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Music World Set To Close Stores


bradm

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According to

http://www.achannel.ca/ottawa/news_50270.aspx

Canada's last domestic music chain, Music World, will close its doors in the New Year. New owners have also filed for bankruptcy protection.

72 stores nationwide are shutting down thanks to downloading, leaving more than 600 employees out of work.

There will be liquidation sales in the runup to Christmas.

Aloha,

Brad

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72 stores nationwide are shutting down thanks to downloading

... or management not knowing how to cope....

You mean they aren't going to blame their crappy selection and high prices on their going out of business?

Even before the internet craze I always disliked Musicworld.

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Personally, I'd be interested to see what impact DVD sales have had on music stores, especially national and international chains. About five years ago, DVDs started creeping their way through music stores (and I'm not just talking about music docs here), to the point where in many chain stores, they take up half the store. The actual music selection in a bunch of stores is now limited to new releases, greatest hits compilations, and maybe one or two real gems (at best) from an established artist's back catalog. I wonder if, in addition to downloading/high prices/other market factors, this shift has had a negative impact. (I'm, of course, not talking here about quality independent shops that have stayed true to their musical roots).

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this is sad news. i remember the owners of music world donated $5 million to the tsunami victims. i've always had a soft spot for the store, especially because of that.

there's a music world and an hmv in the stone road mall in guelph. i make a point of buying at music world if it isn't that much more expensive, simply to support the "local" store.

oh well. life goes on. sad.

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Music World was the only store I could walk to at lunch in Moncton. I thank them for the fantastic deals (sure they didn't have good back catalog prices, but you could find deals on recently released stuff and tonnes of 2 for $15 deals) on the following artists that I "discovered" there:

Joel Plaskett

Franz Ferdinand

Okerville River

Brazilian Girls

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i read that dvd/movie sales is the only thing that is going to keep hmv alive....

that is why they have adopted such a large selection....

not sure if i agree with it though.

NO SHIT...I walked into an HMV yesterday and it was hard to find the music!!!! I did notice things that were normally marked at 18.99-23.99 are all around 12.99-14.99...Rising Canadian dollar I assume....

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retail music CDs seem to be getting phased out everywhere.

Not necessarily. One of the reports on CBC TV last night featured CD store in Toronto ("Soundscapes", IIRC) whose business is actually increasing. The key thing is that they're not going after the mass market, but instead are going after the niche markets (note the plural).

I think there's an analogy that can be drawn here between what's happening to CD retailers and what happened to department store retailing in the 1980s and 1990s: the middle got cut out. I think it was Tom Peters (management guru, author "In Search Of Excellence" and others) who pointed out that there are two types of consumers: those who want the best quality, regardless of the price, and those who want the lowest price, regardless of the quality. In the 1980s and 1990s, retailers like The Limited (owner of Victoria's Secret, and others) did really well, as did Wal Mart. The Limited went after the high-quality market, while Wal Mart went after the low-price market. Retailers like Sears (and Eaton's in Canada) were going after the middle market, which dried up.

Now, in music retailing, the consumers that want high quality will move to stores like Soundscapes, who stock low-volume titles, and add tremendous value in their knowledge of music and music genres. Consumers that want low cost will download stuff for free. Retailers like Music World (and HMV to an extent) who are going after the "middle ground" will get creamed.

Aloha,

Brad

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Richard Branson was on The Hour last night and confirmed what we already know: There won't be anymore music retail stores in 10 years.

Don't discount the retro appeal. Just last week I saw some kid on the bus rocking a Sony Walkman portable cassette player. The market may grow niche but as long as it's there to be exploited then someone will. Heck, you can still buy vinyl all over the place.

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Aww man that's crappy news. I worked at Music World in Edmonton for a while and I liked the fact that it was a small Canadian music store that wasn't hard to find things in. People think the prices are higher but one of my jobs there was to go and price check on HMV's stock so we could make sure ours were lower. Looks like it didn't work well enough though, the people who are still buying cd's will go to the bigger store as there is more selection.

I agree with you Ollie, I still know lots of people who listen to cassettes and live by them. Vinyl is also still a precious thing to more people than we think. Even the younger generations are into it. Heck only a few years ago when I was in high school, I was digging vinyl and built up my collection quite well, going to those old local beat down record shops. Sadly they're all slowly dying off and I hate to think that there will come a day where finding a shop like that will be next to impossible. Records will only be available at antique shops or on Ebay.....

sad. sad.

Steph

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Sure there's a retro appeal and niche market for vinyl and even 8-track, but c'mon Ollie. Do you think that music retail giants will remain lucrative businesses and support music relying on vinyl sales?

That's not what Branson said though.

There won't be anymore music retail stores in 10 years.

If he meant to be more specific then he should have made that clear. Of course, that wouldn't have made as tidy a soundbyte.

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