The San Diego Union-Tribune's Frank Green has an article on Tower that looks at the overall decline of those large music stores that specialize in, well, music. One striking element of the article was a graphic that shows how music retailing has changed in the last 17 years. In 1989, 71.7% of music sales were from record stores (a.k.a. retailers that specialize in selling music). Last year, only 39.4% of music sales came from music specialists.
Two quotes stood out. One was from Inside Digital Media analyst Phil Leigh. "This was inevitable," he said. "Physical record stores like Tower will soon be obsolete."
Leigh didn't say all music retailers will soon by obsolete. He said retailers like Tower are in trouble. Broad music specialists are dying, and in their wake smaller, more niche-focused music retailers are surviving and occasionally succeeding.
Eric Howarth of popular San Diego two-store music chain M-Theory says his stores succeed because they have a narrow focus. "Tower tried to be something for everybody,” Howarth said. “Our customers are people who purchase niche, independent music by independent artists on independent labels."
Do consumers need broad music specialists? I mean really need? The music fan in me says yes, but the truth is that consumers are far better educated than they used to be, mainly because of the Internet. Consumers can buy what they want at iTunes, or at the supermarket or at a mass merchant. Another impediment for broad music specialists: They can't match the prices of the mass merchants.
Today's smaller stores cater to niches and don't try to be everything to all people, and they're often more about lifestyle than the product they carry. Indie stores represent how consumers want to feel about themselves, and there will always be a need for this kind of small, anti-coporate retailer. Some people could shop at Best Buy (Thom Yorke's album can be found there) but they choose not to.
People are exposed to so much more music today than they were in 1989, an era far before file-sharing, music blogs and AllMusic.com. Finding information on a band took time and effort. Staying clued into music meant being a part of your local scene, talking to people at record stores and reading a lot of magazines. (If this sounds like some kind of "When I was your age I walked through five miles of snow to go to school" speech it's because having a music habit 15 years ago was a lot more work than it is today.)
For the mainstream, 1989 was all about radio and MTV. In 2006, people are content to walk into a Best Buy or log into iTunes. As long as it's in stock, today's consumer doesn't need human contact to find what they need. It may be a cold, impersonal way to buy music, but that's how it is.
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