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135 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+56What is this "store" and what do you do with it?
- bokker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+41Darwin killed Tower Records - through their inability to adapt & evolve with changing mediums.
- wayhomer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+37I'm very sorry.
Signed,
The Internet - kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34 Did the internet kill tower Records? Or did bad modern pop music kill them.
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29Adapt or die, dinosaurs.
- funnycigarettes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26the last time i went into a Tower records store, i exited quickly upon seeing Hot Deals for cds at prices as low as $21.99.
- rezak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Evolution is the name of the game. It applies even to business. If Tower Records became a music store as in like iTunes which sold individual tracks and evolved with the internet instead of fighting it like so many along the roadside did, then maybe they wouldn't be so damn broke.
- masona3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20Tower Records didn't go under because of piracy.
Tower Records didn't go under because of competition.
Tower Records didn't go under because of bad management.
Tower Records went under because of pricing. They charged too damn much for the same CD's that you can buy online at a much lower price.
Period. - elusive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22...and their obscenely high prices.
- chmod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20I would blame CD prices more than selection. You know those prices that were supposed to drop like rocks because CDs are so much cheaper to manufacture and distribute than tapes or vinyl?
- mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"Tower failed to keep up with a fast-moving landscape involving online retailers such as Amazon.com and discounters like Wal-Mart, as well as a move to digital music, say analysts."
Who the ***** goes to Wal-Mart to buy albums!?
Not only is their selection HORRIBLE mainstream crap, but it's edited! - palmer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19It was not only the Internet. Tower asked for it. While Best Buy and Circuit City had every CD for $10.99 or less, Tower was still trying to gouge us for $16 or $18. Of course, the record companies threatened the cheaper retailers (grounds for an investigation and "settlement" against them years later) and we saw the end of $11 or less, but Tower still always managed to overprice their merchandise and lack basic staple albums from major artists.
- PhillyMJS, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23I haven't set foot in a music store in years, but I can tell you why I stopped shopping at Tower back then-- their prices were outrageous, they didn't have a great selection, and they always had these freaky-ass salespeople (you know the type, the pierced, tattooed, unnatural/multi-color haired misfits) who would both give you attitude for asking them to do their jobs and wordlessly mock your taste in music if you requested assistance.
If Tower goes away, I guess they'll have to get jobs as bike messengers or something. You don't have a lot of career options when you're a white dude with dreadlocks. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Record stores are so last century.
- jramos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Evolving your pricing strategy would probably be a good first step. Everything at Tower is too damn overpriced...
- ZenFu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19Oh so THAT's why Virgin Megastores took over the Tower Records branch at Piccadilly Circus (UK). They went bankrupt!
Ya learn something new every day. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Maybe it's the internet, or maybe it's the ***** music they are trying to peddle.
The good stuff isn't in the major record stores. - chmod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14More than one gwill? Should our standards really be that low?
- kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13 I agree. They over priced there cds and DVDs.
- chmod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"Who killed Tower Records?"
Record companies? - johnkimble, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Retail stores should stop including the word "Records" in their titles if they no longer sell records. If they intend on using the word to depict "Recordings," then they should name their business accordingly.
Who killed Tower Records? The scapegoat known as the internet.
Question: What do you do with this store?
Answer: Pass by it in your car while listening to your iPod filled with illegally downloaded music. - dustyshadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13What? You don't like paying 17.99 for "on sale" CDs?
- caldroun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I didn't know they were still around...I suspect the fact that there isn't any really good music anymore brought down the music retailer.
- v3xt0r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14oh no, a multi-million dollar corporation has taken it in the butt, whaaaaaa...
HOW DOES IT FEEL CORPORATE AMERICA??
Now they can get a glimpse of how ***** things are when you get *****, only they are now on the receiving end.
I don't mean to blame tower for all other corporations, but let this be a lesson to the other frail business models, and their cut-throat tactics. - Smukke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I think I am 'old.' I remember buying *records* at Tower Records in Boston. Vinyl things. (sigh) It was the coolest record store in the world.
- volcompimp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10How is that not competition? Most people don't buy online. They buy from places like Target, Best Buy, Walmart or where I work (Raspuin Music, bay area local record store). We killed off the local Tower years ago and all the other CD stores, suck it Tower!
- negativenancy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10That damn internet is up to no good again
- socbret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Did they listen to pop music because they were miserable, or were they miserable because they listened to pop music?
- noGoodNamesLeft, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Tower Records pulled out of the UK in 2003 (before the went bankrupt for the first time), according to Wikipedia.
I visited their store in Glasgow sometime before this; for some reason I'd got it into my head that they might have been slightly different to the usual suspects (HMV and Virgin). From what I saw, they weren't, either in price (still too high), style or selection. So, IMHO no great loss to the world.
OTOH, Virgin are little better. I don't know what it's like in the US, but Virgin and HMV in the UK are the same *everywhere you go*. Same selection, same style inside; contributors to "identikit High Streets" throughout the UK and beyond. They used to be not cheap for chart CDs, and *obscenely* overpriced for back catalogue ones (many were hitting the £16-£17 mark- almost US $30- at one point). Although their chart CDs are now more competitively priced, and they tend to have more back-catalogue items on sale (occasionally at *really* good prices), overall they are still mediocre as heck.
I know I can get it from Amazon much cheaper- especially back-catalogue CDs- with a much better selection, and I feel absolutely no loyalty to the big chains whatsoever having seen their obscene overpricing prior to serious competition from the Internet.
Oh yeah, and there's Fopp. Moderately-sized UK chain, sell many back-catalogue CDs at £5 or so, and did this even before Amazon and the Internet became serious competitors.
You notice that I haven't even got onto piracy yet; actually, although I've downloaded quite a lot of single tracks from P2P (would happily pay the moderate cost of "legal" downloads, but the added convenience is easily offset by DRM inconvenience), I probably copy less albums than I used to back in the cassette days; Fopp often have them at a decent price anyway.
And speaking of single tracks, I wonder how much the music industry is suffering from the loss in singles sales? I'm 30, and can remember as far back as when vinyl singles were the main format; but I don't have any affection for the cassette and CD single formats which are dead and dying respectively. Why? CD singles were usually grossly overpriced (£1.99 to kick sales in the first week, often £3.99 afterwards, and that was 10 years ago!), and lots of crappy bonus tracks and remixes can't make up for that. Plus, physical CDs for an album are good, but for a single song they're just clutter and a nuisance to use. Those slimline CD cases are pretty charmless as well. I made high quality MP3s of mine and sold most of them.
I will never, *ever*, pay £4 for a CD single again.
And I've no sympathy for an overpriced music chain. - mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7hey cosmo, I go to that store on broadway too!
im glad the original is still staying up, even though i really don't like their prices, but that's history! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Exactly. They killed themselves. Adapt or die. Are you reading this RIAA?
- kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8 Going by your name, if your from Philly, and talking about the Tower records in Philly. I could not agree more.
- cosmovi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I still buy records (not CDs) at the original Tower in my hometown. The clerks seem so sad... and I would be, too, if I were them. The only store staying open is the one in Sacramento, CA, on Broadway, and I am proud to say I will shop there for some time still.
- Zeush8su, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'm sure those "Hot" Cd's starting @19.99 help them with sales.I would much rather shop at indie shops where the folks there have some knowledge about music.
- volcompimp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Biggest BS excuse ever... The internet is killing record sales at all... If anything the market is thriving when there's an actual product worth buying on the shelves. I work at a local record store which here in the bay area (cali) killed off all the other record stores in the Fremont/Newark area (which includes a toward records, except now there is a FYE which Tower owns in our mall) along with the fact that most people these days buy their music from either us or places like walmart, best buy, target, fry's electronics etc which Tower cannot compete with. Nobody else in this area sells used stuff except for us and we have a huge selection which is part of the reason people keep coming back to our store whether it's for new or used product. Tower doesn't have anything to offer. We're not always the cheapest by a long shot when it comes to new product, but people still by from us. Tower had a good place in the new and used market years ago but compared to our store or compared to big retailers, Tower is just a half assed music store.
Whoever honestly thinks the internet is killing Tower or the music industry for that matter needs a swift kick to the balls filled with truth. Especially since there isn't anything new worth downloading. When was the last time you heard a good rock cd that was mainstream? Saosin is coming out in about a month thank god (finally) but other than that there's only been a few bands with even a descent couple of songs on their albums. Until they start putting out quality music again I'm stuck listening to other genres like jazz, reggaeton, latin rock (the new mana is pretty good) and a rap/r&b (which the 2 don't have many good releases either whether mainstream or bay area, but every so often there's some good stuff put out). - grayapple, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6If you fight the Internet - the Internet will win.
- MisterKen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I dropped allot of cash in Tower. Bought a weird looking 7" single from a band simply called 'the Smiths' there. A night that changed my musical tastes forever.
The Internet did nothing to Tower. $22 CD prices and lack of focus did it.
They could have used their power in the mid 80s, like WalMart, and championed lower prices for their customers. Instead they drank the kool aid, dropped the diversity of music and tried to make it up on T-shirts, crappy 'gifts' and a poorly run DVD rental area.
I refuse to feel sorry for stupidity and greed. - hehe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Tower Records was always a ripoff. $18 for a CD. Best Buy, Circuit City, or--better yet--a used music store, will have the exact same CD for way less.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I figured their ***** service and overpriced music was the cause of their downfall.
- canewediggit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5is this a suprise?
note to record industry (at all levels of the supply chain)- CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL. if not, we will change it for you..... - mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8so does anyone know when the liqudation starts?
- cosmovi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6They are likely miserable because something that came out of their hometown and conquered the known world is being torn down, and they work in the last stronghold. It has nothing to do with the music the listen to.
- Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Some call them "asswipes".
- merdiesel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"I still buy records (not CDs) at the original Tower in my hometown. The clerks seem so sad... and I would be, too, if I were them. The only store staying open is the one in Sacramento, CA, on Broadway, and I am proud to say I will shop there for some time still."
I go there as well, they have a great selection for being a smaller store. - canewediggit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4pricing is decided upon by management, which didn't respond well to competition. i agree w/ your sentiment, but tower's failure is the result of poor management decisions and nothing else. they failed to adapt, and now they are extinct, way o' the world
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7"Daddy? Why did the nice store go bankrupt?"
"YOUUUU KILLLED IT!!!"
Come on. This is as bad as Mexican mothers warning their children not to be bad so the chupacabra won't come after them. It's *****... fiction... the majority of music listeners still buy their music. Tower Records went under for the same reasons they went under once already: Their business model is *****, and they have poor management. - Flooq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh please, their competitors are still around. The internet didn't kill Tower Records, Tower Records killed Tower Records.
- Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Um, not too sure, but I believe Wal-Mart sells more albums than about anybody else.
Incredible, but true. - cosmovi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Cheney, it isn't a mall. It's a free standing store near the Tower Theatre (which I also go to often).
And mywhitenoise, that is wonderful to hear. :D - Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Those poor old-fart middlemen who work at the Record Companies. You know, the ones who sue kids and grandma's for downloading mp3's. The ones who decided 20 dollars was a good price point for CD's twenty years ago.
That popping sound is karma squashing their empty grey heads. -
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