Toppling Tower
The rumors finally confirmed, Tower Records is officially no more.
Hollywood Reporter reports that the liquidation firm Great American Group entered a winning bid of $134.3 million for Tower's assets (besting Trans World by a half million bucks), after a 29-hour auction on Friday. The liquidation process has already begun, leaving Virgin Megastores as the "most prominent remaining deep-catalog retailer."
And we're kind of sad about this. The entire ritual of obtaining and enjoying music has changed; that's nothing new. But we feel badly for the kids out there, 'cause there was something exciting about lining up outside Tower Records at midnight to buy Use Your Illusion (or, ya know, whatever). Going record shopping connected you with your "musical community" in a physical way; yeah, the internet provides that connection on the regular, but browsing CD stacks with friends made for some hilarious conversation.
They're not all gone yet, but there's a trend. With their overhead and current market-and-inventory practices, deep-catalog record retail just aint' profitable. Will you miss 'em when they're gone? Or are those store-front banners best placed in a museum, for posterity?
Meanwhile, our kids our gonna laugh their asses off when we tell 'em we had to leave our apartments and wait in line before we could have our music. Actually, that cave-man shit is pretty funny already.
Posted at 10:02 AM
I am sad, I have many good memories of hanging out and listening to the music on the racks, lining up for in-store appearances, etc... but we've got to move with the times right? I truly feel old!
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Now we get to listen to singles in compressed format on ear buds. The record stores are gone and so are the stereo stores. The stuff at Best-buy, etc, is low end crap. Nobody give a shit about sound quality, other than it having too much mid-bass.
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well the people who give a crap about sound quality still can get the sound quality they want if they look for it. just because not a lot of people care about it isn't really a reason for you to be pissed off. different strokes, man.
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I think there will always be B&M stores, they'll just have to adapt to the changing climate. I know here in Columbus, we have several deep catalog independent retailers. Magnolia Thunderpussy, Used Kids and Johnny Go's House of Music are some of the best in biz and they're still doing well.
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I think everything is becoming more fragmented. We're not going to see as much of a nationwide, large scale fan base for most new bands. I'm not even sure if the standard album format for music is going to survive. Probably not.
I was just discussing with someone how it had been years since I went to a record store and purchased an album/cd on the same day it was released.
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Aw, glad to hear that Magnolia Thunderpussy is still around! Making treks from my crap hometown to that and other N. High St. record stores was a rite of passage when I was in high school.
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Tower Records, and music stores in general, are endangered as much as the album-format CD is. The music industry is deevolving as quickly as technology is growing; this means that songs get shorter and simpler primarily to accomodate a singles-driven market.
With the creation of the iPod and iTunes, no one has to risk hearing music that isn't the hot hit tune. Admittedly, there are albums that sell themselves because of only one solitary decent track, but not all musicians and record labels are so shifty. Some still try to put out a credible body of work. If you only need to download one song though, the 9 to 11 remaining songs are nothing but surplus, as is the expense of graphic design, printing and packaging. Is it any wonder Tower couldn't survive?
It's going to take a musician with a lot of talent and power to turn the tide around, one that captures interest for 'the entire package' as opposed to one little sliver of it. The day of the hit-filled single artist/band recording are over. The end of record stores is just a side effect.
DwD
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yeah that's sad. but tower records wasn't even personable. neither is virgin. it's all about the independent people because they give the service and the smiles. all of them except for the snotty ones, of course. which there are a lot of those. but the nice, happy, comfortable ones you can't beat. and you can't loose them either. they won't disappear.
the internet has hardly affected the record store that i worked at for a couple years and they just opened up a thrid location! record stores are my favorite places when they're done well. i get really excited and giddy walking in to one that knows what they're doing.
YEAH!
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Sam Goody is going the way of Tower as well, at least near me. Maybe one of the issues is the Tower outlets near me didn't carry RECORDS. Yeah, Tower RECORDS didn't actually have any RECORDS. There's no reason to drive all the way to a retail outlet to pay $18.99 for a cd I can get at a local place for $11.99. Or burn from iTunes for $9.99. Same with Virgin Megastore.
As long as Amoeba & Lou's Records exists, I'll gladly give them my business.
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Look, Tower was a fun place to go every once in a while when they had sales, but good lord their catalog albums were $18.99. I admit it's sad, but I've been waiting for this ever since Tower Books closed 10 years ago. I'd rather go to Grimey's and Great Escape anyways.
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I can't speak for the loss of Tower, but as a 16 year old in Boston, I was pretty sad last Saturday when I found out that the Virgin here is closing. I have fond memoried of spending afternoons there while my parents were out shopping at whatever stores they shop at. If it wasn't for that store, I wouldn't be into Radiohead, REM, Franz Ferdinand, Iggy Pop, and tons of other music that would have otherwise just passed me by. While sure you can kill time browsing through the itunes store, but it just doesn't beat walking through rows and rows of actual cds, dvds, etc. I'll miss it.
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I love their “going out of business” sale. 10% of a $16.98, still more expensive then Best Buy, Virgin & Kims.
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Absolute tragedy. It is the end of an entire experience and culture.
The ritual of spending a Saturday afternoon "going record-shopping" now means sitting home alone in front of your computer cursing the guy on LimeWire whose download speed is only 2mbps. When it used to mean wandering around the east village (or Harvard Square, or the Haight), stopping for a slice at some point and then wrapping it up over a pint whilst perusing all the new bounty you and your friends scored that day.
Despite being largely anti-corporate, I still get a buzz going into the Virgin megastore in Union Square (look, I like Other Music too, but sometimes squeezing around unwashed indie cartel is not the vibe I'm looking for).
Bottom line: Procuring music is no longer a destination or ritual (complete with pilgrimage to--and all the audio, visual and interpersonal sensory factors inherent in--a visit to the "temple", ie record store), it is now just a mere colourless exercise involving compressed 0s and 1s that can be thoughtlessly procured--and deleted--with the same lack of effort. Why isn't new music as special anymore?, the adults keep asking. Why do bands blow up and then get discarded in a matter of months? Now you know...
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Tower's prices in my area were just insanely high. $18.99 for a CD?? Give me a break. Best Buy, located just 2 minutes away by car, would consistently have the same CD priced $5-$6 cheaper! Tower's closing isn't good for anyone, however the writing has been "On the Wall" for several years.
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"I can't speak for the loss of Tower, but as a 16 year old in Boston, I was pretty sad last Saturday when I found out that the Virgin here is closing. I have fond memoried of spending afternoons there while my parents were out shopping at whatever stores they shop at. If it wasn't for that store, I wouldn't be into Radiohead, REM, Franz Ferdinand, Iggy Pop, and tons of other music that would have otherwise just passed me by. While sure you can kill time browsing through the itunes store, but it just doesn't beat walking through rows and rows of actual cds, dvds, etc. I'll miss it."
Why don't you just go to Newbury Comics. It's like 50 feet away, it has better selection, it's cheaper, and it's not a faceless corporate monstrosity. There's just no reason to go to Virgin.
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The saddest part is that, 8 times out of 10, the non-singles are the better songs in the long term. I don't begrudge people creating their own top 40 stations, but I think the album format is the better deal (since everyone is haggling over the price of MUSIC). You get short term single happiness, followed by mid to long range rest of the album goodness.
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I have to defend the Boston Virgin. While Newbury Comics is a few feet away (and is a geat indie record store), I've gotten a bounty of CDs from Virgin's sale racks for $4.99 or less on a regular basis. I felt like Virgin's import section was a lot better than Newbury Comics and the store was a nice place to shop around in. The staff there were actually knowledgeable about music, at least the ones I approached. Seriously, I wouldn't have gotten brand new import copies of Ride's best of for $3.99 and Ed Harcourt's last album for $1.99 from Newbury Comics. I'll miss the Boston Virgin Megastore.
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My grammar and usage are bad today. I need sleep.
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What I don't understand is how anyone would want to buy any music that isn't availble at Wal-Mart.
Tower Records, who needs 'em? There's always Wal-Mart, always.
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What I don't understand is how anyone would want to buy any music that isn't availble at Wal-Mart.
Tower Records, who needs 'em? There's always Wal-Mart, always.
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I'm always finding CDs at Target and Wal Mart that I don't expect to find. And there's always only one copy. Sometimes I wonder if it would be rung up if I bought it. Perhaps a musical troll left it there for some unsuspecting customer.
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When I first moved to Chicago about 7 years ago, I had a Saturday ritual. I lived in Lakeview (on Cornelia) and would walk from there to the Tower in Lincoln Park, hitting every record store along the way. (North-Side Chicagoan's would know this is indeed quite a trek).
I'd hit probably 10 record stores in the whole trip, looking through all the used/bargin bins and making all kinds of discoveries. I'd discuss music with other customers the whole way. I always ended at tower and usually still found something worthwhile for a decent price that I didn't find at any other store along the way. It was a great way to spend the day. Certainly more fun/interactive than surfing half.com or the iTunes store.
I miss those record shopping adventures. Tower was a key component of it.
Plus, I remember seeing a killer Joe Strummer in-store performance there. Good times!
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Fuck Wal-mart and their edited CD's and CD's they refuse to sell. Sheryl crow mentions a gun bought a walmart in a song, boom cd not sold there, fuck them.
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Phil and Journo nailed it. It was all about the journey, destination and overall experience. Does new music ever sound better than when you hear it played in a record store?
And when you invest that time and effort into your musical finds, you naturally have a stronger attachment to it--and therefor a willingness to give them a few patient listens before dismisssing (indeed, deleting!) them. Too much about "instant gratification" these days, but i digress...
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I had fun at a Ted Leo Tower in-store a couple of years ago. I'll miss going through those CD and DVD bins. They had a really deep collection of foreign and indie films too. Perhaps unrivaled anywhere in my town.
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I remember when Tower Records at Yonge and Queen in downtown Toronto was in the process of folding. Hordes of overeager people rummaging through the severely discounted CDs like flies on poo.
Will the same scene be seen at other Tower locations?
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Onli places like Amoeba and Other Music will survive, I think....
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Sweet Phil. I used to make that trek as well when I lived in Chi-town. I worked @ Dr. Wax. Haven't been back in a while but, the last time I was there it was nothing like it used to be though. Too bad really. I don't understand the bemoaning of the loss of all these giant corporate stores. They were all overpriced and impersonal. Support your local indie store. I still have a ton where I live and their all great. I can hang out in any of these stores for a couple hours perusing and the people working are always friendly. Long live indie stores....
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Don't be short-sighted. We need both kind of stores, no matter what we prefer.
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I feel the Boston folks on their Virgin love. I had plenty of good finds at Mags and Used Kids, but first came trips to the Columbus Virgin store, which introduced the stuff I would later buy at the indie shops. The sales they would have on essential 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s albums were key to my musical education, and listening to albums at the wall stations was a time-honored tradition. Like the other guy said, we need both kinds of stores, and it's really sad to see this kind die out.
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Er, the other gal. Sorry janine.
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