The record store's death still doesn't move me
Russ Solomon at Time-Tested Books.
Record store still RIP: Tower Records founder Russ Solomon’s 100-minute Q-and-A with SacPress’ David Watts Barton drew a solid crowd last night.
Standing-room only Midtown Monthly/Time-Tested Books lecture.
I bet more than half the people in the room had at some point worked for Tower. People were grateful. Hell, I am, too: Had it not been for Tower Records and all the ads it purchased from my employer, SN&R, I probably wouldn’t have the gig I have today.
Anyway, Solomon’s most memorable quote was on the topic of digital music:
“I have to admit that I don’t know how to download. And I’m not going to learn, either.”
This doesn’t offend me like it would some, who expect that anyone in the industry of music distribution, regardless his or her age, should be able to use iTunes or whatever. Instead, it makes me sad. Old Media’s stubbornness—”I’m not going to learn, either”—compounded by New Media’s rapid innovation kicks brilliant minds like Solomon out of the equation. I like the democratic qualities of online music and what the Web has done for independent artists, but the flip side of that coin is that great minds—people with nearly a century of historical context in their field—can no longer be part of the game, which is a bummer.
Because, hey, I’m not a collector. I don’t buy vinyl or CDs. I pay to download—and often do not pay. The record store’s death doesn’t move me. I feel shitty writing that, but …
Whores update: I did a bit on Dan Osterhoff, otherwise known as DJ Whores this week, but I wanted to put up a grap of his and Shaun Turner’s new mural on the under-new-ownership Dad’s Sandwich Shop on S Street.
Also, don’t forget that Whores’ birthday Hump is this Wednesday at The Press Club, with a performance by Chllngr (formerly Dub Defender). Hump is always free, which is a wise move by the club.
DJ Whore works on his and Shaun Turner’s mural at Dad’s on S Street.
