ICE CREAM HEADACHE

CULTURE STOP : Leaving the Game

Best Buy and the death of physical music retail

The death of physical music retail has been a long coming train as buying the songs and sounds one wants becomes a process – much like banking before it – that is removed from the personal contact it was once defined by.

Tower Records has disappeared and mall music retailers – once arrogant enough to charge $18.99 for a 10-track album – are becoming fewer and farther between, with those who do continue having to heavily expand into complimentary or used product.

And with the announcement of a change in leadership coming from the Best Buy camp today, one is left to wonder what that company's approach will become to the execution of music distribution.

Tuesday used to be a big day at Best Buy. Thoroughfares were lined with tables of new product. Signs advertised the best deals – some as low as $5.99 or $7.99 for a premiere release. There were even special versions of CDs available only at Best Buy stores that promised exclusive content. Tuesdays used to be a party – but now Tuesdays are just another day of the week.

A visit to a Best Buy store tucked beside the interstate on a Tuesday in January that promised a dozen new releases found little excitement inside the storefront. In fact, it was downright difficult to find all but two of the day’s premieres. And the special pricing that used to define Best Buy is close to disappearing. A few releases do promise exclusive content available at Best Buy – a new Shiny Toy Guns disc and the latest from Guns-N-Roses – but one has to scour the yellow tag on a copy of the disc itself to realize the offer. There is little to no signage advertising the deal.

An article was written a few weeks ago considering why Best Buy’s exclusive partnership with Guns-N-Roses was unsuccessful while Wal-Mart has made history by successfully teaming with AC/DC for a new release. There are concessions to be made for the flexibility and marketability of the artists in question for sure – but a large part of the difference may be that by last November when these new promotions started, the Best Buy music department had already hung its head and started back to the locker room.

Wal-Mart is an interesting case. While competitors like Best Buy are seemingly sending their music departments packing, Wal-Mart continues to move units – LOTS of them. They may have the advantage in audience. The massiveness of the corporation allows Wal-Mart to have access to demographics that may not be able to reach a Best Buy – or may be too intimidated to try. In addition, the segment of the American population that doesn’t buy music online probably does go to Wal-Mart semi-regularly. Plus, Wal-Mart has proven once and again that it has no qualms about undercutting everyone regardless of the affect this might have on the overall market.

So how will Best Buy adapt in the future? It seems the retailer is already pushing themselves towards an image more focused on electronics. Now that the battle has been won against Circuit City, the chain may not need to have hands in so many cookie jars. Consolidating their focus may be the competitive advantage. And this may mean so long to the physical music section.

But one word for Best Buy: If this is the route that is being chosen, so be it. But please hurry up and make that embarrassing wasteland in the middle of your stores disappear or become filled with washers and dryers. If you know you’ve lost the battle, quit hanging around the barracks.