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From: "David O'Regan" <davidporegan@eircom.net>
Newsgroups: alt.music
Subject: Re: British Record Shops Under Threat
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 11:44:55 -0000
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I feel sorry for the staff of Tower Records but with all due respect the
internet has been around a while now & do you not think the high street
shops that have been ripping us of for years should of tried to keep up.
I know of many companies that have competed very successfully with the
internet. For example
"downloading facilities in record stores could be a thing of the future."
Why did they wait so long? Any business person knows that you must keep up
with the times.
I know free music downloads is a bit hard to compete with but I am one music
fan that is only too happy to pay for my music & DVDs at a fair price
"Mark" <markcr31uk@bluenospamyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:AXrWb.6489$Om.2510@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk...
> The fall of Tower Records increases fears for fate of British record
> shops
>
> By Ian Burrell Media and Culture Correspondent
> 11 February 2004
>
> One of the great icons of the American music industry came crashing
> down yesterday when Tower Records collapsed under competition from
> internet downloads and discount shops.
>
> The demise of Tower set alarm bells ringing across the British music
> industry, prompting fears that the days of the record shop could be
> numbered.
>
> British retailers are clinging to the hope that record-buyers in the
> land that inspired Nick Hornby's tale of musical obsession, High
> Fidelity, would not readily relinquish the experience of pawing
> through the racks, but if the United States is a barometer of future
> British leisure habits then downloading and supermarket-buying are
> the future.
>
> Staff at the 93 branches of Tower, one of the best-known
> international chains, learnt yesterday that the company had filed for
> competition from the supermarket Wal-Mart and the electrical chain
> Best Buy.
>
> It had been struggling for some time, and sold off its 14 British
> stores last year. Sir Richard Branson bought its flagship outlet on
> Piccadilly Circus in central London, which continued to trade under
> the Tower name.
>
> The collapse of Tower follows the disappearance from the high street
> of other well-known chains, including Our Price and Andy's Records in
> the past 18 months.
>
> A British music retailer warned last night that the specialist record
> store was under threat. Simon Dornan, spokesman for Virgin Mega-
> stores, said he believed that discount pricing of CDs by supermarkets
> posed an even greater threat to record shops than downloading.
>
> Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Safeway have become increasingly big
> players in music retail, cutting the price of chart CDs to as little
> and R. Kelly, have been propelled into the Top 10 of the album chart
> after making more than half of their sales in supermarkets.
>
> "The scenario [for record shops] is far more dangerous than anything
> to do with downloading," Mr Dornan said. "Tower were quoted as saying
> they could not afford to operate in the UK market. You would have
> thought that in their homeland they would be safe. Everybody's
> shocked to see what has happened."
>
> He said that if supermarkets came to dominate music retail, British
> music would become less exciting. "Labels will be less inclined to
> invest in a wider roster and we will have far blander music on
> offer," he said. "I don't suppose I will find Franz Ferdinand in Asda
> or Sainsbury's this week."
>
> Noting that France's music retail was already dominated by
> supermarkets, Mr Dornan said that record shops had to offer shoppers
> a more "rock 'n' roll" experience with more of a "live venue status".
>
> Last night The Sleepy Jackson performed a gig at the Virgin Megastore
> in London's Oxford Street. "I don't believe bands like that are going
> to play in a car park at Asda."
>
> Other music retailers said record stores would survive because
> Britain had a different culture to the US. A spokesman for HMV
> said: "Stores are more part of the culture here because of the
> Sixties pop explosion. People seem to value not just the acquisition
> of a piece of music but the process of acquiring it."
>
> British music fans liked to show their devotion to a band by
> purchasing a physical music product. The same culture was not as
> ingrained in the US, where downloading had taken off. "There doesn't
> seem to be the same emotional attachment to buying music. It's a more
> functional good over there."
>
> Record stores will take comfort from the fact that CDs, like DVDs,
> are often given as gifts. "I don't think a download would make such a
> good present," the HMV spokesman said. He said, however, that
> downloading facilities in record stores could be a thing of the
> future.
>
> The increasing popularity of downloading in Britain was revealed in
> figures from the Official Charts Company that showed there were more
> legal downloads last month (150,000) than sales of vinyl or
> cassettes. Legal downloads account for only 2 per cent of the total
> number, industry sources say.
>
> Lawyers for Tower, meanwhile, are hoping to bring the company back
> from the brink with a restructuring package that could allow it to
> emerge from bankruptcy within 45 days.
>
>
>
>
>
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