Clive Chides Music Retail For Lack Of Excitment

The Hollywood Reporter writes: “Legendary music mogul Clive Davis has some advice for music retailers looking to persuade music fans to return to traditional record shops: Make shopping more fun.

“You are faced with a major threat … competition from digital distribution,” Davis warned hundreds of merchants and recording industry executives who gathered Sunday for a conference. The renowned chairman and chief executive of BMG North America compared the choice between buying music online or in a store to eating dinner at a restaurant or at home. “It’s fun to shop for music … and you’re not making it a fun experience,” he said. “You have got to make it exciting.” The four-day gathering of music merchants comes at a turning point in the retail music business. Retailers, heavily dependent on physical music formats like CDs and audio cassettes, have been particularly hard-hit by an industry downturn that began in 2000.