acroyear | what is killing the "record shop"

is the same thing that killed the shops in the mall (fye being the only one left, a merger of ALL of the others over the years, and itself is dying) - labels and distributors giving non-traditional stores a significant discount to the point that the traditional stores look like ripoffs. (in America, the stores were WalMart and Target, plus amazon; in the UK, it's been grocery stores it seems).

On An Overgrown Path: Another UK record store closes every 2.7 days:

To reach the widest audience, Sony BMG market X Factor contestants through the supermarkets rather than through more traditional outlets. Its CDs will always be in a prominent position in store, often next to the till. To secure these positions Sony BMG will have offered the stores substantial discounts, which are not made available to independent stores who, therefore, cannot match the price offered in supermarkets.

Even more damaging is the impact this has on the reputation of independent stores. If CDs are £4 more expensive in independent stores, customers are likely to perceive that they are being ripped off and so, in the future, their first port of call for buying music is increasingly likely to be the supermarket instead of the independent shop.

in short, cheaply produced crap music from the reality tv phenom, sitting side by side with the same tabloids that same target audience reads.

no wonder nobody makes real music anymore...