Is the retail boom over? Not really, if you observe the footfalls at hyper markets or shopping malls around the country, especially on weekends. Yes, no doubt, there exist “sale” offers, discounts, and other consumer baits, but unfortunately for music retail, no incentives appear to be left to salvage a one-time booming business from going bust.
Music World is just one example, but even those retail chains that continue to exist, the contribution from the entertainment category — in terms of sales and, effectively, revenues — is falling dramatically, and the space earmarked for music and movies is being dwindled to non-existence. Take a look at Planet M, Crossword, or Landmark. Current releases still obtain space, but that too, only for a limited period of time (before it is packed into the back room prior to being despatched as a sales return). Catalogue content is hard to find. Certainly, a series of unfortunate events has led to this reality check, but it is really going to be difficult for those from the old school (like me!) to accept these changes as I still prefer to acquire/listen to my music on CD (I just bought John Fogerty’s Wrote A Song For Everyone) and buy/view audio visual content on DVD (I recently ordered History Of The Eagles from Amazon UK).
My memories of walking into music retail outlets commenced with Rhythm House, based in Mumbai’s Rampart Row — the location more popularly known as Kala Ghoda — during my school days when you had enclosed rooms that had a turntable, speakers, and sound-proofed walls, and you “borrowed” vinyl — singles or SPs (45 rpms) and albums or LPs (33 and 1/3 rpms) — from the counter for audition purposes. Another outlet that I “built” a connection with, which of course I was not aware of at that time, was with the Chennai-based Landmark, now part of the Tata Group. It was promoted in 1987 by Jai Subramaniam (supporting his wife), who happened to be my college classmate at Mumbai’s Sydenham, playing bass in band named after the road on which the college was located (B Street); also providing me my first education to Fleetwood Mac’s music with Don’t Stop from the group’s multi-platinum selling Rumours. Strange that I bought an anniversary edition of the original album only a few weeks back, as well as the book called Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album.
But, what is occurring in the Indian market scenario is not really a surprise. If you were to look at the scenario outside the country, it is obvious that the downturn of purchasing physical formats is merely a replica of what transpired abroad over the past few years. Take the coveted HMV stores, for instance. The 60,000 square foot HMV at London’s Oxford Street opened in 1984 and it became the biggest music store in the world. However, HMV is now looking at moving into a smaller store on the same street after the chain underwent a financial collapse in January this year.
Meanwhile, what about the omnipresent 57,000 square foot Virgin Megastore at New York’s Times Square? That preceded the HMV bust back in 2009. And, if you remember Tower Records, the chain that had a significant presence in Southeast Asia, it closed its business in the US, even earlier, in 2006. Even other retail outlets abroad — Barnes & Noble, and Blockbuster — have begun closing their unprofitable outlets.
But, with the newer retailing milieu of online shopping supporting technology and tablets, selling CDs and DVDs has almost been rendered obsolete. In fact, the world’s largest music store right now is Apple’s iTunes, which launched in India last December. A recent study established just that: 63 per cent of all paid digital downloads in the US market is from Apple’s online store and, globally, iTunes is even more omnipresent: 75 per cent of the paid content arrives courtesy Apple, with the balance divided between streaming services like Pandora and other retailers like Amazon.
Even the limited physical format sales occurring in India are predominantly through the net with online retailers — Flipkart, Infibeam and, now, Amazon — offering (higher) discounts, the convenience of ordering through multiple hand-held devices, and having the physical content delivered at a place of your choice. While you have to accept that the sight of music stores shutting is no longer a shock, it still remains a surprise for old timers like me, but with much regret, our immunity for bearing that shock is getting stronger every day!
The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years, still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out
of it!