BBC

Jesus. This is some pretty immense news. I'm shocked to see record stores at anymore at all these days, I suppose. The last time I bought a physical copy of something it was Deadmau5 4x4=12. Yeesh.

They've been gone a while ago now in Australia. Theres only one chain where you can buy physical stuff now basically. Except for the very rare independent store left in a major city still. Not surprised though. Ive been ordering physical stuff quite cheaply imported direct from the label with some stuff which cuts out the middle men and price tag.

I have a handful of fond memories of the little HMV shop in Cambridge from my time there in 1991...

I am surprised they have hung on for as long as they did, to be honest. I suppose it was a matter of time before another retail giant fell.

It is very sad to know many jobs will be lost as a result.

As a former employee its very sad. i left long time ago but still miss the 30% discount! maybe thats one of the reasons but i always felt that they didnt embrace downloads and also it was the place to go for back cat and obscure stuff as well as chart but i dont think they ever exploited that and just sold same stuff as supermarkets only dearer

When I was in London this summer, I went to the HMV located in the huge shopping mall close to the olympic site. I bought "Construction Time Again" by Depeche Mode as well as a Queen album I think (hell if I remember which one) and when I was searching in the shelves, the sellers started playing Brotherhood ! I waited a little bit on purpose before going into the queue, so that I could hear Believe before I left.

Anyway, it's sad to know that a musical compagny is dying. The same thing is happening right now in France with Virgin megastore filing for bankruptcy, leaving thounsands of people unemployed.

The Virgin Megastores in California closed a while ago. It is a shame, I thought it was a good run and I thought their stores were good fun (although I never did quite get the hang on how they alphabetized their sections, haha).

I got out of Tower Records a little over a year before they went belly up for good. They filed for bankruptcy a couple of times before they went under, and they couldn't find a buyer to bail them out again. There were a lot of changes that happened internally (and a lot of poor business decisions at that) in the years leading up to its demise. But like Chops mentioned about HMV, Tower was the same in that it did not embrace the digital age. I remember the company CEO writing off downloads as nothing more than a passing fad, then blamed file sharing for the why business was failing. And Tower Records (which was once a large chain that actually cared about each store's demographic) became just another big box retailer with racks and racks of the same garbage all the other big box chains had. I'd go visit my store during the final weeks and it was a sad sight. Lots of people came out of the woodwork to squawk over discounts like vultures, and I had to wonder where these people were before the liquidation sales. Then again, I can't blame anyone for wanting to get in on a good deal or a bargain.

Now Tower Records is considered an historical relic and will become part of a museum in Sacramento, CA (where it started for that chain).

Because I worked at Tower for so long, I have a soft spot for all record stores, even the big chains. So it does make me sad when I see another retail giant fall. It's not just the job loss, but record stores are places where people could go to browse, learn, listen, become enlightened, shoot the shit with music fans, meet up with friends and browse music together. In my case, I met my husband thru Tower Records. When a long standing store closes its doors, it is a loss for a community as well.

On the other hand - I don't know how it is in Europe and beyond, but small chains and indie record stores (ones that deal with both new and used product) are still alive and kicking, and even thriving since brick and mortar record stores are few and far between. So that's a good thing.

I used to work for them as well before I got let go as I was a part timer and went over to the company that pretty much helped HMV australia fall into debt (JB hifi). After leaving that company, I worked for an indie label/distribution company and of course about 2 years later they fell into debt and I was one of the last original ones to be made redundant there. I think you have more of secure job in the music industry as a musician compared to working for it behind the scenes because the structure of it seems to be changing all the time.

You guys got the 30% discount aswell?? I most certainly missed that too. I remember the awesome imports they always had and as a result could buy all the imported CD singles of the chemical brothers cause I was obsessed with collecting there B-sides in between albums!

Funnily enough Tower Records in Dublin still exists. It's obviously not run by the firm that went bust, but they have the same logo and the same vibe that they had before Tower went bust. At least they do in their original Wicklow Street store, the other one is on a floor of a bookshop/newsagents. Bookshops being another endangered species on the high street...
Tower Dublin

It's funny you mention Tower Dublin. My son was just telling me about it the other day!!