Editorial: Sounds of silence for CD store

"When the music's over, turn out the lights."

So sang Jim Morrison many moons ago on an epic track on the album Strange Days.

And Frans Schaeffers would be able to tell you that.

But these are strange days indeed and the music's almost over for the Rotorua record store owner as he gets set to turn out the lights for the last time at his Tutanekai St shop.

Frans is a familiar face to many Rotorua music lovers. He and his wife Sandra have run their store in its various guises and city locations for more than a quarter of a century. But now, thanks to the internet, says Frans, they're closing.

Whole industries, mine included, are facing radical change with the advent and rapid advance of modern communications technology.

Music has come in many forms, each introducing a new era in listening. I'm old enough to have bought most of the formats, from 7, 10 and 12-inch vinyl, through cassettes to Mini-Discs (R.I.P.) and CDs.

And the humble record store has survived through them all.

Until now. Until the triumph of the MP3.

With a name that sounds like it could be a machine gun, the MP3 is a digital audio file that has been compressed to a manageable size.

As such, it's easy to upload, download, store and carry.

And easy to buy or steal.

Frans Schaeffers says people downloading music - whether illegally or legally - had hit all music retailers hard.

And sadly it's no surprise.

As iPhones and iPods increase in popularity, CD players are disappearing from living rooms and it seems a hassle to have to rip music from the discs when you could get the files directly from the internet.

But I'll still fork out for CDs by my favourite artists for some time yet. There's something about holding the product in your hand and storing it on the shelf that digital music can't quite match.

Ironically though, I may now have to buy the CD from an online store.