Tower Records goes all in on the vinyl trend with its new store, Tower Vinyl
Last year proved to be a pivotal one for streaming music in Japan. According to a report by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, 2018 saw plays via platforms such as YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify overtake digital downloads. This would be a great piece ...
New honor for Olympic legend Mills
Legendary distance runner Billy Mills, whose performance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics catapulted him to global fame, is receiving a special honor close to home. Mills, who captured the gold with an amazing finish in the men's 10,000 meters in Tokyo, is among a quartet ...
Music curators deserve credit for keeping local scenes alive
The term "cultural curator" is one that tends to provoke reactions ranging from sneers to rage. It really is a horrible term in some ways, with problematic embedded associations. A curator is a person we associate with the world of art galleries and museums, and ...
Tower Japan boss says biggest challenge facing record stores is attracting young customers
A few weeks ago I was preparing to do a guest slot on InterFM’s “The Selector” program, which features music mavens sharing their favorite tracks. While I had a few tunes from the not-so-recent past in mind, I needed some newer stuff to round out ...
Tower Records defiant in face of CD slump
Declining sales of CDs over the past decade may indicate a grim future for music shops, but Ikuo Minewaki believes there is still a place for brick and mortar retail outlets. "CDs are no longer items that you can leave on the store shelf and ...
Concierge-style customer service experts work shop floors
As competition to attract customers grows fierce among retailers, some have begun hiring a new breed of customer-service experts — consumer “concierges.”
