Rumor has it that Tower Records is considering bankruptcy.
This is the end of a significant era in the music industry, and it seems ironic that a cottage industry is born on the demise of the mass-produced commercial establishment. Was it the online peer to peer music sharing that killed big-business music conglomerates?
It’s easier to find your favorite tracks online, download them to your computer and create an audio disc suitable for your home stereo or car. Popular songs from the radio are almost always highlighted as a top download, and you don’t have to worry about overly restrictive copy protections. The fact of the matter is, a modern compact disc may not play in all of your CD devices. There are plenty of new releases that have been manufactured to reject a CDROM drive from reading the disc, why would a consumer want to invest in a media that won’t work everywhere?
So the record industry is responsible for its own demise. With the imminent bankruptcy of Tower Records, the commercial music establishment should start planning for a new means of profiteering.
