In February of this year Tower Records declared bankruptcy. The
             company sighted internet downloading and file-sharing as the primary reason
             for the demise of the company's profits. The company joins a long line of
             casualties that have succumbed to the decline of record sales due to music
             file sharing over the internet. The company also has to compete with other
             companies that sell music over the internet. The purpose of this
             discussion is to examine why Tower Records can't compete with these two
             Firstly let's explore the impact of music file sharing on the
             recording industry as a whole. Over the past dew years music downloading
             and file sharing has become the Achilles heel of the entire recording
             industry. Retailers such as Tower Records can not compete with the high
             availability of free music. No matter which schemas Tower records tries to
             devise people are going to choose free music over music that is just
             discounted. This paradigm shifts makes it difficult for Tower Records to
             keep customers. There is really very little that the company can do to
             change this particular situation; the cat is already out of the bag. (King)
             The other factor has to do with the heavy competition that Tower
             Records is receiving from stores such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Virgin.(
             Tower Records declares bankruptcy) These companies are able to sell
             records at a sizable discount and are well known companies that enjoy a
             great deal of consumer loyalty. Wal-Mart and Best Buy are at a particular
             advantage because they also sell other products that are related and
             unrelated to music. For instance, Wal-Mart also sells food, clothing,
             personal care items, toys, books, household goods and a myriad of
             electronic gadgets. In other words the company thrives on the
             diversification that it can offer consumers; it is a one stop shop. In
             this respect Tower Records can't compete with Wal-Mart...