Saturday, September 4, 2010

New Orleans' newest record shop opens this weekend with a two-day festival of local music.

Alison Fensterstock

Last month, music fans everywhere were saddened to hear that Fat Beats, the iconic independent hip-hop retailer, would be closing its two remaining stores -- including its 16-year-old New York City flagship -- this week.

The announcement was seen by most as another note in the long requiem for the bricks-and-mortar record shop, a tune that's being played at ever-higher decibel levels since the advent of Napster.

File-sharing, iTunes and rock-bottom prices at online retailers, such as Amazon.com, have taken a big bite out of the music retail market -- not to mention the MP3 player's emergence as the pre-eminent technology for listening. With even major corporate entities, such as Tower Records, throwing in the towel, the idea of opening an independent vinyl shop would seem like a fool's errand and the store itself like a quaint relic of another time -- like the malt shop or general store.

Two newly minted New Orleanians, James Weber and Brian Bromberg, however, are willing to take that gamble.

Read the rest here: newest record shop

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