Tower Records owned nearly ninety stores spread across twenty states, and both regular and once-in-awhile shoppers have been wondering why these stores are about to be closed. What is going on is that Tower has lost the battle to remain a retailer of tangible music products in an increasingly digital world.
Tower opened in 1960, at a time when people still bought vinyl records and cassettes were just beginning to be dreamed up. Life shifts, and Tower shifted with it, adding cassettes and then CD’s and eventually music DVD’s to its shelves. The changes in physical presentation of music didn’t significantly
alter business over the years, and the company boasted over one billion dollars in annual sales.
However, in the past two decades, the speed with which the music industry has shifted has increased dramatically, and Tower simply couldn’t keep pace.
Discounted prices at other chain stores, online availability of music and the option for music consumers to download their favorite songs from home all contributed to a change in the way music is sold. This change caused the store to go into debt exceeding $200 million, and resulted in a bankruptcy order and the auctioning off of the national music chain to the highest bidder. The winner of the auction was Great American Group, a retail liquidation company that is shutting down all Tower stores in a systematic manner.
At first glance Tower is just one of many music providers that will be closing the doors of their physical spaces to make room for the convenience of buying music online. Online purchasing is cheaper, more practical for the modern way of life and easier to update than the inventories of physical music stores. However, as music fans across the country murmur outside of the doors of Tower, it seems that there is some agreement that there is a place for music stores in our society after all.
Retailers of music (and retailers in general) have had to make adjustments to the changing way in which products are viewed and sold in today’s global marketplace. New products come out and replace old ones, new ways of marketing alter the ways in which stores approach sales and new developments in technology change the process by which items are sold. In the past, most of these changes took place on a physical level -- computer scanning technology, the near-demise and then revival of vinyl records in comparison with CD sales, and even the look of different stores have altered over the years to give consumers what they are seeking at a given time.
Today, the shift is not only in the tangible world. The Internet is a part of who we are, and it seems to be here to stay for awhile. The ability to download music from home is one of the greatest factors influencing the decrease in sales which has lead to the closing of Tower Records. When consumers can just log on to the web the very second that they hear a song that they like and can easily download it straight to their iTunes program, the desire to go browsing through a physical music store inevitably decreases. Even for those people who used to love just sifting through CD after CD in hopes of discovering some gem they hadn’t found before can now do their sifting online, hearing snatches of songs on such sites as MySpace without having to just go off of an album’s cover art or liner notes to draw them in.
However, there are aspects of physical music stores that the Internet can never have, and with the right modifications, other small retailers of music may not have to meet the same fate as Tower. One benefit is friendly service. Everyone who was a fan of the movie “Empire Records” in the late ‘90s knows that there is a music culture that comes out through the passion of the people who work together in shared musical space, and that is something which customers seeking recommendations and help choosing music gifts appreciate.
There are a number of other things Tower might have done to avoid bankruptcy. The main thing to consider is that people don’t just need to get music from their music store anymore -- they could do that online. So the music store needs to go above and beyond just supplying CD’s. A store which will thrive in spite of online domination of music is a store which offers other products, services and special events to keep people coming together.
Stores that feature in-house live music are likely to draw in customers. No matter how convenient it is to sit at home and watch music videos, there is something about the live band that people are willing to come out and see. Even including large screen music videos in a store can draw more customers. Part of the draw of such events is that music lovers can come together to share experiences with other lovers of the same music.
Music retailers can capitalize on this human need in other ways as well. Providing in-store wireless Internet is one way of drawing people to the store. They might be downloading music while they sit there, but they will also impulse buy a number of items that they want right then. A store providing music magazines, T-shirts and specialty items will likely have increased sales from consumers who are enjoying the space. Another addition to a store which is a benefit to both the store and the music consumer is the offering of services, such as transferring the customer’s vinyl music to CD or coverting music VHS tapes into DVDs.
Creativity is at the center of everything in the music business. Music retailers have to come together with independent musicians and consumers who believe in the importance of independent music to come up with creative ideas for maintaining the small music business while still meeting the needs of music fans everywhere. Tower Records may have lost the fight, but rather than being a sign that all is lost, the liquidation of the chain may be an opportunity to consider alternative methods of providing music to communities all across the country.
