Music downloads? Israel goes CD retro

November 12, 2009 - 5:24 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, Pop Culture 

ozenAs more and more people are downloading music on the Web and choosing Ipods over CD players, where can you find the good, old fashioned mega-CD stores? In Israel!

True, Tower Records has taken a hit here, with its Jerusalem flagship store closing down last year, but instead of throwing in the flag, other outlets have taken up the slack.

Whenever I’m in Tel Aviv – like yesterday – I try and make it over to the Ozen Hashlishi (Third Ear) on King George St. It’s the closest you can get in Israel to imagining you’re at one of those sprawling vintage CD/vinyl shops in the Village in New York, where the clerks wear Black Flag t-shirts and look like they’d just as soon stab you as take your money.

Tons of used and new CDs, vinyl, DVDs, books, featuring ample sections of niche music like ‘Israeli indie’ and ’60s Psychedelic,’ the Ozen is one of the few places you can pick up a copy Television’s landmark Marquee Moon CD – and at a bargain price. They’ve also got a club which at night hosts eclectic Israeli rockers for intimate unplugged chats with fans.

But Tel Aviv doesn’t corner the whole market for the discerning music lover. In the nation’s capital, Hatav Hashmini, a music store that began more than a decade ago by importing CDs at cheap prices and has since grown into a massive chain with its own music label, recently opened a massive, 340-square-meter store. They claim it’s the largest music CD and DVD store in Israel.

According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, the store features ten listening stations that allow visitors to sample virtually any CD in the store, one of them in a room dedicated entirely to classical music and opera.

During the grand opening last Thursday, Hatav Hashmini’s stated commitment to “music you can hold in your hands,” as opposed to downloadable MP3 files, was in strong evidence, as several big names on the label’s roster assembled for brief impromptu concerts.

Hatav Hashmini’s label boasts such artists as pop performers Micha Sheetrit, David Broza and Shlomo Gronich, as well as jazz saxophonist Danny Zamir. The store promises to host its artists for small-scale performances in the future. The venue is certainly spacious enough.

While it’s unlikely to replace the Ozen in my heart as THE place to shop for music in Israel, I’ll be certainly giving Hatav Hashmini every chance to prove itself in the coming months.

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