The Beginning of the End
Aron's Records, an L.A. institution for 40 years, is closing its doors. This is distressing to me for two reasons.
First off, I grew up in L.A, and consequently, I spent a great deal of time (and money!) at Aron's, and they are certainly responsible for fomenting my love of music. In the old days, I bought lots of vinyl there and fondly recall flipping through the LP bins to become acquainted with Cabaret Voltaire, Eyeless in Gaza, The Birthday Party, Bauhaus, New Order, OMD, and many others. As CDs became more popular, I picked up many gems at Aron's including the ulra-rare "Happily Every After" by The Cure, the "lowdown" low-priced Bauhaus reissues and hundreds more. It was literally impossible to leave there empty-handed.
But more important that the nostalgia, however, the closing of Aron's brings home the fact that CDs won't be around forever. Digital downloads continue to gain popularity, and buying music digitally avoids the bloated distribution infrastructure which goes hand in hand with the compact disc. Yes, I think the writing is on the wall--barring accidents or illness, I will outlive the compact disc.
I do believe that the music we sell is bringing up the rear in the death march of the CD, whereas major label pablum has no doubt got the pole position. So I hope that I am correct when I predict that stores like EAR/Rational will be the last to go. But they will go...
First off, I grew up in L.A, and consequently, I spent a great deal of time (and money!) at Aron's, and they are certainly responsible for fomenting my love of music. In the old days, I bought lots of vinyl there and fondly recall flipping through the LP bins to become acquainted with Cabaret Voltaire, Eyeless in Gaza, The Birthday Party, Bauhaus, New Order, OMD, and many others. As CDs became more popular, I picked up many gems at Aron's including the ulra-rare "Happily Every After" by The Cure, the "lowdown" low-priced Bauhaus reissues and hundreds more. It was literally impossible to leave there empty-handed.
But more important that the nostalgia, however, the closing of Aron's brings home the fact that CDs won't be around forever. Digital downloads continue to gain popularity, and buying music digitally avoids the bloated distribution infrastructure which goes hand in hand with the compact disc. Yes, I think the writing is on the wall--barring accidents or illness, I will outlive the compact disc.
I do believe that the music we sell is bringing up the rear in the death march of the CD, whereas major label pablum has no doubt got the pole position. So I hope that I am correct when I predict that stores like EAR/Rational will be the last to go. But they will go...
