By Michael Pleasants

The landscape that makes up the music retail industry has undergone major changes in recent years and looks nothing like it did at the end of the previous century. Ten years ago most music buyers ventured to large specialty retailers such as Tower Records, Virgin Record Store, Sam Goody's, and Coconuts to purchase CD long-players and singles, and to a lesser extent vinyl records and cassettes. Now in the year 2008, music for the most part is typically downloaded from an internet site (for free or for cheap), and if tangible discs are desired they are purchased from big box retailers (Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart) or from an online retailer such as Amazon.com.

Despite the new realities in music retailing, there are many Chicago consumers who prefer to have a certain level of direct customer service when shopping for music and thus rely on the specialty brick & mortar shops that are still standing and open for business. These independents make a special effort to know and understand their customer base's wants and needs and offer expert assistance to their patrons who are looking for that perfect piece of music or hard to get import. Here's a brief look at some of the local record stores that are bucking the trend and remain open for business.

Basically, if you're looking for "gay music", then Borderline is the place to go. That means Madonna, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Robbie Williams and any other artist that seems to have particular resonance with the GLBT community. Borderline also carries a huge selection of dance music, including the latest mixed and unmixed compilation CDs.

Ownership may have changed hands recently, but Gramaphone still remains one of the most popular and leading DJ-oriented record stores not just in Chicago but in all of the United States. Specializing in 12-inch dance music vinyl records that attracts DJs and aficionados from all over the world, Gramaphone is also magnet for non-DJs who are looking for continuous mix compilation CDs from their favorite local and international DJ.

RECKLESS RECORDS (Wicker Park) 1532 N Milwaukee Ave | 773.235.3727|
RECKLESS RECORDS (Downtown) 26 E Madison | 312.795.0878
Selling both new and used CDs, Reckless has an impressively wide variety of music by artists ranging from multiple platinum sellers to those niche acts that tour small college venues, Schubas, and the Metro. For those of you looking to pare down or upgrade your CD collection, Reckless will pay cash for your used stuff or give a generous trade-in allowance.

If your tastes extend beyond dance, pop, and rock to the truly American musical art form of jazz, then digging through the 20,000 CDs and 30,000 albums at the Jazz Record Mart is akin to an advance trip to heaven! Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the store's extensive selection of jazz and blues is complemented with an international section of music from Cuba, Latin America, Africa, Brazil and other locales.