The Demise Of The College Town Record Shop

You need a college, of course, but that's not the only ingredient in a good college town. You need quirky bookstores. Coffee shops — preferably not all chains. A diner. An artsy cinema. A dive bar.There's one other thing you need, and it's getting harder to find: a local record store. In recent years, perhaps hundreds of independent and small-chain record stores in college towns have shut down or consolidated as music downloading all but eliminated the demand for them. It's just the latest victim in an industry hit by rising college-town rents, big-box retailers, high CD prices, and — most importantly — a new generation of college students for whom music has become an entirely online, intangible hobby they often don't have to pay for. Read more at: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVrrVFYAOB8_aHlLrfDCUh9GK6ZwD8VKJOIO3