Re: Bankrupt Record Chains

[waldn@ucla.edu (Stormin')]

kln@staralliance.com (Karen Newcombe) wrote:

>Something we've never really heard much about here is the demise of
>national record store chains.  So far Camelot, Wherehouse, Peaches, Record
>Giant, Strawberries, and several others have closed and filed bankruptcy.
>Musicland may be next.  Now the FTC is investigating the record industry
>for price fixing on CD's.  

Really?  I know that a number of Wherehouses and affiliates closed and
that they filed for bankruptcy, but that they were not going
pernamently out of business.  As somebody who worked there for over
three years, I'm bummed.  I worked there from 1987-1990 and we had
"The Whole Story" on the playlist, often, and helped convert a number
of Lovehounds that way (everybody always knew that Kate would be
played if I was working up front.  :)  ).  Often, I'd play it, and
someone would ask who that was, and sometimes someone would buy one.
It was great.  


>What the heck happened?  There is a fascinating, but long, article in the
>August 4 issue of Fortune Magazine explaining how BEST BUY stores
>single-handedly began the chain of events that would drive the major U.S.
>music retailers -- and countless independent stores -- out of business.  


The Best Buy near me raised their prices, though, and I'm rather
agitated.  Let alone, they never had a lot in stock, and I often would
shop elsewhere.  I don't see them really in competition, though stores
like Best Buy and Media Play (and to a certain extent the Price Club
stores) do compete.  I saw a Price Club with a Hounds of Love CD,
once.  I was shocked.  :)   

>It is worth reading and is a fascinating look at what goes on inside the
>music distribution industry.  I'd send the whole article but it's much too
>long.  

>One significant issue they ignore is that of the aging population. With
>most new albums oriented towards the shrinking teen to 20's market, the
>largest and most affluent market -- people over 35 -- is generally
>neglected by the music industry.  It will be interesting to see how the
>music industry reacts as the population ages and the number of teens drops
>significantly over the next 20 years.  


I thought that was what the whole 70s revival thing was about.  :P

Speaking for myself, with CD's being so expensive, I opt to go to used
CD stores, because often they have what I'm looking for.  So I wonder
if that's part of the "problem."  Then, there's the Blockbuster
takeover (even though BB's prices are outrageous unless you're getting
what's "popular.").  Regardless, having worked at a record store, and
having known someone who was in the music industry, I think the
industry's rather screwed up, itself.

Stormin'

"Somewhere in the depth, there is the light."