my account. But shouldn’t they know how to do it by now, two years after it had been activated? Or have some of the smaller retailers stopped participating?
I may still consider using it in the future at the Canada Post outlets and participating wireless stores, who are more likely to have a handle on this, regardless of the spotty coverage.