Last Orders at the Spinning Disc: What’s Happened to Record Shops?
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19 Sep

Posted at 10:30h in Features, Music
In Last Orders at the Spinning Disc: What’s Happened to Record Shops?, a documentary aired on BBC Radio 2 in May this year and presented by record producer Pete Waterman, Sir Richard Branson declared that in his opinion there would be no music stores left by 2020. In his words: “There may be one or two specialist stores that will survive for a few more years. But if you turn the clock forward ten years from now, I’d be surprised if there are any more music stores left.” Is physical death the only future for (independent) music stores? The latest blow in the retail boat has been Fat Beats closure. Hip Hop's very own crown in vinyl did not escape the predictions on music outlets. Its label and online store endure, but its physical arms, which have held and nurtured for 16 years generations of music lovers and passionate musicians, are folding one final time this month. Fat Beats' NYC and LA branches both closed this month, with goodbye gigs and in-stores organised as a last wave from the coolest regent of Hip Hop distributors. So what happened? Who is killing the stores? In this exchange, the music lover and the industry cross eyes and look at each other accusingly. Whodunnit?