The end of the mass-market record store?

UPDATE (8/22): Tower Records has now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

From Digital Music News:

Tower Records Edging Closer to Disaster, Possible Liquidation 

The once-proud Tower Records is now edging closer to the rocks, according to continued reports. The chain has been struggling with mounting debt, and major labels were recently forced to freeze shipments following various non-payments. Last week, the dire financial situation failed to thaw, part of a quickly worsening situation. The beleaguered retailer is now headed by chief executive Joe D'Amico, recruited to manage the current crisis and possible bankruptcy. Other possibilities include a straight liquidation, depending largely on decision of chief banking lender CIT Financial. 

Labels want to get paid, but they are also disinterested in witnessing the fall of such an important retailer. Just recently, attendees at the annual NARM convention in Kissimmee, FL, were supportive of Tower, and crowned the retailer with a top award. But financial realities will probably spell a rough period ahead, despite the symbolic nod. If Tower Records folds, it would represent a critical loss for the dedicated, brick-n-mortar music retail segment. Other players in the landscape include big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, which offer deeply discounted loss-leading CDs, and smaller niche outlets, which are also facing heavy financial pressures.

(Screencap taken from the Day of the Longtail video)

Comments

[Bluejay]

Hold on a sec whilst I wipe away a tear for the snotty, unhelpful, arrogant (did I say snotty?) retail clerks who ruled the roost at every Tower Records I ever visited. I stopped going to Tower because of the horrendous and insulting customer service and high prices. I stayed away because I found everything I needed somewhere else. Now with digital music online and a search function that doesn't require paying homage to a self-important $6-an-hour asshole, they're toast. Good riddance. Maybe this will give a boost to locally owned record shops, where the help is (most often) sincere and interested.

[pooja palan]

Today musing over the rains provoked me to think about the long tail of religion /spirituality
more so earlier there were some few high impact messiahs , but these days i see more of long tail analogy applicable to religious/spiritual thought leaders also, can see/preview lots on the blogosphere and lots being worshipped by the online masses.
Each would be niche and one who can connect at philosophy and culture forming the longtail perhaps! its just an opinion.

[Tillerman]

Interesting. But I guess anyone following the music industry in the last 10 years could see this coming. I wonder what will be the next cultural icon to fall victim to the Long Tail effect?

[Piers Fawkes]

Great spot Chris. A few months ago, I wrote a piece on the death of the British stores like HMV and Virgin Megastore:

"The concept of the mega-music store in its current form comes from a pre-digital era: pile it high, twist the arms of record companies to pay for placement, limit stock. The digital music revolution came and went and HMVs and Virgin Megastores remained largely unchanged."

If you don't mind me adding the link - here it is: http://www.psfk.com/2006/05/hmv_to_go_dodo.html

[Bubba Taylor]

Dear Sirs:

We thought you might like to know much of video iPod Episode 3 of Rednecks.tv was devoted to a redneck discussion of the Long Tail Theory. Bubba and Big discuss how the theory applies to the fact that enema bags are not sold at WalMart. A shortened version of the program is available on Youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvlSm178to

The entire episode can be viewed at:

www.rednecks.tv

It is also available as a video iPod download through iTunes. It can be searched and found by typing "rednecks.tv" in the search area for podcasts.

[Bubba Taylor]

Dear Sirs:

We thought you might like to know much of video iPod Episode 3 of Rednecks.tv was devoted to a redneck discussion of the Long Tail Theory. Bubba and Big discuss how the theory applies to the fact that enema bags are not sold at WalMart. A shortened version of the program is available on Youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvlSm178to

The entire episode can be viewed at:

www.rednecks.tv

It is also available as a video iPod download through iTunes. It can be searched and found by typing "rednecks.tv" in the search area for podcasts.

[Mr Long]

Actually, just saw the rednecks on the long tail. Quite funny if you don't take things too seriously. Perhaps not enema bags, but rather redneck.tv will find its longtail.

[Doug Stewart]

Personally, I wonder when all the record stores will go. By this, I mean all physical medium (vinyl, CD, tape, etc.). When CDs came out, people talked about the vast improvement of this new technology. However, the base technology hasn't changed for a 100 years. The original record was a wax cylinder that was spun around, with a needle which moved in a grove on the cylinder. Although vinyl was better (more compact, more durable), it was still the same technology of spining something around, with a needle in the grove. CDs are the same (a spining medium), except they use a laser instead of a needle. Really no change for a hundred years, just tweaks to the material used.

Now we can download as much music as we want and store it in a tiny computer disk or RAM. How primitive this makes the old method look. Let's think about it. Taking a physical disk out of a box, inserting it into a player, hitting some buttons, then after listening to the disk having to repeat the entire process in reverse. Compare this to simply typing a command to play downloaded music. In my mind CDs are just clunky by comparison.

Why do we still have CDS? The usual reasons. People are used to them. People like to own things and still equate ownership with physical posession. Technology (as usual) has raced ahead of the user interface, so we don't have a way (yet) to play downloaded music as easily as hitting a play button on a CD player. However, 20-30 years from now most of this will have changed. Downloading music will be widely available (without the current legal battles). The user interface will be intuitive, fast and easy. People will consider this the norm, rather than physical medium.

My predictions anyways....

Doug