Tower Records Files For Bankruptcy

Things are definitely changing, and the music industry is witnessing the decay of its old ways. For the second time in three years, Tower Records has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

The well known company that operates 89 stores in 20 states is seeking bankruptcy protection so that it may sell its assets through a court-supervised auction.

As Tower Records themselves state, business has been not that great recently, mainly because of "intense" competition from online services, especially Apple's iTunes Music Store. But this tune is not theirs alone, and nearly all brick-and-mortar music stores have seen significant competition from online services. In 2005, digital downloads doubled, while album sales dropped by 7.8 percent, and this is a trend that is expected to continue this year as well. With broadband internet becoming more and more widespread and the comparatively high price of CDs, it is not surprising that more and more people prefer buying the song they just heard on TV or on the radio through the internet, instead of getting in their car, going to the local record store and locating the CD, especially when all they want is that one song.