There seems to be little doubt that retail of classical music is not
where the big bucks are.  The former bulwarks of the classical-recording
industry, e.g., Deutsche Gramophone, Decca (London), and Philips, now
release very few issues, and EMI, just sold recently, is likely to follow
suit.  This leaves Chandos, Hyperion, ASV, and other smaller labels, along
with the brilliant marketing of Naxos, to fill in the enormous gap caused
by the less-than-complete engagement of the major recording companies.

I suspect that the enormous recording costs borne by the recording
studios makes classical repertoire too expensive for anything but the
instrumentalist, chamber works, and some vocal.  Orchestral and choral
works have become too expensive, especially given the salaries and
honoraria the bigger orchestras charge.  Indeed, word has it that to pad
their pockets even further, some of the larger orchestras are going to
record for their own label and cut out the recording artisans altogether.
No longer will we buy DG, Collins, Naxos, but the NYP, the CSO, the SFSO,
etc., all as their own label.

Retailers, Tower among them, realize that the merchandize in the
'classical' section doesn't turnover like other genres.  I'd certainly
be interested in knowing if Tower has done an inventory turnover ratio for
its classical recordings.  I suspect it is terribly long.  All other things
being equal, this would dramatically increase overhead and the cost of
particular merchandize.  Inventory turnover is critical to any industry,
and I suspect that hoards of merchandize sitting in bins for quarters on
end don't add to the bottom line.

CD-sales via the Internet and via other off-site vendors, like Compact
Disc World in New Jersey, will become more common, if not the norm.  The
touchy-feely sensation one gets from roaming the bins of classical music.
The dynamic of the marketplace points in this direction.  Via the Internet,
one can actually audition a recording before one buys it (even if the
means of exploiting sound technology hasn't ripened yet).  By means of
RealPlayer, Winamp, and other audio online devices, consumers are allowed
the luxury of listening to a recording at their convenience at a nominal
cost, when compared to listening stations in the real world with overhead,
salaries, and spent CDs used to make all these sonic evaluations possible.

I don't know if San Francisco's Columbus Street store is the largest
warehouse for classical music, but it is large and carries a very good
variety and large selection of CDs.  But my experience with this fine
store is that most customers are to be found at the semi-annual store
sale.  Even then, the traffic is not proportionate to the value I perceive.
Given Tower's "sale's price" as still 27% higher than Zipidee's everyday
prices, it won't be long before Tower will need to reconsider its market
and marketing strategies.  When one walks into a music store and finds
90% of its clientele in the rock and similar genres, and only 10% of its
clientele in the classical bins, it doesn't take an expert to recognize
that the way classical music will be distributed is in for some
significantly and fundamentally different means from the past.

D. Stephen Heersink
San Francisco
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