hmm, make me wonder about the future man... I grew up buying vinyl... Then played more than ten years in a techno band in the 80's... This picture of me... (avatar) is my rack of keyboards however, I'm actually a guitarist.

Was it Columbia Records that was just recently suggesting a new way to market music? You have to see an advertisment before you can download (for free) a song?

Things are getting interesting. Its all exciting.

Tower Records was "the" big record store in L.A. for many years. I bought my first record there(Sgt. pepper's lonley hearts....) It woulden't be so sad if the alternative was of better quality. Maybe with more bandwith, we could eventually dump mp3s in favor of a lossless codec.
Isn't that a chinese curse..."May you live in interesting times"?

>>we could eventually dump mp3s in favor of a lossless codec. <<

A little off topic but, try FLAC. It will reduce files by 50% and then re-store them on playback.

I don't think it's off topic. Downloadable music is probably one of the reasons for Tower's demise. However, your recomendation would be better sent to iTunes, not me. I don't distribute media, just mix it.

Well, one reason, a big reason, is that they were overpriced. Think about it.... would you go to Tower Records (which chances are isn't conveniently close) and pay $17 for the latest Big & Rich cd or go to Target/Walmart/Best Buy/Circuit City (which chances are they are pretty close) and buy the same thing for $12.

As far as hard to find cd's and stuff like that, you can usually get it for the same price or cheaper online, and it is delivered straight to your house. I wouldn't be too surprised if Sam Goodey and FYE closed some stores like Tower. They are overpriced just like Tower. I can't see dedicated music stores lasting anymore.

When Borders came into this area their CD prices were $12.99 to $14.99 as soon as they succeeded in getting rid of all the mom and pop music music and bookstores their prices went up to $16.99 and $17.99. Since Borders carries CDs that no one else carries (classical, opera, new age music, Jazz, etc., etc) you are stuck with purchasing them from Borders unless you want to do it on line. Best Buys, Costco and Sam's Club have very good prices on CDs but a very limited selection.

I use to do a lot of live sound work with Camelot records (at their national conventions) which was a very nice very well run record store chain with roots in Canton Ohio. They could not compete with places like Best Buys and Borders and when the INTERNET came along and offered everything they were offering but at prices that were below what they were paying for the CDs the whole company had to close and go away.

I am very sorry to hear about Tower Records and hope that this is not a nationwide trend but am afraid that it is. It maybe in the future that the only way to purchase CDs is over the INTERNET or by direct download off the INTERNET.

Knowing record companies the way I do you will still be paying top dollar but will have to supply your own media for burning.

I personally cannot stand the sound of MP3s and hope that it never comes to the point that the only way you can listen to music is by playing MP3s.

Full story on Tower Record closing is here http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/TowerRecordsToClose.aspx?GT1=8618

Thomas W. Bethel wrote: When Borders came into this area their CD prices were $12.99 to $14.99 as soon as they succeeded in getting rid of all the mom and pop music music and bookstores their prices went up to $16.99 and $17.99. Since Borders carries CDs that no one else carries (classical, opera, new age music, Jazz, etc., etc) you are stuck with purchasing them from Borders unless you want to do it on line. Best Buys, Costco and Sam's Club have very good prices on CDs but a very limited selection.

I use to do a lot of live sound work with Camelot records (at their national conventions) which was a very nice very well run record store chain with roots in Canton Ohio. They could not compete with places like Best Buys and Borders and when the INTERNET came along and offered everything they were offering but at prices that were below what they were paying for the CDs the whole company had to close and go away.

I am very sorry to hear about Tower Records and hope that this is not a nationwide trend but am afraid that it is. It maybe in the future that the only way to purchase CDs is over the INTERNET or by direct download off the INTERNET.

Knowing record companies the way I do you will still be paying top dollar but will have to supply your own media for burning.

I personally cannot stand the sound of MP3s and hope that it never comes to the point that the only way you can listen to music is by playing MP3s.

Full story on Tower Record closing is here http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/TowerRecordsToClose.aspx?GT1=8618

Thats true, Borders is also really expensive, but it is somewhat justifiable by the rare cd's. Personally, I'd rather buy it online or download it illegally than pay almost $20 for a cd.

It's a shame Tower is closing, but it's indeed inevitable. As soon as my son heard about it (He's 24), he said: "Good! The bums charge nearly $20 for a CD when you can buy it at Best Buy for $12, or just download it on a per-track basis." (How can you argue with that kind of thinking? )

These days, anyone with a computer can order anything online - download or full CD, and be done with it, often with free or cheap shipping.

I've said all along the best thing they could do would be charge $5 a CD. To oversimply a breakdown: A buck for the artist, a buck for the label, a buck for manufacturing & shipping, a buck for the store, and a buck for whatever else needs covering (Tax, etc.) Move lots of product, everyone wins. With the cost of media through the floor, it's no mystery that someone was still being greedy at those prices. Any kid with a $20 bill could buy three or four discs at a pop and walk out happy. Cash flows, product moves, everyone wins.

I not only view MP3s as a necessary evil, I still see a scam here as well....$1 per song!?!?!? If you do the math, we're back to $15-20 per CD again, if there are that many 3 minute songs on a typical CD. Not only that, but it's sucky MP3 quality, NOT full bandwidth WAV files. The gullible public swallows the bait again and again it seems.

I'd gladly pay $1 per track if I got full bandwidth WAV files, otherwise I'll still buy CDs that I really want, then rip it myself to put on an eye-podd, etc. With all the poor quality music swirling around these days, available literally everywhere, I'm less and less inclined to buy spur of the moment stuff anyway. And, I still buy my usual 1-2 CDs per month at stores or online.

When all's said and done, the brick and mortar stores just have to adapt, or die off. :cry:

Exactly my thinking as well!
I try to tell this to my friends. You are getting ripped off, paying too much per song for the quality. But they don't care? No! and why should they? They dump the crap mp3s onto their ipods with those earbuds. Then crank it up as loud as possible.
What will even be the point of albums if people are downloading just what they want. There is nothing I enjoy more than buying a CD, in its uncompressed fashon. Bringing it home, and playing through the whole thing. People are going to just hear the 3 tracks off the radio from whatever new album, and just download those 3 songs. Just because the radio stations don't play every track on an album doesn't mean there not good. Very upsetting.

bpatram wrote: Exactly my thinking as well!
I try to tell this to my friends. You are getting ripped off, paying too much per song for the quality. But they don't care? No! and why should they? They dump the crap mp3s onto their SPAM! with those earbuds. Then crank it up as loud as possible.
What will even be the point of albums if people are downloading just what they want. There is nothing I enjoy more than buying a CD, in its uncompressed fashon. Bringing it home, and playing through the whole thing. People are going to just hear the 3 tracks off the radio from whatever new album, and just download those 3 songs. Just because the radio stations don't play every track on an album doesn't mean there not good. Very upsetting.

those earbuds really hurt my ears, even if the volume is low. I think it's just the high frequencies that hurt or something.

tower records in south east asia is heading downhill too. over here its looking to be just a store selling the top 20s instead of a wide selection of albums.