Is the concept of the "music store" over? (CNN Money)

[The Pontificator]

I didn't realize it but the article is from 2004. Oops!

[eelhc]

I always buy the CD for several reasons:

CDs are less expensive in most cases since I tend to purchase them used ($5~10 delivered from half.com or from my local used CD store)
For the artists I like to listen to, the full CD is a complete piece of work. Purchasing a song to me is like buying a corner of a painting or a chapter in a book. Great albums are meant to be played in full (the dark side of the moon comes to mind).
A CD ripped using dbpoweramp and accurateRIP to FLAC or ALAC is simply sounds better than a $1 MP3

24bit/96KHz music from HDTracks is the exception but their selection is still limited.

[rob_NH]

I can't believe online stores are still viable. Between pandora and spottify, I haven't bought (or even pirated) music in at least 5 years, and I'm listening to more new music than ever. And to top it off, with iPhone integration in my car stereo, I get pandora controls on my in-dash receiver touch screen. There needs to be a new model for sure. iTunes can't last forever as fast as things are evolving.

[Griffo]

I'm lucky as in the town near to me there is still a 'proper' record store. And I mean 'record' staore so I can still get vinyl very easily. It's a great little shop but even they are probably more reliant on sales via their web page than footfall.

As for digital - I stream using Sony's Music Unlimited service via the PS3. I bought the PS3 for it's blu-ray abilities so it was hooked up to the hifi for that so it made sense to expand and use the streaming service. I haven't bought a CD so far this year (and I have approx 1200 of the things on my shelves). I really don't miss them either.

Now if I had to give up vinyl, that would be more painful.

[Jawaburger]

Vinyl still has the best sound quality. My opinion of course

Most audiophiles agree, inlcuding me! There are some high resolution digital files that are superior to CD quality that may give vinyl a run for the money though.

[Griffo]

Most audiophiles agree, inlcuding me! There are some high resolution digital files that are superior to CD quality that may give vinyl a run for the money though.

Technically I would agree but where's the love ? there is something a bit soulless about listening to 'files' on a computer. I'll always enjoy the tactile nature of vinyl, something CD never really recreated.

[badgerstate]

mmmmm... eight track, with that satisfying "klunk" when it changes tracks...

but seriously, Last Christmas I was in a music store in MPLS that started about 40 years ago, head / music shop. It was packed with customers. Christmas?
Sincer I live 50 miles from anyplace I think of the internet as my local shop. There it is on my desk.

[tinashubby]

mmmmm... eight track, with that satisfying "klunk" when it changes tracks...

but seriously, Last Christmas I was in a music store in MPLS that started about 40 years ago, head / music shop. It was packed with customers. Christmas?
Sincer I live 50 miles from anyplace I think of the internet as my local shop. There it is on my desk.

But don't forget to wedge a pack of matches under the edge of the tape!

[Alum of Potash]

Actually, vinyl represents the largest growth in music sales these days. My favorite local store, Weirdo Records, also has an internet presence, so it's sort of a hybrid. With small, experimental music events on Monday evenings, it's really a nice place. Sort of a niche market, though, and not for the faint of heart... http://weirdorecords.com/

[Andy]

Haven't been into a music store in a very long time, would say close to 10 years.

The last time I went into one, couldn't find a single album that I liked.

My purchases nowadays are on iTunes, I can be *almost* guaranteed to get the album that I want.

[Jawaburger]

Actually, vinyl represents the largest growth in music sales these days.

Very true. I worked at a high end stereo store for about 7 years and we always sold more turn tables than CD players. Music Direct is a great place to get audiophile heavy grade vinyl, for anyone who is interested in ordering records online.

[Larry J]

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley are home to Amoeba Records. Everything you could want in a music store.
The L.A. and Berkeley locations have a small stage and host free concerts with lots of great artists appearing. (McCartney played
a while back.) Tons of vinyl, massive used section, separate dept. for jazz, collectible posters and other memorabilia. IMO, it is so much cooler
to browse the bins at Amoeba than to look at a computer screen.
When the Tower Record stores chain shuttered their doors, it was a bad sign for b&M music stores.
Admittedly, Amoeba Records is an anomaly, but a brilliant one none the less.

[Dewaine]

We can only hope. Maybe musicians will start performing again, live, like they should. There is too little live music in the lives of many people, and there is nothing so inspiring as seeing a great live performance, an experience which can only be so inspiring when in-person.

[Arcadies]

Actually, vinyl represents the largest growth in music sales these days. My favorite local store, Weirdo Records, also has an internet presence, so it's sort of a hybrid. With small, experimental music events on Monday evenings, it's really a nice place. Sort of a niche market, though, and not for the faint of heart... http://weirdorecords.com/

I noticed yesterday when I was in Wal-mart (ugh I know) to grab some "toiletries" that they were selling turntables..a whole shelf full and they had a built in MP3 encoder and USB ports. I knew they still sold them but I think that is the first turntable I've seen in a actual store in probably 20 years.

[buffdaddy]

It depends where you live. For most part the neighborhood music store is gone. But there are some really great independent record stores around the country that are still alive and kicking (got some great ones around here in Chicago). As a kid one my favorite pastimes was to peruse the local record store looking for the latest release from the Smiths or REM, sadly those days are gone. There are several used CD shops around where I live and go in there every great once in a while to peruse.

Since 2007/2008 the third Saturday of April is Record Store Day, where indie record stores have special deals on hard to find releases and many artists release special collections only available on that day. A co-worker of mine goes every year and grabs some really great stuff.

I still have most of my CDs, which are packed away in boxes in the closet (all my tapes and vinyl are long gone). I was pretty early to jump on the Ipod badwagon so most of my CDs are ripped into itunes. I also have a monthly subscription to emusic.com so whenever I'm in the mood for new tunes I just go there and download what I want.

[Saturn]

I still can't believe that with all the technology we have, sound quality isn't better.

There was an article I read which talked about how, if you look at the market of audio receivers nowadays, basically they have a checklist of features and their design goal when they're coming out with a new receiver is to try to cram as many features from the checklist into the device as they can. So that's what most of the budget goes toward, rather than it going towards sound quality.

When they did a blind listening test (a bit of an oxymoron, I know) pitting several top of the line current generation receivers against a Pioneer from 1980, the old Pioneer won by a significant margin. Kind of sad, considering that that unit is over 30 years old.

As far as B&M music stores go, and CDs in general, I honestly think that model is dead or very close to it. There used to be something very tangible and social about going into a music store, but that feeling's been gone for a long time unless you find a true record store. The net allows companies to do business now in a way that is much more suited to the way that people wish to purchase, and if an industry can't take advantage of that and insists on clinging to an old model, then that industry suffers. At some point, though, there may be some backlash and people will go in search of "the old ways" of buying and listening to music, just as people on this site have turned back to the old ways of shaving.

[Drybonz]

"No one questions that piracy has eaten into profits. But all the attention paid to the moral and legal issues surrounding copyright protection has allowed the music labels to avoid taking responsibility for violating a cardinal principle of business: Give the customers what they want."

Yeah, the issue is not so much piracy, but that music companies refuse to accept that the gravy days of peddling CDs for 20 bucks is over and that they are going to have to come up with a new business model. The "music store" is really only still lingering on because the music companies don't want to let go. It's coming though.

[duotone]

I was disappointed late last year when the HMV store closed in our shopping centre. Now there is no shop (in a shopping centre of around 120 stores) to go and and buy a cd/DVD.

[otto76]

this cartoon by The Oatmeal pretty much sums up how I feel about the music industry:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/music_industry

That's pretty good.
I think even the thread here (what are you listening to) is a good small example of why we don't really need massive organizations representing an artist to promote them effectively.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...u-listening-to
Most of my favorite music lately has been off of this thread via word of mouth from others. I would think if you are good enough to build a good local following, word of mouth and the internet would be enough to get it out there. Might not sell quite as many albums but the profit would have to be better as well as keeping the opportunity to maintain control of your sound.
I guess that's really just a quick restatement of what the whole "indie" movement is about, it just really seems like a more doable prospect now than it may have been at its inception.

All of the things you could do at a music store you can do much better online. Music stores no longer serve a purpose.

I agree. Only nostalgia, and that's not really enough. I used to really enjoy them but haven't set foot in one for a long time.
Some of the better ones host bands, I can see how something like that might work but just a music store on its own...seems about as reasonable as going to Blockbuster to rent a movie.

[ouch]

In the late 70's, I was visiting a friend at his music store. Who pops in? Keith Richards, accompanied by a 73 pound girl who was almost as skinny as him. We closed the door so an errant draft wouldn't carry him off.

That's an experience an on-line store can't duplicate.