Meanwhile, independent record shops are finding new ways to fight back. A new website, indierecordshop, is dedicated to promoting non-chainstore outlets that sell new releases.
So what are the prospects for anyone brave enough to go into music retail today? David Lashmar has some advice.
"There is a market, very definitely, on vinyl," he says. "I think your digital formats are gone and CDs will make a poor man of you.
"But specialise and get it very finely honed. If you're just going to do northern soul, do northern soul - don't get tempted into doing punk or reggae.
"Become an expert. But you've got to go online to do it, you've got to sell online - you'll never get enough people through your door."
decline of record shops has been talked about recently
bbc has a feature
https://news.bbc.co.u...ess/8507703.stm