<< Previous       Next >>

Music Shop's Final Coda New York Times reports: It is a given among regulars at Colony Records that a customer need only whistle, hum, or “la, la, la” a few bars of a tune for an employee to recognize it. Through the narrow corridors and battered shelves of the cozy store in the storied Brill Building in Times Square, a knowing worker will then peruse and (more often than not) find the sheet music, vinyl record or CD the person is looking for. The speed and specificity with which the task is completed could beat out some expert music shoppers who use Google or iTunes. But it is that age of search engines, file sharing and illegal music downloads that its owners say has led to the imminent downfall of Colony Records, a bastion of New York City. For years, Colony has represented the last remnants of a more intimate music culture. Owners of the 64-year-old establishment, which is home to one of the largest sheet-music collections in the country, have confirmed that it will close its doors in the near future.

<< Previous       Next >>