I'd like to say thanks to the person or people who created the concept of internet shopping.

silverchild said:

most shopping will be done like that. It will all be window shopping in show rooms and the item will be ordered via the internet and shipped.

Fuck it, I'll go to Target, FYE and Best Buy. Or have my brother's friend burn shit that I need.

Timmy84 said:

Funny you mention Target. That's where I usually get my cds anyway. The only drawback to Target is that they don't carry a lot of "old" stuff. Wal-Mart carries a lot of classic albums on cd (depending on the Wal-Mart you go to). You can also stumble up on imports and singles at Walmart and you don't get those at Target.

daPrettyman said:

Yeah I know, the only reason I go to Walmart is get classic CDs or compilations mostly. I rarely get new joints unless I'm interested in picking it up and recently I've set to buy DVDs and stuff I really need, lol.

Timmy84 said:

Shit I live in Manhattan and have never set foot in a Wal-Mart
[Edited 8/26/08 12:44pm]

banks said:

Some of us aren't so lucky. Hell, where I grew up in East Texas, going to Wal-mart was like going to a major shopping mall for most people. Come on, where else can you get your oil changed, buy a bbq grill, and buy fresh vegetables....oh and get your hunting and fishing license?

where is lastdecember at? I'm sure he will have alot of insight.

Walmart sells shit music here.

I have to go to HMV who have everything and anything.

Walmart never had any music in their store that was worth a damn anyway. All they carried was the most popular stuff, and that goes for old as well as new stuff.Best Buy isn't much better. They have some good stuff on their website, but just like Walmart, in their stores is nothing but the most popular stuff, both old and new.I buy all my CDs from a local owned store called Be-Bop Records here in town, which has three locations. However, the best selection I had seen in town for years was in Circuit City but they started phasing out a lot of their old stuff and adding more of the new bullshit.

vainandy said:

I really miss Tower Records Places like Best Buy,Wal Mart and Target mainly only carry the new releases.Problem is,I mostly buy the old stuff In my area,we have a large independent store called Rasputins' and they're great.I shop there and I buy alot of stuff on-line too.Still,it would be nice if Tower was still around.

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/want-the-new-ac-dc-album-head-to-wal-mart-want-any-other

Coming soon to Wal-Mart: The new AC/DC album. Not coming to Wal-Mart for much longer: Most other music.

Following in the footsteps of the Eagles and Journey (and Garth Brooks, too), Sony's (SNE) AC/DC will sell its next CD exclusively at Wal-Mart. The WSJ notes that this has worked very well for both the retailer and the handful of artists that have cut deals with the chain. But the paper also notes that Wal-Mart, like the rest of the big box retailers, no longer sees the value in selling music in general, and is cutting back on the rest of its offerings:

But even as it strikes novel deals with a handful of artists and labels, Wal-Mart is preparing changes in its approach to selling the vast majority of music. It is unclear what the upshot of those changes will be, but one likely scenario involves cuts in the number of music titles the chain carries... Wal-Mart executives, frustrated by perennially declining CD sales, have been quietly exploring changes in their approach to selling music. The company has described different versions of its potential new strategy to different players in the music industry.

This is a trend that's been developing for some time, and one we wrote about last year: All of the big retailers have been cutting back on the amount of space they're dedicating to music sales.

But a retail cutback could be much more damaging than any single year revenue decline. In a worst-case scenario, and one we think is quite likely, a cutback sets off a self-fulfilling prophecy: Retailers stock less music, so consumers have less to choose from, and then buy even less, causing retailers to stock even less. Repeat.

But isn't this good news for Amazon, iTunes and everyone else who sells music online? Won't people who can't get a CD at Wal-Mart head to the Web to instead? We don't think so.

Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY) sell the majority of music in this country, but they're generally not selling it to people who are looking to buy music. They're at the store to buy a refrigerator, or socks, or whatever. Reduce the amount of floorspace you dedicate to music, and those sales go away. And they're not coming back, period.

SoulAlive said:

I miss Tower too. I used to love browsing. Now I just point and click.

JackieBlue said:

Tower Records is so nostalgic for me.I remember going there as a kid in the 70s,spending my allowance on 45s.I also remember going there at 9:00 AM on Tuesdays when new albums were released.

SoulAlive said:

Tower was a great place to shop.... but terrible to work for.

luv4u said:

In the states this will affect every chain, FYE is hanging by a thread, they have already been closing stores non stop, the Big box stores are getting rid of music, so my advice if you are looking for a catalog cd, hit up amazon.com, all music stores will be done in the states

where is lastdecember at? I'm sure he will have alot of insight.

lastdecember said:

Becuase you have to take out a loan to buy a CD at FYE!

I'll keep buying vinyl, thankyourverymuch. And if it's not on vinyl, I'll download it or go to Amazon.

guitarslinger44 said:

I often wondered how FYE stayed in business for as long as they did/have? I couldn't believe how high their prices were media and never seemed to have extensive stock.

I've browsed Best Buy while shopping for other things and they have a very generic selection. Same with Target. I guess they're good if you want Top 20 and Best ofs neither of which I normally shop for.

I rarely if ever came out of Tower empty-handed.

guitarslinger44 said:

I often wondered how FYE stayed in business for as long as they did/have? I couldn't believe how high their prices were media and never seemed to have extensive stock.

I've browsed Best Buy while shopping for other things and they have a very generic selection. Same with Target. I guess they're good if you want Top 20 and Best ofs neither of which I normally shop for.

I rarely if ever came out of Tower empty-handed.