Where can I watch: “All Things Must Pass” is available to watch for free on YouTube. It’s also streaming on several platforms, including Kanopy and Hoopla for some library card holders, and on Peacock, PlutoTV and PopcornFlix, for free. “All Things Must Pass” is a feature documentary film examining this iconic company’s explosive trajectory, tragic demise and legacy forged by its rebellious founder Russ Solomon. What went wrong? Everyone thinks they know what killed Tower Records: the internet. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. In 1999, Tower Records made an astounding $1 billion. From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world and a powerful force in the music industry. Synopsis: Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with 200 stores in 30 countries on five continents. Name of Film: “All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records” – David Econ Extra Credit Selection for October Like long-distance phone calls, some things do get cheaper. I note that artist Beth Orton’s new CD can be had for as little as $13.59 if you want the physical object, not just ability to stream it. According to my favorite online economic tool, the inflation calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, $3.88 back then is like $38.30 now. Most things do get more expensive, it seems, except record albums. The film mentions that a record album went for $3.88 in 1962. We are convinced everything gets more expensive all the time, either slowly, like it did in the mid-1980s, or quickly, like the crazy inflation we are experiencing now. One voice in the film observed it was “as much social as retail,” with people “spending hours together at the record bins.”Īnd one more lesson from the Tower Records documentary is about an up-to-the-minute economic topic: inflation. The pop legend is dressed down, holding a pen and notepad, a man on a mission looking for all the world like a discerning chef choosing his greens at a produce market. In an archival sequence from the film, you can see a ’70s-era Elton John on one of his weekly foraging trips to the Tower Records on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. At Tower Records stores, people came together in a physical space to share passions, exchange ideas and explore new content. Sociologists call it “social capital,” which accumulates when people get off their couches, put away their screens and mix in person. The lesson from Tower Records that most stands out for me is about a special kind of capital that does not involve dollars but is still valuable. We also see the scenes unfold of a morality play on the dangers of leverage, too much debt. Tower borrowed $110 million to finance global expansion, and when those creditors grew impatient for their money back, that was the end. The doc explores the importance of diversification: The record industry hit a soft patch when the glory days of disco were met with a backlash that impacted record sales. Then there is also geographic diversification: Tower Records in Japan is still thriving to this day. The documentary film this month, “All Things Must Pass,” about the rise and fall of Tower Records, is a kind of rock ’n’ roll syllabus of teachable moments about money and business, including how to launch a startup. For many, it was a kind of temple for worshippers of music. stores 18 years ago this week. The chain was much more than iTunes in brick-and-mortar form. One of those missed spaces included Tower Records, which closed its last U.S. Do you pine for a retail space that was important to you but is no more? We got a big response from listeners when we asked that question a while back.
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