It"s hard to believe that Tower is closing. That was the best place for imports and singles but I have to admit I stopped shopping and record stores several years ago for a few reasons:

a) prices are too high
b) stores had very little outside of the top 40
c) stores that had half-way decent prices were often sold out on release day and by the time they got stock in they were no longer on sale

I now get my music from downloads, mom and pop shops, Amazon or used. The interent has helped me to be more selective about what I buy and I now know I'm getting exactly what I want instead of taking a $18.99 chance on a turd that I can't even return or exchange.

lastdecember said:

i don't see it as a problem. as long as the artists, labels, and consumers are willing to evolve, nobody gets left behind.

ThePunisher said:

prime example:





















[Edited 10/14/06 17:15pm]

Yeah, I had mixed feelings about the inevitable extinction of CDs. I don't necessarily want to keep adjusting to a different format every decade or so. Plus there are a few of us--especially DJs--who miss having something tangible to relate to. There's something about holding that new music in your hands, unwrapping a gift of music, etc. Also, I really miss the artwork and liner notes that I don't need a magnifying glass for. I notice that I don't even study the album info much anymore because I don't feel like squinting.

Also the attempt of trying to get a 'cleaner' sound is not always a good thing. After awhile the music doesn't even sound 'real' anymore.
[Edited 10/15/06 12:04pm]

Tessa said:

I acutally see it as a major problem. Myself, like i said dont really care, i won an iPod, things like that, but there are tons that dont and wont. You basically are cutting a source totally out, mainly saying that people that want music will convert. When i worked in music retail it took forever to convince people that TAPES were gone and they had to get a CD player, now you got those people to CD and now you are eliminating it, Ok that may not seem bad, but you are eliminating the place where they get it. A 60 year old woman who wants the new Tony Bennet is not going to sit in front of a computer and download it, i mean lets be real, and alot of parents are not going to go out and spend tons of money on computers and iPods for their kids. I think this move will leave tons of people behind, and from this move i feel the industry will finally crash.

CHIC0 said:

Prime example indeed. You know something Chico? Every new artist looking to get in the business should watch that Behind The Music episode featuring TLC. Now if that does'nt motivate you to get your financial affairs in order, I don't know what will.

lastdecember said:

the CD is not, despite what the record industry insiders you know said, going to die by 2010. grandma will be able to buy the Tony Bennet CD, as will someone without internet access.

and, eventually, if there is no money to be made on the format, why should labels or stores issue and sell them?

What Sam Goody did you work at?

lilgish said:

?

Tessa said:

All im saying dont be surprised to see sales tank even further due to this, and its not just old people, the lack of sales is coming from younger people and there ones with the most access. The thing is the plan to do away with CDs has been long in the mindset of labels, 2010 may seem quick, but just think how quickly other things have changed in 3-4 year span. I dont think you will total see it go, but i think you will see stock/availability drop big time in any store/online avenue one takes. I did the Music/Retail thing for a long time and trust me, when labels want to do away with something, they dont waste time. This year is their worst year on record, Universal itself is set to cut losse 75-100 artists at the end of this year, basically anyone selling less than 100,000 will get cut loose. So the day of working an artist and giving them a chance to build a fan base is over.

lastdecember said:

the music industry is on the same economic cycle that all other forms of entertainment are. when people have money, they buy more frivolous crap. when they don't have the money for it, they save it for food, shelter, transportation, etc.

Tessa said:

True to a certain extent, but people will still part with their money regardless of the economy.

however if a department store, which carries only top 40 anyway, is selling the new Prince cd @ $9 and someone like Tower has it on sale for $15.99, the general public who only buy those top 40 albums are more likely to go to the dept. store.

CHIC0 said:

MAN ANYONE WHO LOVE MUSIC AND HAVE BILL TO PAY

THEY GONNA SPEND LESS WHERE EVER!

IT NOT LIKE MUSIC FAN OWE RECORD COMPANY MONEY

LIKE IT TITHE OR SOMETHING

Its funny how no one is looking at the root of this issue. First to explain i worked in Music/Retail for almost 18 years till this past year when my location of Sem Goody closed up here in NYC, so i know the in's and outs of how its all done, from the buying of product to the labels to the way soundscan is determined. I have constantly heard people talk about lower soundscan numbers, and things like that, but no one is realizing that chains/stores are closing in record numbers. Last year Musicland which owned Sam Goody/Suncoast/Media Play, basically was in serious debt to the labels, so it liquidated the entire Media Play chain, over have the Suncoast chain, and most of the Sam goody chain. Once this chain had over 1200 stores it now runs at about 150, the remaining stores were purchased by transworld which owns FYE and some others, well at the moment FYE stores are not in good shape either, closing some stores this year too. Not only that Tower Records is liquidating everything, the entire chain is going out, though not a large chain, Tower was infamous for its deep catalog/imports and its ability to sell indie labels too. It was kind of sad today to see STORE IS CLOSING signs in Tower Records on 4th, a store that i would also go in when i was a kid till this very day, especially for catalog, it brought back memories to closing my store, which if you have never been through the Liquidation process, is the saddest thing ever. Now people can blame stores and companies for poor management but its not a fact, sure some companies are just to big and need to shrink, especially in the Music Business, but people feel to realize the stanglehold labels have on the stores, selling cds to them at a price of 10-12 dollars, of course these stores have to charge 13 and up for them because if they dont make margin, then they close, sure cd prices are high, but its not up to stores like Goody or Tower or Fye, people fail to realize that these stores pay rent too, the location i was at paid 70,000 a month JUST FOR RENT, thats not counting utilities,security,and paying employees, and then of course paying for the product. So dont be surprised if u start to see Virgin and FYE start shrinking too, especially their cd departments.

Now what this means is lower Soundscan Numbers, people fail to release in the last year at least 1500 stores have closed, and now you are losing a whole chain like Tower. SOUNDSCAN though people dont realize this is NOT an account of what people buy at the counter its based on Stores Ordering and then the LABELS report what they sold to stores, and then they get inventories from stores usually once a week. So Soundscan is probably about 60-70% accurate maybe less, depending on the release, the bigger the number the bigger the variance will be. Labels, will cut discounts to stores in order to jack up the soundscan numbers. EXAMPLE, a few years ago when R KELLY came out with that Double CD, Our buyer wanted to purchase 20,000 for the company, the label wanted us to buy 50,000 because then it would push their Shipping number over a million, so they cut the price of the sale for those extra units, needless to say, the record debuted at 1 and most stores were stuck with this product and then had to send most of it back, which also is an expense to the stores.

So when you see numbers shrink just remember there are a much smaller number of stores and the number is growing. I mean 1500 stores is alot, and probably another 300 or so this year maybe more.

iTunes is for the impatient. That would be me. When there's something I want immediately I'll opt for iTunes. I don't want to or can’t wait to order it online and pay an extra $10 for speedy shipping and handling nor am I in an area where I can just go to the store. I have to travel to get to a good store and even they probably won’t have it.

Anyway, I love singles. Always have. I’m a former clubber so any sorta mix I can get I had to get my hands on not to mention imports. Best place in the world for that is Tower. I could pretty much get any single I wanted there. But it hasn’t been so easy for me to get to Tower over the years so again downloading and occasionally iTunes has saved the day. I don’t really consider iTunes leasing if I back up my music onto a CD.

FYE—damn, I hate that store. The first time I browsed through the store wondering what FYE meant and what the hell happened to Sam Goody—not that SG was much better—I couldn’t believe their prices and lack of inventory.

I have shopped around to 3-4 different stores for an album I desperately wanted on release day that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg or be sold out. I finally had to jump in the car and travel to find it for a price somewhere in between.

CandaceS said:

Im guessing they will all go out. As far as the 10% sale, thats the way the Liquidators do it, they increase the percentage obviously as the weeks go on, but they always Liquidate off the list price not a sale price, because mainly they are just trying to make as much money as possible because they have assumed Towers Debts at this point. It is the worst process if you are an employee in the middle of it. Tower has been operating at a loss for a few years now, they were basically hanging on, but dont think its gonna stop there, Virgin is said to now be the "Deep" catalog seller, but they will soon feel the hit too, as will FYE which has already closed stores.

Don't forget that eBay and Amazon Marketplace must be cutting into the catalogue sales.

big chains like Wal Mart and Best Buy have put big chains like Sam Goody out of business. oh, boo hoo, i'm crying my eyes out.

"FYE sucks ass,I HOPE it closes"


I agree,that store sucks!! $18 CDs!! small selection...I've never seen such an awful record store.Did you guys notice that most record stores inside malls are really sucky? They always have high prices,small selection,no rare CDs.

SoulAlive said:

If places like Tower and Media Play can't stay in business, I can' imagine FYE will make it. The one in Lakeside Mall used to be huge and take up the space of maybe three regular places. At one point they had an arcade there, but then it became the place where they would sell all their grabage stock (nasty old cutouts, old but not uninteresting cassettes). Now, they are in a little place were a boutique would fit. Their prices are way too high and now their choice is very limited. They were also never very helpful (still aren't). They've got to be on their last legs....then again, with their rebates, sometimes their new releases can be good pirces, so maybe that's what keeps them hanging on.

VinnyM27 said:

The big problem is also companies like Media Play/Sam Goody and FYE are big on being in MALLS, and trust me Malls and Music dont mix anymore, this was OK in the 80's when rents were low and Music was more important to kids. Case in point the Sam Goody i was at for over a decade was in a mall in the NYC area and was the Number One store in their company, thats out of the 1000 stores they had, in terms of volume we made 5 million a year, which is not alot, however the rent was 70,000 a month, well do the math and thats almost a million in rent, so the average person will say wow 4 million in profit. Nope, now you have to figure in all the utility bills and security for a year, and then of course it was a big store so you had 30-40 employees to pay for a year and then of course what people tend to forget, the price that the labels charge to have their cds in your store, this is the main thing that is doing them all in. At the end of the year our store basically was breaking even to sometimes maybe 100,000 profit, this was about 1 of 50 stores that actually werent losing money.

Tessa said:

I guess if you like limited variety and only edited verisons of CDs (mostly Wal-Mart in both cases), that isn't a problem at all!

BTW, I never knew Wal-Mart didn't count soundscan numbers....that does make a pretty huge difference, but there still is stil denying that album sales are down still because of lack of decent releases and legal digital singles.