End of an era

I was in San Francisco (my old home town) recently, and took a quick twirl-a-whirl around town before my plane left. [Traveler's note: depending upon time of year, it costs the same to rent a car in SF for a few hours -- or a day -- as it does to take a cab to the airport. I rented a car downtown from Thrifty and returned it at the airport for very little -- they even upgraded me into this snazzy little convertible. Of course, the rain didn't let up for one minute, so I never got to open up that roof, no matter how hard I prayed to the sun god.]

Anyway, I happened to drive past the old Tower Records on Columbus, and nearly had tears in my eyes at the sight of -- nothing. No more Tower Records. How many foggy Saturday afternoons had I spent there, combing through obscure Brazilian recordings and weird "Nonesuch" records (folksongs from Alsace, anyone?)? It's just one of those signs of the times. People are getting their music fix in other ways. All from the internet, I guess, downloaded into the ever tinier, ever more powerful ipods. Even Boomtown here in Bend went out of business not too long ago. It was a shock, but I understood why. Margins are really bad, traffic is down, and piracy is the norm. Even in our little Pomegranate shops, where we do still sell cds, we often hear otherwise law-abiding citizens tell each other something like, "oh, if I think you'll like this cd I'm buying, I'll burn a copy for you!" Gulp. It makes me cringe every time. It's not just illegal, it epitomizes the death knell for parts of the music industry. Yet we don't really look at it like actual stealing.

I, for one, like to have a real cd in its case in my hands before deciding to purchase. It's a tactile, visual, and aural thing that you just don't get over the internet. I like flipping through all the offerings of a particular group or artist, or finding some forgotten gem. I love listening stations that have cds queued up that you would never hear on mainstream radio. How about those great little handwritten index cards with staff recommendations (just like in a good bookstore)? I have to see the cover, because packaging is part of the equation. I even like pulling off that irritating little strip of tape stuff that seals the opening of the jewel case.

The best part: popping your new cd into the good sound system at home, and filling up the house with music.