When I moved to Seattle in ’94 I lived in the University district. Back then I spent a lot of hours at the UW Bookstore and Tower Records. There was always a crowd at Tower which was open late and had a great selection of music and video. For a few years they even carried computer games at this store. They are the first music store I remember that had listening stations. Because of those listening stations I was introduced to a lot of new music I otherwise would not have known existed. I remember listen to “Ghost of Tom Joad” at a station when Springsteen released this new CD and buying it immediately. I don’t know if that same experience exists for me anymore. Now I’m more likely to be sent an mp3 file from a friend or my brother. Sharing music takes on a whole new meaning in this digital age. When I used to run a Hotline server people would see my selection of music and upload stuff they thought I might like. That’s how I first heard The Sundays and eventually bought every CD I could find from them.
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The Ghost of Tom Joad – Bruce Springsteen
Link to video on YouTube
Driving through downtown Seattle this morning, I noticed several people wearing those wacky body signs announcing the “going out of business” markdowns at Tower. It’s kind of sad to think back to many of those good experiences sampling music at Tower, and now I won’t be able to do that anymore. I can see myself having to explain what a music store used to be to my kids. To them, a music store will probably mean a section you find at Wal-Mart, Target, or Best Buy. Are the days of the dedicated music store over? Will you be able to ask the person working in the Best Buy music area what new CD they would recommend? I hope that experience will still live on in some form. Some of the used CD swapping stores I’ve visited (one just opened up near Pikes Market) like Gray Whale have passionate and knowledgeable staff that are full of recommendations. But you have to search them out. For many people, it’s just too easy to pickup a CD at Target. For me it was mostly about price. Most music stores sold CDs around $16 to $18. I could find the same CD at Target for $12. When a good portion of your market is students with not much disposable income, that price delta is substantial. And now with iTunes anyone can cherry pick the best songs off an album for 99 cents and skip the filler.
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Here’s Where the Story Ends – The Sundays
Link to video on YouTube
I’m sad to see Tower close its doors. But I can’t remember the last time I stepped into one of their stores. In that sense, it’s not surprising. The model has changed and music stores didn’t adapt fast enough.
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