The end of the music retail channel?

When I was playing rock 'n' roll for living in the late 70s (it was never much of a living, but man, we were really living), Jim Fricke and I used to spend many hours a week at Budget Records and Cellophane Square in Bellingham. We knew all the staff at those stores, who were really knowledgable music fans, and they'd play new releases for us, and we'd get in heated discussions about all our favorites and occasionally dance on the counters.

Now I have to admit that, even though I'm probably consuming just as much new music as ever, it's been months since I've actually set foot in a physical record store. Of course, part of that is due to the fact that I just don't have much time for non-directed hanging out anymore (a sad story), but between the online availability of downloads (I'm a big Apple iTunes user) and being able to order even the most obscure of stuff from Amazon, ebay, or (coolest of all) Dusty Groove, there's not much reason to seek out the company of record store denizens.

Now, it's being reported that Tower Records will soon declare Chapter 11. I guess I'm not the only one not frequenting the retail channel. While I have no sadness in seeing the big chains go down the tubes, I hope that the independents like our excellent local Silver Platters and Cellophane Square can keep their followings.