Tower Records has filed for bankruptcy and some people seem to get it:
“The collapse of Tower is a sign of the evolution of music," said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media, a market research firm. It's pretty clear that recorded music is going to Internet distribution and right behind it will be video entertainment."
CD sales fell 6% last year while digital music downloads increased 188%. But some people still have their heads in the sand.
Like this guy, who, apparently, gets paid for his opinion:
"The transition to digital music has not happened by any stretch of the imagination," Card said…
…"If I want to buy something cheap or try a new band, maybe I'll go for the cheapest which is digital, but all else being equal I'd rather have the physical product, and I'll pay a few dollars extra for it."
Really? I haven’t been in a conventional music store in two years and I buy LOTS of music. In fact I took an informal poll of my friends this morning and out of ten people not one of them had bought a hard copy of a CD through a conventional music store in the last year. Two people said that they’d ordered from Amazon, a few discs that were hard to come by, but most people simply downloaded what they wanted.
But a walk-in, brick and mortar music store? Unless you’re looking for the crap that is floating around on the Billboard top 100 you’re not going to find it. Inventory=bad, sales=good. That's how business works. Don’t get me started on inventory turns.
I don’t know if this guy is completely out of touch or if he’s just trying to spin this, but he continues with another, even more moronic statement:
"A store is a place where you can show things, make an entertainment experience. I believe music retail can make it if someone can put together a one-two punch with digital stores and physical products. For example, you could buy an album online and pick it up in the store."
I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a long time. Someone should probably tell him that Eisenhower’s no longer in office.
Yes, the quality of music in general has not helped the business. It sucks, and record execs have put the gun in their own mouths. And yes, other forms of entertainment may have taken a bit away from music sales, but anyone who believes that digital music is not about to completely eclipse CDs probably still has some 8-tracks lying around.
I like that 'pick it up at the store' bit. Order online, but instead of recieving the product in the comfort of their own homes, consumers can still look forward to the veritable posterchild of the record store industry that will be waiting for them at the counter: the teenaged, FUGAZI-t-shirt-wearing, card-carrying member of that elite class of folks who pride themselves on being the only people who listen to good music.
I just noticed he said,"buy an album online and pick it up in the store. Very telling.
Not "new release" or "new CD."
I bet he's in his 50s and completely out of touch.
I have NEVER bought a music download.* My wife has perhaps 10 times. We still buy cd's. Usually from Best Buy (shudder) but I also like to browse our local cd shop. (Yes, we still have one).
Over the last 3 months we have bought over 175 albums. Yes, Vinyl. On ebay for, on average, less than $1 each.
The demise of the record industry was probably complicated by their reluctance to embrace the internet, but I believe the real cause is a lack of talent and interest in music today. And if you do have talent and interest, you have to buy your way onto clear channel to have a chance. The 80's was full of produced crap, but it was at least good crap. What do we have today? Brittney Spears is considered a 'diva' not really a singer because she's never written a song and can't carry a tune in a paper bag! And that's what they expect us to buy.
I think most people think; "No thanks - I'll listen to the old stuff. Bob Dylan couldn't sing either, but man could he write."
*I do have a couple of terabytes of downloaded music. All of it live, all [most] of it legit & legal.
And then again, maybe I'm just [too] old. (37)
I agree with you on the brick and mortar bit, Paul, but I never have and probably never will be into downloading. If it ain't on Amazon, I don't want it. I like to touch the CD, and I think the quality is better.