CD Plus: an autopsy

Over the last 2 weeks, there are a few questions I have answered far too frequently. Questions like "Is your store closing?", "Why is your store closing?", "Are you going to work at a different one?" and "Do you have the Bruno Mars CD?". Allow me to handle those in reverse order: no, no, are you kidding me?, and yes.

It's possible that I pay too much attention to the music industry, or being employed in said industry has me taking for granted certain pieces of information as common knowledge, but isn't it obvious WHY? Physical music sales are at an all-time low, downloading (both legal and illegal) is at an all-time high, and every artist or band that is physically able (and even some that aren't) is hitting the road; the phrase "farewell tour" will not be missed, while the phrase "reunion tour" is a little too prevalent (I mean, how long were blink-182 "on hiatus", anyway?).

I guess what I'm trying to sort out is, while all of us at CD Plus have been conscious of the inevitable shuttering while hoping it would happen after our collective tenure, the CD-buying public has been kind of oblivious to their own role in our chain's demise. If, for example, I had a shot of any sort of alcohol for every time somebody came into the store and asked if we sold iTunes cards (the specific store that is hobbling record stores the world over), I would not be able to remember working very many shifts.

Much has been said over the past decade of decline about the music industry's cause of death (there are, in fact, many books on the subject), and I'm not trying to offer any sort of post-mortem here. It's just that after many years of KNOWING the music industry as we know it was/is in a vast period of flux, that doesn't mean anything until you actually lose your job as a result.

So, no: I'm not being moved to another location; it's hard to say if there will be another location by year's end. No: I'm not surprised by yet another music-store closing; it just happens to be the one that I work in.  No: I don't think there is a future for the Compact Disc, outside of being sold at concerts, Wal-mart, and maybe even made-to-order online. Yes: I'm still going to buy music; unlike those responsible for helping to kill the record industry as we know/knew it, I'm aware that without financial support, the music we love won't be as easily available.

Oh, and Bruno Mars? Let me get back to you in 2 years, when you can barely remember who that is.