Just posted on the Village Voice website:

The Sound of the Industry
by Douglas Wolk
Sick and Mortar
Real record stores open, close, move, struggle, and thrive
June 1st, 2004 12:30 PM

The familiar story is that the CD market is collapsing, and small
record stores are in terrible trouble as consumers switch over to
acquiring music digitally, with or without paying for it. It's true
some independent retailers are struggling; the long-established
New York stores Midnight Records and Holy Cow have shut
their doors in recent months, and Mount Kisco's Exile on Main
Street closed late last year. But record stores, like restaurants,
close and open all the time.

The Recording Industry Association of America claims CD
shipments continue to drop; Soundscan's figures, conversely,
indicate first-quarter sales for 2004 are up a bit over 9 percent
from last year. The difference is that shipments (the number of
discs sent to stores) are not the same thing as sales (the number
of discs people buy). Apparently, retailers are managing their
inventory more efficiently, and returning fewer unsold albums-
which means big record labels are, in theory, spending less and
making more than a year ago.

That doesn't always trickle down to individual record shops.
Pat Feeney, owner of Main Street Music in Philadelphia, says
that May was his store's weakest month since it opened over
12 years ago. "In the last five months or so, there have been
days when I feel like I'm selling hula hoops," he says. Main
Street specializes in what's known as AAA (adult album
alternative); the first Norah Jones album was his biggest seller
ever. AAA fans, though, tend to be older, more sedentary
types who prefer one-click ordering to rummaging around a
record store-which means online stores like amazon.com are
taking over from the brick-and-mortar type. And the street
where Feeney's store is located is in decline.

Small stores that rely on major-label releases have also been
hit by narrowing profit margins and fluctuating costs. Universal
Music Group, which made a big deal out of dropping its retail
(and wholesale) prices in October, raised some again recently
-quietly, and without announcing it beforehand, so retailers
didn't have an opportunity to stock up. And independent
retailers who sell a lot of mainstream music live in terror of a
Best Buy opening nearby: The electronics giant sells new CDs
"literally for less than we pay for them," Feeney says.

Still, some narrowly focused record stores are thriving. Former
Voice contributor James Bradley opened Sound Fix in
Williamsburg in late April, and he reports that business so far
has exceeded his expectations. "A lot of that has to do with the
neighborhood," he says. "I'm trying to create a store that's a
nexus for clubs and musicians, that's connected to the artistic
vibe of the area."

That means presenting it as a local hangout spot, like the old
Halcyon (which has reappeared as a new record store in
DUMBO). Sound Fix is connected to a café that hosts
occasional performances; the store stocks lots of vinyl and
sells CDs for local bands, and Bradley will soon be installing
listening stations. "People like to get out of their homes, walk
into a record store, and talk about music. There's no substitute
for that," he says.

Kim's Mediapolis, up near Columbia University, is preparing
for the slow summer months while students are away, but
music manager Howard Flax says CD sales have been solid
so far this year. "We're doing OK, because what we sell isn't
music you can get just anywhere-we're selling a lot of the
new DNA reissue, the Streets, the Magnetic Fields. I don't
think our customers are really interested in going to Best Buy,
even though they'll sell the Shins CD there for 10 bucks. You
just have to work a little harder."

Sound Fix's Bradley agrees. "People like record stores," he
says. "It's not as if people are happy to see them going away
-they just wish they could go in and be treated nicely. The
dingy record store with some surly kid behind the counter-
that's the old model."




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