[QUOTE]have record sales really collapsed, as the companies would have us believe?[/QUOTE] ... I asked in another thread. I suspect sales really are down, and that the internet really is changing the way people acquire their music. For most of us, I suspect it's more of a case of ordering CDs over the internet rather than downloading "tracks" direct (though I may be wrong!) Anyway, it seems that the days of the specialist classical recordshop may well be numbered. I'd be sad to see them go, but I must confess, I don't do much to support my own local shop. Before Christmas, I was in Gloucester, and Audiosonic, the local classical shop has moved away from a very good site next to the cathedral close to a much smaller, pokey shop on a much less attractive site - surely a sign that business can't be too brilliant. Yesterday I was in Worcester with some Christmas money to spend, and was horrified to find that Oakstone Classics has closed altogether. The HiFi shop (full of TV screens and cinema stuff) told me there is no other classical outlet in the city, and I failed to find any classical in HMV, though that may just have been because it was full of sale stuff. Hereford does still have The Outback classical record shop near the cathedral, but although Hereford is my local town, I rarely buy much there because of their prices. When I look back over the year, I've bought mostly from: (new) MDT and the odd disc from Britannia and secondhand (the bulk of what I buy) from: Yarborough House in Bishop's Castle and Hancock and Monks in Hay-on-Wye. Clearly, if I want the local record shop to survive, I'm going to have to rethink my buying habits. How are classical shops holding up where you live?