I've a question for you - did you give or receive CDs this Christmas? If so, what was the source of your tunes? Did your music come from a supermarket or via downloads and online stores? When was the last time you bought a CD from a record shop?

During my teens, my friends and I used to hang out in Guy Norris (later Parrot Records), in Southend precinct. We considered that WH Smith was the meeting place for the 'boring' ones - us bohemian music lovers met in the coolest store in town - and stayed there most of the day.

We had to work hard to get our music back then and I think we may have appreciated and enjoyed it more because of the effort required to locate the songs and albums we wanted.

There was no typing half a remembered lyric into a search engine to get the song details. Nobody would have imagined that in twenty years time, it would be possible to hold a phone (mobile at that) to a speaker, dial '2580' and receive an instant message informing you of the artist, song title and album it came from.

We thought BTs Dial a Disc was at the cutting edge of technology.

I have extremely fond memories of saving my pocket money to buy an LP. Music was just to be listened to - properly. And it would most definitely never be put on as a background feature. The only possible exception to this unwritten rule was, if you had a boyfriend, Pink Floyd's “Dark Side Of the Moon” might find its way onto the turntable as it was good for creating a conducive atmosphere for snogging!

Anyway, if I wasn't snogging, (which I usually wasn't because I wasn't exactly a 'boy puller' with my freaky looking fringe and strange black make-up), I'd play every track whilst devouring the gorgeous 12" album artwork and lyrics. I'd learn the words to the songs I didn't even like and know the name of the producer, the engineer and every musician on each track.

The reason I'm writing about this subject this week is because of a conversation I had with Patrick Baker, who owns Gumbi's, a record store in Southend’s York Road Market. He told me about how tough it is for independent music retailers to survive in the current climate and the potential loss of shops like this resonated in me.

Europe's biggest second-hand record shop BEANO' S has closed its doors to business. Proprietor David Lashmar said,

"The decline, I actually think, happened about five or six years ago, when the major record shops stopped being greedy and started selling CDs much cheaper."



I asked Patrick just how Gumbis has managed to survive so far?

"Diversity has kept the shop going. We sell DVDs, books, guitars & amplification and hi-fi equipment. I even buy and sell mobile phones as they are many peoples preferred format for storing and listening to music."



Whilst a lot of us genuinely lament the loss of smaller, specialist record stores, faced with identical purchases - a cheaper CD from an online store or supermarket for example, which of us would honestly opt to buy the more expensive item?

Is there a moral or ethical stance that consumers should take when purchasing music? Like organic farming, should us punters resist the pull of the cheaper package and make a stand against the giants?

I put this question to a few people I know.

James Tyler, age 30, is a guitarist and tutor on the Access to Music Course further education course. In common with plenty of other music lovers, the more CDs he can buy for his money, the better.

He told me,

"I think CDs have got much, much cheaper and as a music fan first and foremost, I'm more than happy about this. The cheaper the better as far as I am concerned. To be honest, I refuse to pay £15 a for a CD - that's a daylight robbery.



”I think the internet has made a huge difference both in terms of online shops and downloads. Personally, I don't buy downloads as I like to have an actual product with art work, credits and lyrics."



Reg Webb is a session musician who has toured the world and played piano with artists such as Lenny Kravitz and Vannessa Paradis.

"I think the Internet has had, and will have a much greater impact on general music purchase. The major record companies continue to exhibit greed and show no signs of any dawning sense of reality. Their obsession with piracy and copy protection is likely to cause a public backlash from which they will never recover, which I think is a good thing."



Mark Cunningham, 43, is a musician and producer, and Total Production Magazine editor. He believes that it's not only the record companies who are responsible for forcing people out of shops. Downloading he thinks, can often be the result of premature media exposure.

"While the availability of very cheap legal downloads has certainly hit the more traditional CD market, I think that radio is to blame for much of the damage. BBC Radio 2, for example, has for some time now playlisted forthcoming releases way ahead of their actual availability, often confusing the listener into thinking they can buy the records. By the time they are in shops, the listener has probably already resorted to downloading them. Also, with people leading such busy lives these days, mail ordering from Amazon is such a convenient way of buying CDs now."



Paul Collier, 47, is the Music Coordinator for the Leigh Folk Festival. He is also a musician and avid record collector.

He disagrees with David Lashmar's view that “'record companies stopped being greedy.”'

"I don't think that the major record companies miraculously ”stopped being greedy!” They just recognised that CDs were increasingly suffering from 'format fatigue' after they had steadily milked their back catalogues bone dry with as many reissue permutations as their exhausted consumers could stand. Unfortunately for them and the retailers, CDs no longer have that high-tech “'sheen” they had when launched, they are regularly given away free with magazines and newspapers and are increasingly seen as disposable. The download/Ipod generation can't really grasp the point of possessing a disc containing recorded music, particularly one in a rather tatty, easily broken clear plastic case, so it's really not surprising that their second-hand value is declining."



This is a view that Patrick Baker wholeheartedly shares.

"Yes cheapness of product has made a big difference. The advent of aesthetically unappealing plastic CD cases (unattractive to avid collectors, as opposed to consumers) and the internet meant that collectors could sell easily on auction sites themselves as well as buy of course, thus supplanting shops. Also to new young music buyers downloading mp3s was cool and sexy. To use a shop.well, it's all rather “uncool”.



Music photographer Ian Tomey has a different perspective.

"There will always be specialists who enjoy collecting vinyl and specific CDs but for me it's a question of space. I don't want loads of plastic cases cluttering up my living space. If I can get my entire music and DVD collection on a laptop or better still, an Ipod that suits me fine.”



”We've been sold the idea that as consumers we have to “'own”' the package - surely it's the music that we're after, not the bulky cases.”



”Record shops will never be able to offer the massive choices that are available online and that is fantastic news for artists. Now anyone can release music and put it online to a potential global audience without having to play by the rules of a record company giant corporation. That's good news for the artists and the audience because at last, there is real choice - not just those choices the companies allow us to have. "



Reg Webb feels the same way.

"Real contact between creative people and their audience is much preferable to a corporate intermediary, sucking the life out of the artist, and the money out of the consumer. Pioneering companies like Stax or Atlantic were started by genuine enthusiasts, not by accountants who make no real distinction between a song and a box of detergent."



It seems that the declining numbers of shoppers in record stores is a reflection not only of the higher cost of CDs but of the array of choice of music online.

Interestingly, it must just be the old fashioned vinyl that breathes new life into old stores.

Paul Collier explains,

"As a musical artefact, CDs just don't have the aesthetic or tactile appeal of a vinyl LP, nor the aura of antiquity! It is revealing that, albeit from a low base, sales of new vinyl records have been gradually rising year on year. The collectors' market for original vinyl pressings is also relatively buoyant - much more so on eBay than in specialist shops or at record fairs, though. Of course in days of yore, collectors might be searching for years for a first pressing of some rare record, while now it can often be found instantly at the click of a mouse. When all is said and done, there's no substitute for the thrill of flicking through a rack of LPs or 45s, never knowing what you might turn up. Just the thought gets my fingertips twitching! Long live the specialist vinyl emporia of this world!"



Reg Webb suggests that,

"The sorts of people who collect antique vinyl are probably not busily ripping their vinyl collection into downloadable formats."



James Tyler seconds this opinion:

"Although I do buy some stuff online, my favourite way to shop is to go up London with a fist full of cash and rummage in the bargain record shops."



So what might the future hold for Gumbis?

Patrick Baker is surprisingly optimistic but admits, without council support, business may be uncertain.

"If the local council were to realise that York Road Market is an interesting asset, a focal point for small quirky and alternative shops, we could nurture a kind of mini Camden and then the future is excellent."



I think it would be marvellous for Gumbis and other shops like this to remain with us so a new generation of music loving young people could also experience the joy of those afternoons of shared excitement spent rummaging in the record shops.

MP3s may be cheaper and tidier but they're not half as romantic in my book - sorry - shop!