It List: Thursday 12/21/06
Wanz is playing records at Fallout Lounge tonight. I wanted to share this message he had about it, because I agree completely:
Tonight goes out to Tower Records which closes it's doors today for the last time. That's it folks. Tower was the last national music retailer that a record store in the traditional sense. From now on if you wanna get weird imports, back catalogue classical, Jazz, or World music you are screwed. Good records and Cd World still carry a wide variety, but nowhere near the deep catalogue that Tower carried.
Come by have beer and toast to Tower Records and the future generations who will never know the experience of walking into a big record store is like.
ALSO
Zoo: A Visual Menagerie (The Cavern)
DJ G (Hailey's)
Tonight goes out to Tower Records which closes it's doors today for the last time. That's it folks. Tower was the last national music retailer that a record store in the traditional sense. From now on if you wanna get weird imports, back catalogue classical, Jazz, or World music you are screwed. Good records and Cd World still carry a wide variety, but nowhere near the deep catalogue that Tower carried.
Come by have beer and toast to Tower Records and the future generations who will never know the experience of walking into a big record store is like.
ALSO
Zoo: A Visual Menagerie (The Cavern)
DJ G (Hailey's)
posted by Defensive Listening at 2:39 PM
26 Comments:
Apparently a bunch of Tower staff are gonna come out and get drunk at The fallout. So come join us on this very sad day.
I worked at a Tower in Chicago in 1997-8. Probably my favorite job ever. They changed quite a bit since then, but it's still a sad day. I think I'll have to pull out my old name badge for tonight in honor.
yeah... o.k. gramps, my lord but you're gay. seventh grade definition.
Sean Kirkpatrick at Club Dada TONIGHT
DUH!
Little Black Dress @ Doublewide?
SMU expected to be chosen as site of Bush presidential library
Thu Dec 21 2006 15:02:07 ET
December 21, 2006
TO: SMU Students, Faculty and Staff
FROM: R. Gerald Turner, President
It is my pleasure to inform you that Don Evans, Chairman of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Search Committee, notified us that SMU has been selected by the Committee for the next phase of planning discussions. These discussions will begin after the first of the year.
We do not know how long these discussions will take. However, any significant announcement concerning the process will come from Chairman Evans. Today at 2:30 pm SMU is hosting a press availability to which Trustees and the campus community are invited. The press availability will be held in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom.
We are obviously delighted to have reached this final stage of the selection process.
Developing...
another feather in the dallas cap!
another thing for freaking SMU moms to blab about in Starbucks great.
Halls of the Machine at Doublewide tonight, as well.
As far as Tower sucking I think the 4 Sun Ra DVD's, 2 Arthur Russell compilations, the No New York compilation on Vinyl and about $400 worth of other stuff I bought in the past few months would totally disagree. You guys missed out on some choice stuff cheap.
As far as Tower sucking I think the 4 Sun Ra DVD's, 2 Arthur Russell compilations, the No New York compilation on Vinyl and about $400 worth of other stuff I bought in the past few months would totally disagree. You guys missed out on some choice stuff cheap.
Halls of the Machine = Mike Graff & Mike Jerome from Course of Empire, doing the instrumental more textural, cinematic side of that band that made their s/t debut back in 90 the best thing to ever come out of the first-wave Deep Ellum scene .... and just one of the best local albums (and bands) of the 90s period. Damn nice to see them back in action.
It certainly sucks to see Tower close, they did have a cool history and a great selection. But, they did have high prices that couldn't compete with chains like Best Buy for the major releases or even mom and pops like Good for the indie releases. Add in the digital age of people stealing music or many people turning to iTunes and eMusic to get their music and it all ended up spelling doom for the big record stores. Also, I guess you could cite Amazon or Ebay or places like Insound too.
I think Tower should, after restructuring, try to come back in a smaller more competitive form. We'll see.
Unfortunately, this is the way the music industry is right now. Things aren't all that good for the industry and we are in some kind of transition period between the old and the new.
blah blah. the music industry is stupid. all the record stores are bitching about all these new things that are coming out and not realizing that they need to be able to ADAPT. not say "hey, you can't do that... it's screwing us over" because NO ONE CARES.
i don't care if tower records and virgin records and blockbuster music are out of business... they suck and they can't compete. their employees don't help or care, the cd's are too expensive, and a store like that has simply become obsolite (sp?).
you guys probably missed out on FINALY getting a record or cd at a 1/2 way decent price at a store like tower, that's it. i give them props for having a better selection than most big record chains, but they are still a record chain, and part of a terrible monster called the music business.
hopefully tower will ADAPT to these changes and figure out how to live in the world as it is now. but it's most likely that they'll do the same thing lables are doing... bitch about how new technology is screwing them out of sales of albums that have been way too expensive for years.
...anyone who's sad about tower could easily use a little thing called the internet to find all of those dvd's and import cd's, and kickin merch tower had.... and it will probably cost less.
so what exactly is there to miss?
towerrecordsgoaway
just like in every other industry, if you have a shitty or obsolete business model, you probably wont be around much longer. tower and the rest deserved to go the way of aaliyah, moving over and making room for those who can and will adapt and remain afloat and profitable.
hmmm, I think I might have to agree with 503 on this one. Granted, I am surprised and glad to hear that tower had the aforementioned Sun Ra and Arthur Russell stuff (two people I am fascinated with), and now I actually regret not having checked the place out before it closed.
That being said, I have spent so much money on music over the years (as I'm sure most of you have) and frankly I'm sick of it. I used to buy about 10 CDs a month, and in 2006, I have officially purchased none. For the first time in my entire life, I've gone a whole year without buying one CD, tape, or record. Call me a thief if you want, but I feel like I've paid more than my fair share to the recording industry. That made so much money on all of us for so long, and now their reign of terror is over. This isn't the most careful analysis I've ever engaged in, but merely a gut reaction. I couldn't give two shits that store like Tower are going under, and I have even less sympathy for record labels.
I understand that people have fond memories of those places, but I think I'll have even fonder memories of this era, where I was able to get any piece of music I wanted for free at the drop of a hat without paying for some dipshit's downpayment on a new house in Beverly Hills.
Again, this is pretty much just emotion talking here.
There is no better thrill than fliping through records in a record store and finding stuff you were not even looking for. Really!!
There is no better thrill than fliping through records in a record store and finding stuff you were not even looking for. Really!!
I bought more music online this year than physical cds for the first time, and I really enjoyed it overall and saved a ton of money. Emusic is a wonderful thing. I do miss at times the fun of going record shopping though and I don't think there is anything wrong with lamenting the passing of history.
The only thing I have to say about stealing music is that if it were all to be free for the taking, then it would become unsustainable and the vast amount of music we have today would dry up as money is what drives the core of the industry. Like it or not. I don't think many musicians would be okay with music being free, at some point they need record sales to pay for tours, to record, to buy new equipment, etc. With no money, even digital distribution would be very hard, even with eliminating physical cds and manufacturing altogether.
I used the shit out of Napster back in the day, but I don't do that anymore. I don't ride any high horse and I'm not going to lecture. I just feel that like anything else in your life you enjoy, you usually have to pay some cost for it so I'm willing to pay that.
And I totally agree with feeling ripped off and that cds are usually priced too high. But that is not the artists' fault (usually) and even at times, not the record label's either. Distributors contribute to the problem and stores can charge what they like.
I think a lot of things are changing and the big record labels and their business models are going to fail at some point if they don't adapt.
Yeah, I was more sad to see something I enjoyed from my past go, than see an overpriced record store go. They didn't adapt, so it is their fault. I buy maybe 1/3 of the music I get. I figure I'd rather support a band live. I think musicians need to look at music another way. Many are still seeing music as a business, and think they are going to get rich from it. Maybe the stealing or sharing of music will trim the people just trying to exploit the medium for quick cash, and leave behind the people that love it enough that they would pretty much do it for free.
zak,
do you think artists really make a very large portion of their income from record sales? And I'm not asking for the sake of argument, I'm really asking.
I know major label deals usually aren't good for most bands (except for mega huge bands like U2, Coldplay,etc.) but I wonder if you could share some of your experiences running an indie label and provide some insight as to what kind of percentage an artist will typically make off a deal with a smaller label like yours.
And sorry... my last post in this thread reads like it was written by a five year old. Man, I'm really tired.
so that liars record is also worthless?
SR,
No, I'd say most artists don't get anywhere near their fair share of profits made, especially on the majors unless they were lucky enough to score a great deal. So, no record sales is not the main source of income (not counting cds at shows).
As far as indies go, it's tough to say. Some artists are lucky enough to make a living off the whole picture: off merchandise, record sales and constant touring. But, I'm never shocked anymore when I read an article about Oneida and their day jobs or the Wrens, etc.
Indie music is not a way to make money or quit your job unless you are the Shins or My Morning Jacket or Sufjan or something close to that or you are very lucky and you lean to the mainstream.
I don't know how Sub Pop or Matador works exactly, but I think the way Touch & Go runs their label is a great system that is fair (as it can be) and we try to follow that model. You share all profits 50/50 once the label makes their investment back. Of course, the trick is getting those sales/profits and attention in a saturated market enough to reach the profit threshold. We aren't anywhere near quitting our day jobs anytime soon.
We are almost beginning to think that, for small indies, it makes the most sense to just go all digital and save the money that is spent on manufacturing, etc. for other things. I really wouldn't be surprised to see this happening more and more. Anthology Recordings is all digital, Ghostly International released at least one digital only album so I think we are seeing a slight shift.
Long and short, artists don't make much money off their record sales directly, but those sales do power the current system of paying the stores, distributor, label, manufacturer, even promotions. Records sales will also allow labels to fund tours and provide per diems, so indirectly record sales are still important, just so many middle men that the artist does not get 100%.
Not sure if that sheds any light...
Indie hip = rooting for record stores to close.
I say cut out all the middlemen and hangers on of the music industry. Buy a Mac and Protools, and write it off on your taxes. Then record your artists for cheap (pay for mastering if you can't do that yourself). Put the shit on the internet, on your labels website, at a reasonable price. Run off a couple hundred copies for the tour.
This will keep labels and bands from losing their ass due to recording, distributing, and other things.
Why pay outrageous prices to record, and only get limited time? Make your own studio. Make your own store, so you don't have to pay off distributers and other random assholes with their hands out.
This is the new DIY. Do it ALL yourself.
should be all about makin' records.
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