Record Store Fine-Tunes in New Music Era

Co-owners and brothers Jeff and Gary Scotti didn't want to simply ignore the changes digital music was bringing to their business. "We don't want to "butt heads with iPod owners," as Jeff Scotti puts it. "We have to embrace them." That policy -- which may have to b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal Asia
Main Author Solomon, Jolie
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Victoria, Hong Kong Dow Jones & Company Inc 21.09.2005
Subjects
Chain stores
Digital audio players
Digital music
Recording industry
Rentals
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Summary:Co-owners and brothers Jeff and Gary Scotti didn't want to simply ignore the changes digital music was bringing to their business. "We don't want to "butt heads with iPod owners," as Jeff Scotti puts it. "We have to embrace them." That policy -- which may have to be revised for legal reasons -- is just one of the brothers' moves to keep their company alive in a new era. Scotti's has been adapting to changes in music and technology since 1956, when the brothers' father, Anthony, opened the first store across the street from their current headquarters location in downtown Summit, a town full of prosperous families and near several universities. The elder Mr. Scotti, a traveling salesman, was a fan of crooners such as Frank Sinatra, and he believed, as he has so often told his kids, that "this record thing was going to catch on." Months after the store opened, Elvis's first RCA recording arrived. A few years later, the Beatles transformed the music scene. Anyone trying to sell "physical" music these days has got to be "creative," says Jim Donio, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers. That can be complicated. Told about the Scottis' "Buy It, Burn It, Return It" approach, both Mr. Donio and Mr. [Russ Crupnick] raised questions about possible legal challenges.
ISSN:0377-9920