A Visit To Circuit City

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Tonight, I was out and noticed our newly renovated Circuit City appeared to be back together. This particular store is directly across the street from corporate headquarters for Circuit City. When you walk in, it feels a little smaller but more open feel to it though. Pretty nice. I began to browse around, and well I noticed the emphasis on video games. A large round area filled with video games and a few large screen flat panel televisions with the demonstration units there to play. I noticed the digital cameras, the normal electronic store merchandise.

One thing was very different though. The music section. We have a problem.

The entire music section was basically one row. Approximately 2 feet per genre. A little more maybe for pop/rock, 4 feet possibly. There were a total of 30 slots for country CDs. 6 slots, 5 rows. Maybe 10 deep. Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, and the normal artists filled the front of the shelf, and if you dug behind the top CD, found a few greatest hits CDs from older artists. But substance of what is there is close to nothing

Its not just Circuit City; there is a new concept Wal-Mart store in our area that you notice a slightly lower selection of CDs. This is a retail trend. Sure there CD stores, very few still though. However, your typical local or chain CD store's prices are out of the price reach of many consumers for music. There is a big difference between $18.98 and $11.99 at a lower priced major retail store.

No wonder why sales of music is lower.

The music industry itself is fighting with the video game generation. No longer is the newest music release is what excites the younger generation, rather now the newest release date of a video game does.

It sure is sad that this is the trend. Yes, I enjoy a video game and play them on my very hard to find video game system, yet music still and always will excite me more.

The music industry as a whole, especially country, need to really think hard about how they market music. Get rid of the inconvenience of the copyright protection features that just frustrate the honest and market digital music more and more.

There has to be mastermind ideas around that can get the product of music back at the top of the consumers mind. Digital kits that include the lyrics, credits, the music, and the photographs is one thought, making the CD packaging thinner so more can get on a shelf is another. There has to be so many different ideas.

OK, I'm done venting... well, for now.