Today I happened to cruise by the soon to be closed Tower Records in downtown DC. For those of you who don't know, Tower Records, a nationwide retail giant that was last hip and/or cool sometime around 1988, went bankrupt and basically the past month or so has been one long and very complete liquidation of store inventory.
When I first visited the DC store back in the early 1990s, I realized immediately that you had to be some sort of freak to get anywhere in the hiring process. The main floor was staffed with people who thought they were Trent Reznor circa 1995, but weren't, had large numbers of piercings and tatoos before that was so gauche, and basically had an attitude problem (dude...you work in a chainstore...it's like a CVS but with records). Prices were high and Smash Records in Georgetown (yes, before Smash turned into some sort of faux-punk clothing boutique) had a far better selection of punk and indie in their little basement.
Anyway, as I was sifting through the remains of Tower, finding absolutely nothing (seriously, the only band name I recognized was The Soup Dragons, and I wasn't really in the mood), I started thinking of what the demise of one of the most visible titans of the music distribution business meant. Most independent shops have closed up, although some survive. Crooked Beat in Adams Morgan is great, but it's easy to remember that it replaced -- after a hiatus of a few years -- another record store in that location, Flying Saucer Discs. And of course, DCCD is no longer.
We've essentially hit a point where record stores (to use the archaic term) can't survive except in very select niche markets. The once ubiquitous mall record store (think National Record Mart or Wall to Wall or Listening Booth) is no longer. Sam Goody is still around, but it's been reinvented as a gaming outlet rather than a music store. Today people buy music -- when they don't steal it -- from online retailers like Amazon or iTunes and big box stores that stock music but don't really rely on it for their daily bread (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target). And the brick and mortar retailers have the shittiest selection of music ever. No depth and very little breadth.
None of these observations should be new to anyone who buys music or has an interest in the music scene. Or to B-School tools who are simply interested in business models. It's fairly straightforward stuff. But it got me thinking about what the collapse of the recording industry itself will mean. That's Part Two.
8 comments:
I've had a couple friends spend hours discussing the end of the recording industry and how its reinvention with revolutionize the way that we listen to music.
They firmly believe that people will go back to supporting local music much more and that small venues will be the wave of the future.
I don't know about that.
I didn't predict the return of top 40 stations, so what in the world do I know?
MA: I think I agree with your friends. I think there is no recording industry. It's over. But that's part two...
Browsing through a record store that's going out of business is one of the most depressing things one can do. Last time I did it was at that place in State College. The unkempt and smelly aspect hangs on your clothes for hours.
Where does Melody Music in DuPont fit into this? I don't know if it is a chain or not, but I've found some obscure stuff there that I couldn't find anywhere else. Thoughts?
Ironically, this is the second post I have read about that store closing. I don't personally know anyone on the east coast.
LB: Arboria, Blue Train, I think Modern Times is also gone, but I'm not sure. I don't know if State College still has any record stores.
GSR: Melody is a great music store, although I was completely surprised when I went in there last year looking for Bob Dylan's Biograph -- a monumental boxed set from nearly 20 years ago -- and no one in the store even knew what I was talking about.
Asia: You mean that particular Tower Records? The one at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW?
I dunno - I was able to upgrade my collection of Indian progressive house music when visiting the Tower Records in Philly a few days ago...Lots of big names in that category left over...
I was in the Tower on Rockville Pike in it's final hours. I've always loved being in record stores (most now gone) and, yes, I agree with you...it appears to be a dying industry. Shopping online for music isn't the same as being able to visually see what's out there and poke through the bins discovering new things. Going into Tower that last day was miserable. The entire back room which housed classical music, jazz and standards was empty. The front of the store was picked clean. They were offering 10 cds for 50 cents, but as you noted, there was nothing worth chosing. Some time ago Borders cut their music departments way back, and Barnes & Noble really has nothing. I wonder if another large chain like Virgin or HMV will try and enter the market here. I was really surprised Tower didn't survive. Every time I was in there, there were plenty of people hanging out and making purchases. Washington has lost the bulk of it's really unique book stores. Records have followed and for me, it's sad.
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