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Best Buy Is Done Selling CDs, But These Stores Haven’t Abandoned Them (Yet)

By:
Martha C. White
3 min read
Vehicles sit parked outside Best Buy Co. store in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, May 17, 2018. - Callaghan O'Hare—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Vehicles sit parked outside Best Buy Co. store in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, May 17, 2018. Callaghan O'Hare—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Best Buy recently decided that the humble CD is now about as welcome at its stores as mic feedback at an outdoor concert. According to Billboard, July 1 was the deadline by when the lone remaining electronics big-box store would stop carrying compact discs in its stores, in response to lower consumer demand as digital downloads and streaming services have grown more popular. CD sales fell nearly 20 percent in the past year alone, Billboard said.

But while the days of waiting in line at Tower Records (just dated myself there, didn’t I?) for a hot new release to drop or to get your favorite band to sign your album at a fan meet-and-greet may have gone the way of the eight-track, there are still plenty of places to get non-digital music. Of course, it almost goes without saying that you can buy CDs (and vinyl, too) at Amazon; Barnes & Noble also still sells CDs and records on its site and in stores, as does entertainment chain FYE.

You can also hit big-box stores like Target and Walmart for your physical music needs (although it’s telling that on the latter’s music landing page, the first “bestseller” highlighted is an iTunes gift card).

In a quirk that illustrates just how radically the American public’s taste in music consumption has changed, Best Buy also said it would continue carrying vinyl records for the next couple of years. Sales of old-school records have undergone a revival, with 12 straight years of increasing sales — they were responsible for 14% of all physical album sales last year.

Hot Topic, your source for all kinds of music and pop culture apparel, accessories and bobblehead dolls, also sells vinyl. And trendy fashion brand Urban Outfitters also sells vinyl — in fact, if you want to beat all the other hipsters to the next musical-nostalgia trend, they’ve got you covered: not only can you buy records, you can also purchase cassette tapes (look it up, kids).

 

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