THE TUMBLING TOWER

British shoppers might recall the name of Tower Records, which arrived with some fanfare from across the Atlantic, but never even managed even a Fopp sized chain before beating a retreat.

Now, Americans might have to get used to life without Tower as well. The major labels had helped support the chain while it struggled in protective bankruptcy: however, a hopeful plan on Tower's part to just forget the money it owed them has seen the RIAA labels pull their support. Tower won't be getting any more stock from them, and a record shop without new CDs from Universal et al has got a serious problem.

There's a small cloud of Alanis-style irony, too: Tower was voted retailer of the year by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at the weekend. But that might just be the point: merchadisers may love Tower. People heading out to buy CDs in the US, though, are more likely to go to BestBuy or Target.

music tower