Documentary To Chronicle The Rise And Fall Of Tower Records [VIDEO]
Tower Records was cultural icon. If you loved music and lived anywhere near one, Tower was your clubhouse. I remember visiting ToweR on my very first day in Boston to start college. But in 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy and by the end of 2006, founder Russ Solomon had shut nearly every one of its worldwide outlets. Many see the chain's demise as the first of many dominoes which mark the end of the music industry as we knew it. "All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records" hopes to chronicle this journey. WATCH THE TRAILER:
But to finish it, the filmakers have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000; and they are more than half way to that goal. I contributed this morning. Consider doing the same.
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why doesn’t colin just ask his dad for the money to finish the damn documentary?
I don’t care who Colin’s dad is – i thinks its a great idea for a documentary and was happy to contribute what little i could.
even though i actively use iTunes for buying music & renting movies, i completely agree that the biggest loss is the human element. we are slowly losing our ability to interact with each other and it’s more than a little sad.
I’m very glad someone is undertaking this. Colin is right: Tower’s story is not just about another recession victim. Tower’s failure to adapt to new demands and the reasons thereto are a microcosm of our culture’s transformation overall and there are many lessons for everyone in this thesis.
I can only hope that the film does not veer into the zeitgeist position of blaming major labels on Tower’s downfall. I fear it will because Colin uses words like “so-called death of the music industry” in his pitch, when the music industry has in fact done far better since Tower’s closing than it did the few years prior.
Undoubtably, Russ has some resentment toward labels–seeing them as slow to respond to the same challenges that effected Tower. Since Collin is using Russ as his source material there is a danger of this bias coloring the final cut. If so, this piece will be just another boring piece of anti-music biz propaganda.
It would be great if the film represented how artists and labels viewed the Tower demise. Believe it or not, some high up in the music trade saw Tower as a roadblock towards progress. Indeed, since it’s closing CD sales are obviously down but over all revenue of music have risen.
I wish Colin all God’s wisdom to keep him objective and wish him well in producing a truly important chapter is the saga of our changing culture.
Moses Avalon
Author of the best-selling music business reference, “Confessions of a Record Producer.”
http://www.mosesavalon.com