It’s the end of an era for Ottawa music lovers.
After 23 years, CD Warehouse is closing its doors.
The St. Laurent location has already closed. The remaining stores in Kanata and Nepean will close over the next six months.
“We knew this day would come,” says Stephen Bleeker who started CD Warehouse with his wife Janice MacDonald. “Consumer patterns are changing. People are changing the way they buy their music.”
CD Warehouse is the latest of several bricks-and-mortar music stores to close in recent years, including one-time national chain Sam The Record Man.
It’s happening because more people are buying their music digitally from on-line services like ITunes, or pirating music via peer to peer file sharing and other means. More recently, on-demand streaming has surged in popularity.
But while music distribution continues to go digital there is a curious trend underway that may keep at least a few music stores in business. While sales of CDs decline, sales of old-fashioned vinyl records are actually going up. Some see it as a response to the lower sound quality of mp3.
“Vinyl is helping our overall revenues and sales are robust,” says Ian Boyd of Compact Music.
As long as that demand continues, the local music store won't go the way of the 8-track just yet.
