A Short History of Fat Beats

“Buy a fucking record or else this will happen over and over again….” DJ House Shoes

Yesterday news broke that seminal independent record store Fat Beats was closing their locations in New York and Los Angeles in favor of going completely digital. House Shoes and Phonte of Little Brother took to Twitter yesterday to chastise fans for not supporting the mom and pop stores and instead giving their money to places like Best Buy.

There were a few dissenting voices. Hip-Hop activist Davey D simply framed the move as a symbol of the changing times and how companies and artists must adapt to the new climate instead of bemoaning a reality that can’t be changed. Those who can’t or refuse to adjust bite the dust.

“Fat Beats and any record store did not keep up with the needs of the cosumer,” he stated on Twitter. “Could’ve provided other things…What was missing is the format people want.”

It’s an interesting debate that’ll continue throughout the week. Saying Fat Beats is “dead” comes off as very premature when what they’re actually doing is focusing strictly to an online presence (which in this day and age, is really what matters the most). The “record store experience” may be dying, but the music lives on.