You are witnessing the fall of an empire. The demise of a giant so huge it was unfathomable to think it would ever collapse. I’m talking about Tower Records; the largest most accessible record store in America. Now it sees its destruction. Who can we blame? What is the blame? Can we fix it? What will happen if we can’t? What does the future hold for the music industry and what will it mean for the musicians out there?

The digital days are upon us. There are so many songs on the web that it’s maddening to find a good source. There’s iTunes, MP3.com, Amazon.com and countless other sites that have a “pay for play” mentality. Could this be the reason why Tower has come to an end? They offer digital downloads, but they didn’t promote it as much as they could have. With the dawn of what I like to call “Digital Babies”, more young listeners are getting their music from the net because that’s what they grew up with. I remember the first CD I bought. It made me feel so good because it meant I didn’t have to wait for my cassette to rewind before I could listen to it again. Now cassettes are a relic of the past along with 8-tracks and vinyl records. Though many people say there is no sound like the sound of vinyl, is that what they will be saying about CDs one day?

It’s silly to think that a store could run your life, but when you’re obsessed with music like I am, you can’t keep this feeling inside. This has been running through my head for a long time now. Many people, as well as I, think that portable MP3 players are awesome. They are! They allow me to upload most of my CDs to it so I can take as much music with me as I possibly can. Recently though mine took its last dive into the pool and now it’s gone completely, which means I’ll have to dish out another $250 if I want another one. While some will have no problem with that, I just can’t. That’s more than half my bi-weekly paycheck. It’s a great thing to invest in; I just don’t have the funds to do that. What does that say though? It brings up a lot of issues. First, those things are just too damn expensive. Second, the economy is going down the drain right now so people are getting retarded wages. Third, what the hell do I do now?

While I loved my MP3 player, I can honestly say that nothing can compare to the feeling I have when I buy a new CD. Paying for it then trying to open that ridiculously tight shrink-wrap around it. Not to mention pulling off that stupid sticker seal at the top. It’s the anticipation of it all, the artwork held in your hands, the list of songs on the back. It’s a tangible feeling; something in which you can say, “Look. This is the way I’m feeling right now”. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, right?

Are we, one day, going to have to buy a computer just to hear the latest songs from our favorite bands? Are we going to have to pay before we hear new bands and artists emerging in the music scene? Do we just point and click and there it is? Just for once could we not look forward to the future? Why can’t we just leave well enough alone?

Maybe I’m overreacting. I know that CDs won’t disappear entirely. A professor of mine said to me, “Television didn’t destroy radio entirely. Cable television didn’t destroy broadcast television entirely, but it was changed drastically”. I don’t want it changed. I don’t want to buy my music on the computer. I don’t want to pay for a song before I hear it. Sure the internet is good for a few things. One, listening to clips, previewing the music before you buy it is wonderful, but then I want to buy the CD! Two, finding new music from bands who find it easier to promote on the web, but then I want to buy the CD! Third, making the decision of buying the CD or not based on the preview. That’s great, but I want the CD!

I’ll have to face it. We’re entering into a new era in which computers are doing almost everything for us, from dispensing our money to protecting out country. Honestly, I think a machine is capable of running this country. The point is, are we doing to be in a world where we won’t see music in its rightful form; tangible, palpable, corporeal form? It’s the way music is supposed to be. It’s something you need to grasp in your hand and hold. Soon we’ll be seeing all concerts in the movie theaters or viewing streams across the internet. We might not have anymore in-store appearances from out favorite artists. They’ll loose touch with their audience and everyone will feel distant from each other. It’s just not the way it should be. Maybe everyone will wake up and snap out of it. Maybe we’ll be able to stay in the present.

But wait, what if all Tower had to do was lower their prices? Sure I love CDs to death, but is it right to charge $20 for one? Tuesdays are my big music shopping days because all the new CDs are on sale. They do that so they can move a lot of copies and make some money. Just think how much more money they would make if they kept the prices the same from the first week released. Do you think they would be able to stay in business then?

So whose fault do you think it is? The record store’s for not lowering prices and/or moving up their digital downloads offer, websites and MP3 manufacturers for making us believe we have to get an MP3 player, us for being such a gullible and greedy society, or is just the way of the world? I’ll let you sit on that.