The Graying of the Record Store

Just what the name says.
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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:44 am

I should add that I admit I am a little bit bitter. Bitter about high prices, and the decline of quality in popular selling music.

No need to go into it now. But I really want to see all the big corporate names from the past die horrible deaths. Completely wiped out!

Then music can grow organically again, and the real stuff rise to the top easier. If Tower and their retail style is removed from the middle, it can only speed up the recovery. The reason 45 singles were killed off is because they did not generate enough cash. Now itunes is selling singles, and this is a good thing.

So the future over all might be good. But we need the future to arrive and roll over the past.

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stevef
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Postby stevef » Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:43 am

Jeff T. wrote:No, it does not help. Mine was the LP set and not the CD box. They are worth 80 to 100 now. I got the last one in the store as a replacement, and they never got more, or if a few more arrived, they were not on sale for 49.99.

It's all too little too late. Tower is going down now. It may take a few more years if they wish to blow millions more in denial, or it may come in Jan. after that last holiday season. But they are going down, I hate the shopping experience (of course I am in the center of the used music capitol of the universe) at Tower, don't like they way they acted like shopping there was a privilege for the rich and the cool. And I look forward to going to the close out "goodbye LA" clearance sale even if I don't spend a penny.

Sorry to hear you like it, because it is going out like the dinosaur, or a badly wired light bulb.



Jeff...

Where did I say I "like" Tower?

I was only offereing a suggestion. I can see why you're bitter, but that one experience of yours doesn't explain it. Not having a receipt, you're bound to have problems. That would present problems at any store.

As for Tower, their return policies have always been stubborn at best, and ridiculously short. I've even been told they couldn't refund my money unless a store manager was present. And sometimes they aren't, so I had to accept a credit slip instead of a refund. Very irritating, but one can still use the credit slip to buy something and still return it for a refund. Is all of that necessary...? Of course it isn't. It inconveniences the customer for NO reason. So... what I'm saying is that Tower has their problems... and customer service at Tower has never been a highlight for me. But I can't say that about many other stores either.

Will I miss Tower if they fade away?
Sure, as an icon here in Southern CA they have always been a prime resource for record and CD buying. I still enjoy visiting the store rather than shopping on my computer for CDs. Shopping on the internet will never replace the physical experience of CD buying IMO.
I rarely buy CDs at Tower unless they are on sale, but I can't blame them entirely for the high cost of CDs there. Consumers have been whining for many many years about the high cost of albums and CDs. There is absolutely NO reason for any CD is be regularly priced above $9.99... at ANY store. Blame the record companies and their continuing GREED for the high cost of CDs!

Steve

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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:05 am

stevef wrote:Jeff...

Where did I say I "like" Tower?
Steve


Where didn't you?

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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:05 am

Jeff T. wrote:DVDs are the best value in recorded entertainment"


No.

FLAC and BitTorrent are the best values in recorded entertainment.
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Postby krabapple » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:42 am

oh, never mind.
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Postby Rspaight » Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:50 pm

A Broken Record Store
Industry Icon Tower Is Bankrupt and on the Block

By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006; Page D01

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.

Tower's operations started in the back of a California drugstore in the late 1950s, and its founder, Russ Solomon, cultivated its reputation as a communal place for hanging out to train and trade musical tastes. Its huge yellow-and-red stores became part of the record album culture. Stores hosted live concerts, and employees were hired for their knowledge of musical arcana.

But over the past decade, as such larger retailers as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Target Corp. undercut record-store prices and combined shopping for music with shopping for a variety of other consumer products, the music-focused stores started to die. Although Tower began selling music downloads on its site in June, digital music sales through such services as iTunes and Amazon.com have also taken a bite.

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.

Tower's parent company, MTS Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday night in Delaware, putting its 89 stores on the block. The company hopes to complete a sale within 60 days. Tower's brand is used by 144 international stores, but those licensees will not be affected by the bankruptcy process.

"It's a sad day for music," said Dave DelVecchio, 20, who bought five alternative rock albums from the Tower Records store in Foggy Bottom yesterday. DelVecchio said he was on tour in Baltimore with his band. "I used to download online for free a lot, but now I just buy CDs. Being in a band myself, I know what it's like" to lose income to illegal online file-sharing.

Lisa Amore, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento-based Tower, said the company hopes to keep the brand alive. "As of today, we have no intention of closing any stores," she said. The company has two interested buyers, according to Bloomberg News.

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.

"Tower is an icon. In my mind, it represented our whole musical culture," said Russ Crupnick, an entertainment analyst with NPD Group Inc., a consumer research firm. "The challenge has been that the whole retail environment has changed" because people shop less at specialty retail stores, he said.

Randall Henderson spends some of his lunch breaks browsing at the Foggy Bottom store, near George Washington University Hospital, where he works.

"I don't even know how to download music," said Henderson, who prefers instead to browse the selection at Tower every other week for anything from gospel to R&B records. "The selection is very good -- exceptional," he said, but if Tower were to shut down, he might be forced to shop digitally. "I would have no other choice. There aren't too many record stores."

Henderson would be following a broader music industry trend. 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.

"They're going to force you to going online now; it's like forcing you to ride the subway," said Ernest Feaster, 50, who lives in Northeast Washington and yesterday shopped at Tower for albums by Luther Vandross, Weather Report and the Dramatics. "It's the last of an icon around here," Feaster said. "At Circuit City and Best Buy, they're just throwing whatever up on the shelves. Here the selection is wide."

Tower's popularity extends beyond its customer base, said Geoff Mayfield, an analyst with Billboard.

"The industry wants it to survive," he said. It got a standing ovation from the crowd when it recently won retailer of the year from the major recording merchandisers' trade group, he said.

Perhaps, like some other stores, it could diversify by selling shoes, posters, games and other goods that would appeal to its audience, Mayfield said. "It needs to become a destination," he said. "Otherwise, people will just pass it by."
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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:03 pm

Tower's popularity extends beyond its customer base, said Geoff Mayfield, an analyst with Billboard.

"The industry wants it to survive," he said. It got a standing ovation from the crowd when it recently won retailer of the year from the major recording merchandisers' trade group, he said.

Perhaps, like some other stores, it could diversify by selling shoes, posters, games and other goods that would appeal to its audience, Mayfield said. "It needs to become a destination," he said. "Otherwise, people will just pass it by."


I wonder how much an "analyst with Billboard" makes per year? This Geoff Mayfield sure is visionary. I know that we've all been itching to buy shoes at Tower. If only they sold shoes, I'd have a destination. :roll:

Is this the sort of thing Billboard always goes on about, or is Mayfield an infiltrator/stooge from/for the shoe industry?
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Postby Rspaight » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:10 pm

Last time I was in a Tower (which was quite a while ago), at least half the store was selling stuff other than music and DVDs (books, posters, T-shirts, knick-knacks -- I don't remember seeing shoes, though).

Ryan
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Beatlesfan03
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Postby Beatlesfan03 » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:55 pm

I was at a Tower in Woodland Hills, CA back in June and they only thing that struck me about it was that LeeS would have had a major boner over all the SACDs in stock. A pretty deep DVD selection, but way overpriced.
Craig

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Postby elcelc » Mon Aug 28, 2006 12:09 pm

Crummy Old Label Avatar wrote:
Jeff T. wrote:DVDs are the best value in recorded entertainment"


No.

FLAC and BitTorrent are the best values in recorded entertainment.


Torrent/FLAC because in price only (basically free). Checking out new music is pretty quick and usually painless and gets deleted if it's not your taste.

Quality is another issue. I've deleted/fixed tons of torrents that we're "remastered" ignorantly, tracks were not separated correctly, song titles/dates/locations were erroneous etc. Don't be fooled into believing "it's lossless" means anything.

Mentally, back in the day browsing through the record store was always exciting- unexpectedly finding something cool or odd. I've never had that feeling with Amazon et al. Torrent sites are different. I've gotten addicted to browsing some of these. So in that respect, I can still get my cheap thrills browsing music even though it's no longer the cool used record store down the street.

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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:10 pm

elcelc wrote: Quality is another issue. I've deleted/fixed tons of torrents that we're "remastered" ignorantly, tracks were not separated correctly, song titles/dates/locations were erroneous etc. Don't be fooled into believing "it's lossless" means anything.


Very true, but there are an increasing number of BT sites that have strict uploading rules, accepting only perfect EAC or xACT rips with logs, etc.

The quality isn't an issue when you're dealing with well run trackers.
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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Wed Aug 30, 2006 4:31 am

I guess I'm old fashion, cuz I like to go over to a couple a friends houses, load up on CDs, stop by the electronics store for a few 50 pack spindles of Fuji (made in Japan) for 14.99 each and go to home and have 3 computers going non-stop.

My cdr collection got so out of hand I had to stop by the dollar store and pick up those plastic mini milk crates and add alpha cards. 16 crates and going strong. And the discs are in those white cd envelopes.

I just finished doing the West German version of Dire Straits live double on Vertigo, and a bunch of Pat Metheny on German ECM. Very smooth sounding mastering from the 84 to 87 era of pre-maxi'd mastering. I can't believe any of those titles could sound better in modern mastering, and I ain't gonna find out it looks like.

Elton John and Dionne Warwick sang that song "that's what friends are for" I think it's a pretty song!!

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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:11 am

Jeff T. wrote:Elton John and Dionne Warwick sang that song "that's what friends are for" I think it's a pretty song!!


Elton John also sang that song "Tiny Dancer". Did you know that a "tiny dancer" is British slang for penis?!
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Jeff
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Postby Jeff » Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:16 pm

Crummy Old Label Avatar wrote:
Jeff T. wrote:Elton John and Dionne Warwick sang that song "that's what friends are for" I think it's a pretty song!!


Elton John also sang that song "Tiny Dancer". Did you know that a "tiny dancer" is British slang for penis?!


I always thought he sang, "Hold me closer, Tony Danza." Huh.

Can anyone recommend a good audiophile-approved earwax remover?

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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:53 pm

Record stores are not graying....I really think they are turning blue.