Indies fret Tower-ing loss

Fallout continues from the liquidation of Tower Records. The NYT laments on the loss of the store's sizable classical collection. And THR surveys independent record labels, which had depended on Tower for a nice piece of business. Don't expect Borders or Barnes & Noble to offer anywhere near the shelf space for them.

"We've just begun the conversations about where we think that (Tower) customer is going to go. Honestly, I don't have an answer for that," said Herb Agner, vp marketing and operations at Los Angeles roots label New West Records. Others also are in wait mode. "Are we retooling? Not yet," said Mike Carden, North American president of Eagle Rock Entertainment, whose catalog features a large number of heritage hard rock and metal acts. "We better start thinking about it pretty soon. ... It's not going to be good. Any time a significant section of our industry is restructured, it's not good for our industry."

Obviously, online commerce is their best bet, although many of the independents have had only a limited Web presence.