I wanted to give a little nod to the Mad Platter music store up in West Chester, PA. What a great music store. Really nice vinyl area as well.

I haven't been to very many local shops... but I do realize they contain a unique culture worth fighting for.

The Local Music Store

- Face to face human interaction.
- Novelty (the good-old days).
- Rare material.

Teh Internets Musik Stoar

- More music than any physical store could hold.
- More opinions, reviews, discussions than you get from Ralph.
- 24/7.
- Usually cheaper.

Personally, if I had to pick one or the other, I'd have to go with the internet. It would have taken me a lifetime of trips to the record store to absorb all of the knowledge I was exposed to from this forum alone.

Here in Lawrence, KS, the locally owned stores are all downtown. The city has done a good job of getting many of these kinds of businesses to open up in that area. As a college town and the only really blue spot in a red state, there is a significant population that prides itself on buying local. I think it helps that these kind of businesses setup shop near each other to make it easier for their clients to visit these stores.

As a kid in the '80s we hung at the local music stores. Waiting on new albums. That's just not the culture any longer. With MP3 players, kids don't buy CDs, they just download the specific tunes they want. More often than not, they steal them and don't buy them. The big box stores can still afford to have a music section, which is now shared with games and electronics, which is where they make their money. Unfortunately, music stores have a dwindling customer base that's never coming back.

Hey Jasper, Lawrence does have a great downtown. Though I haven't been in any of the local CD stores for years. (Hate to admit it.)