Back in the early 1990s, I was a frequent customer at Tower Records. Then, I discovered online sources for CDs, and, then, Amazon got into the music game. I can honesty say that I haven’t purchased a CD in a traditional “record” store (geez, isn’t that word an anachronism ?) in more than ten years. And, apparently, I’m not alone:
Tower Records, the iconic chain where generations of music lovers have gone to lose themselves in record-store reveries, is up for sale in bankruptcy court, forsaken by consumers who favor digital music and discounts at big-box superstores.
Tower represents a time when music had a different cultural status than it does today, as songs vie for attention with newer pastimes such as video games, Internet surfing and instant messaging. Its financial faltering — this is its second bankruptcy filing since 2004 — signals not only corporate problems but also a shift in how people shop and think about music in their lives.
And its pretty easy to see why this is happening:
In 1991, there were roughly 9,500 chain music stores in the United States, compared with about 2,000 now, according to Billboard magazine. Although many independent stores continue to have loyal followings, those, too, are on the decline.
(…)
Many other music stores have already fallen to similar financial pressures. Chains such as National Record Mart and Musicland have gone away or been acquired by conglomerates like Trans World Entertainment Corp., which now controls more than 1,100 retail stores under the Sam Goody, F.Y.E., Strawberries and Wherehouse brands.
(…)
CD sales last year totaled more than 705 million, compared with 13.6 million albums sold online, according to the most recent figures from the Recording Industry Association of America. But CD sales declined 8 percent last year, compared with online album sales growth of 199 percent.
And that’s only going to increase in the future.
August 23rd, 2006 at 3:43 pm
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