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145-686: Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California , United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy and liquidation . Tower Records was purchased by a separate entity and was not affected by the retail store closings. On November 13, 2020, Tower Records announced that it had returned as an online retailer with plans to open future physical locations. In 1960, Russell Solomon opened

290-494: A Red Book CD; thus, the mono source material is usually presented as two identical channels in a standard Red Book stereo track (i.e., mirrored mono ); an MP3 CD , can have audio file formats with mono sound. CD-Text is an extension of the Red Book specification for an audio CD that allows for the storage of additional text information (e.g., album name, song name, artist) on a standards-compliant audio CD. The information

435-448: A franchise disclosure document (FDD), no laws require an estimate of franchisee profitability, which depends on how intensively the franchisee "works" the franchise. Therefore, franchisor fees are typically based on "gross revenue from sales" and not on profits realized. See remuneration . Various tangibles and intangibles such as national or international advertising , training and other support services are commonly made available by

580-437: A personal computer hard disk drive . Several other formats were further derived, both pre-pressed and blank user writable, including write-once audio and data storage ( CD-R ), rewritable media ( CD-RW ), Video CD (VCD), Super Video CD (SVCD), Photo CD , Picture CD , Compact Disc-Interactive ( CD-i ), Enhanced Music CD , and Super Audio CD (SACD) which may have a CD-DA layer. The optophone , first presented in 1931,

725-514: A "drug cooperative". As he explained to them, they could increase profits by paying less for their purchases, especially if they set up their own manufacturing company. His idea was to market private label products. About 40 druggists pooled $ 4,000 of their own money and adopted the name Rexall . Sales soared, and Rexall became a franchisor. The chain's success set a pattern for other franchisors to follow. Although many business owners did affiliate with cooperative ventures of one type or another, there

870-437: A $ 3 million (~$ 4.86 million in 2023) fine. It is estimated that between 1995 and 2000 customers were overcharged by nearly $ 500 million and up to $ 5 per album. In 2005, the company began using "scan and listen" stations in its stores. These stations allowed customers to listen to audio samples from CDs and to search for particular songs, albums and artists. In the years that followed, this model of listening station

1015-474: A 150-minute playing time, 44,056 Hz sampling rate, 16-bit linear resolution, and cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon coding (CIRC) error correction code —specifications similar to those later settled upon for the standard compact disc format in 1980. Technical details of Sony's digital audio disc were presented during the 62nd AES Convention, held on 13–16 March 1979, in Brussels . Sony's AES technical paper

1160-603: A CD. VCDs are playable in dedicated VCD players, most modern DVD-Video players, personal computers, and some video game consoles. The VCD standard was created in 1993 by Sony, Philips, Matsushita , and JVC and is referred to as the White Book standard. Overall picture quality is intended to be comparable to VHS video. Poorly compressed VCD video can sometimes be of lower quality than VHS video, but VCD exhibits block artifacts rather than analog noise and does not deteriorate further with each use. 352×240 (or SIF ) resolution

1305-438: A customer who had a bad experience at one franchise may assume that they will have the same experience at other locations with other services. Distance can make it difficult for firms to detect whether or not the franchises are of poor quality. One way around this disadvantage is to set up extra subsidiaries in each country or state in which the firm expands. This creates a smaller number of franchisees to oversee, which will reduce

1450-671: A deal to acquire the two historic Tower locations in the latter's home base of Sacramento. f.y.e. later backed out, stating that the "leases aren't what we thought they were". f.y.e. did acquire the lease of the West End Avenue store in Nashville , which eventually closed in 2011. f.y.e. also took over Tower Records in Torrance , which continued to operate until early 2016. Rasputin Music, a new and used music and video store based in

1595-419: A diameter of 120 mm (4.7 in), and are designed to hold up to 74 minutes of uncompressed stereo digital audio or about 650   MiB ( 681,574,400  bytes) of data. Capacity is routinely extended to 80 minutes and 700  MiB ( 734,003,200  bytes), 90 minutes 800  MiB ( 838,860,800  bytes), or 99 minutes 870  MiB ( 912,261,120  bytes) by arranging data more closely on

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1740-479: A diameter of 20 cm (7.9 in) and a sound quality superior to that of the vinyl record. However, due to the unsatisfactory performance of the analog format, two Philips research engineers recommended a digital format in March 1974. In 1977, Philips then established a laboratory with the mission of creating a digital audio disc. The diameter of Philips's prototype compact disc was set at 11.5 cm (4.5 in),

1885-417: A disc played from beginning to end slows its rotation rate during playback. The program area is 86.05 cm and the length of the recordable spiral is 86.05 cm / 1.6 μm = 5.38 km. With a scanning speed of 1.2 m/s, the playing time is 74 minutes or 650 MiB of data on a CD-ROM. A disc with data packed slightly more densely is tolerated by most players (though some old ones fail). Using

2030-416: A fair price from the franchisor or sources recommended by the franchisor. A coffee brew, for example, can be readily identified by the trademark if its raw materials come from a particular supplier. If the franchisor requires purchase from her stores, it may come under anti-trust legislation or equivalent laws of other countries. So, too, with purchases such as the uniforms of personnel and signs, as well as

2175-580: A few Tower Records locations sold books as well, such as those in Fremont , Brea , Mountain View , and Sacramento, California, as well as stores in Austin , Boston, Massachusetts , Nashville , New York City , Portland, Oregon , and Seattle and Bellevue, Washington . In 1983, the company began publishing a music magazine, Pulse! , which contained record reviews, interviews, and advertising. Initially, it

2320-399: A foreign market on its own, as the franchisee is typically responsible for those costs and risks, putting the onus on them to build a profitable operation as quickly as possible. Through franchising, a firm has the potential of building a global presence quickly and also at a low cost and risk. For the franchisee, the primary advantages are access to a well-known brand, support in setting up

2465-520: A former master franchisee of the country's largest franchise system led to a review of the need for franchise law by the Ministry of Economic Development. The New Zealand Government decided there was no case for franchise-specific legislation at that time. This decision was criticised by the opposition, which had initiated the review when in power, and the review process was questioned by a leading academic. The Franchise Association originally supported

2610-400: A former member of the task force, gives background information on the many technical decisions made, including the choice of the sampling frequency, playing time, and disc diameter. The task force consisted of around 6 persons, though according to Philips, the compact disc was "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team". Early milestones in the launch and adoption of

2755-450: A franchisor: (a) a royalty for the trademark, (b) reimbursement for the training and advisory services given to the franchisee, and (c) a percentage of the individual business unit's sales. These three fees may be combined in a single 'management' fee. A fee for "disclosure" is separate and is always a "front-end fee". A franchise usually lasts for a fixed time period (broken down into shorter periods, which each require renewal), and serves

2900-469: A graphics signal (typically, the CD+G player is hooked up to a television set or a computer monitor); these graphics are almost exclusively used to display lyrics on a television set for karaoke performers to sing along with. The CD+G format takes advantage of the channels R through W. These six bits store the graphics information. CD + Extended Graphics (CD+EG, also known as CD+XG) is an improved variant of

3045-399: A great extent. Consequently, franchising was not a growth industry in the United States. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that people began to take a close look at the attractiveness of franchising. The concept intrigued people with entrepreneurial spirit. However, there were serious pitfalls for investors, which almost ended the practice before it became truly popular. The United States

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3190-563: A joint task force of engineers to design a new digital audio disc. Led by engineers Kees Schouhamer Immink and Toshitada Doi , the research pushed forward laser and optical disc technology. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the task force produced the Red Book CD-DA standard. First published in 1980, the standard was formally adopted by the IEC as an international standard in 1987, with various amendments becoming part of

3335-582: A joint venture between Tower Records USA (MTS INC of W. Sacramento, CA) and two local businessmen. The Founding Director was Joel Abramson, who had previously managed Tower's flagship Sunset Strip location in Los Angeles. The first three locations were in Tel Aviv (the Opera Tower), Haifa (Hutzot HaMifratz, opened in early 1995) and Jerusalem (1995). The Tel Aviv location, with its beachfront location,

3480-453: A linear velocity of 1.2 m/s and a narrower track pitch of 1.5 μm increases the playing time to 80 minutes, and data capacity to 700 MiB. Even denser tracks are possible, with semi-standard 90 minute/800 MiB discs having 1.33 μm, and 99 minute/870 MiB having 1.26 μm, but compatibility suffers as density increases. A CD is read by focusing a 780 nm wavelength ( near infrared ) semiconductor laser through

3625-476: A malfunctioning CD writer . Error scanning can reliably predict data losses caused by media deterioration. Support of error scanning differs between vendors and models of optical disc drives , and extended error scanning (known as "advanced error scanning" in Nero DiscSpeed ) has only been available on Plextor and some BenQ optical drives so far, as of 2020. The digital data on a CD begins at

3770-557: A new digital audio disc. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the Red Book CD-DA standard was published in 1980. After their commercial release in 1982, compact discs and their players were extremely popular. Despite costing up to $ 1,000, over 400,000 CD players were sold in the United States between 1983 and 1984. By 1988, CD sales in the United States surpassed those of vinyl LPs, and, by 1992, CD sales surpassed those of prerecorded music-cassette tapes. The success of

3915-558: A new website, once again selling vinyl records among other merchandise, which also features an online version of Pulse that is updated regularly. In October 2022, Tower Labs was opened in Brooklyn, New York, marking the first physical iteration of the brand since 2006. "The intention of Tower Labs is for artists and bands to host personal gatherings with their community, similar to a backstage experience," says Tower Records' new president, Danny Zeijdel. "In an increasingly digital world, it

4060-551: A sales revenue of approximately $ 66.5 billion. In 2016 the majority of franchise brands were retailers with the largest segment being non-food retailing, accounting for 26 percent of brands, a further 19 percent of brands were involved in food retailing, 15 percent of franchisors operated in administration and support services, 10 percent in other services, 7 percent in education and training and 7 percent in rental, hire and real estate services. Franchising in Australia commenced in

4205-412: A significant way in the early 1970s under the influence of the franchised US fast food systems such as KFC , Pizza Hut , and McDonald's . It was however underway prior to this and a decade earlier in 1960 Leslie Joseph Hooker , considered a pioneer of franchising, created Australia's first national real estate agency network of Hooker real estate agencies. In Australia, franchising is regulated by

4350-413: A specific territory or geographical area surrounding its location. One franchisee may manage several such locations. Agreements typically last from five to thirty years, with premature cancellations or terminations of most contracts bearing serious consequences for franchisees. A franchise is merely a temporary business investment involving renting or leasing an opportunity, not the purchase of a business for

4495-531: A sub-unit of idol girl group MNL48 . Tower Records opened stores in Singapore in the 1990s. Singapore had two Tower Records outlets, one at Pacific Plaza that opened in 1993 and the other at Suntec City. Tower Records Pacific Plaza moved out in 2001 and the latter closed its doors in 2006 when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy globally and eventually folded. Tower Records opened stores in South Korea in

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4640-460: A variation of this technique called pulse-density modulation (PDM), while Matsushita (now Panasonic ) chose pulse-width modulation (PWM), advertising it as MASH, which is an acronym derived from their patented Multi-stAge noiSe-sHaping PWM topology. The CD was primarily planned as the successor to the vinyl record for playing music, rather than as a data storage medium. However, CDs have grown to encompass other applications. In 1983, following

4785-447: A vehicle of success for both a large franchisor and a small franchisee. Thirty-six countries have laws that explicitly regulate franchising, with the majority of all other countries having laws which have a direct or indirect effect on franchising. Franchising is also used as a foreign market entry mode . The boom in franchising did not take place until after World War II . Nevertheless, the rudiments of modern franchising date back to

4930-451: A worm gear is used, a second shorter-throw linear motor, in the form of a coil and magnet, makes fine position adjustments to track eccentricities in the disk at high speed. Some CD drives (particularly those manufactured by Philips during the 1980s and early 1990s) use a swing arm similar to that seen on a gramophone. The pits and lands do not directly represent the 0s and 1s of binary data . Instead, non-return-to-zero, inverted encoding

5075-636: Is a leader in franchising, a position it has held since the 1930s when it used the approach for fast-food restaurants, food inns and, slightly later, motels at the time of the Great Depression . As of 2005, there were 909,253 established franchised businesses, generating $ 880.9 billion of output and accounting for 8.1 percent of all private, non-farm jobs. This amounts to 11 million jobs, and 4.4 percent of all private sector output. Mid-sized franchises like restaurants, gasoline stations and trucking stations involve substantial investment and require all

5220-407: Is debatable whether Russell's concepts, patents, and prototypes instigated and in some measure influenced the compact disc's design. The compact disc is an evolution of LaserDisc technology, where a focused laser beam is used that enables the high information density required for high-quality digital audio signals. Unlike the prior art by Optophonie and James Russell, the information on the disc

5365-506: Is described in a document produced in 1980 by the format's joint creators, Sony and Philips. The document is known colloquially as the Red Book CD-DA after the color of its cover. The format is a two-channel 16-bit PCM encoding at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate per channel. Four-channel sound was to be an allowable option within the Red Book format, but has never been implemented. Monaural audio has no existing standard on

5510-437: Is entered into. The code also regulates the content of franchise agreements, for example in relation to marketing funds, a cooling-off period , termination, and the resolution of disputes by mediation . On 1 January 2015, the old Franchising Code was repealed and replaced with a new Franchising Code of Conduct. The new Code applies to conduct on or after 1 January 2015. The new Code: These are significant changes and it

5655-614: Is imperative for artists to have a physical space where they can connect and create." Tower Labs is a creative space, as the brand continues to explore the potential reopening of a flagship retail location. Tower Records operated nine stores in Argentina in Buenos Aires , Pilar , San Isidro , Puerto Madryn , Córdoba , and La Plata . It opened its first store in 1997 and closed its last in 2006. Tower Records operated in Canada in

5800-616: Is important that franchisors, franchisees and potential franchises understand their rights and responsibilities under the Code. For further information about the changes to the Code, please see the updated Franchisor Compliance Manual and the Franchisee Manual. The Code explanatory materials are available from the ComLaw website (link is external). New Zealand is served by around 423 franchise systems operating 450 brands, giving it

5945-437: Is necessary to operate complicated equipment, and the franchisee has to learn on their own from instruction manuals. The training period must be adequate, but in low-cost franchises it may be considered expensive. Many franchisors have set up corporate universities to train staff online. This is in addition to providing literature, sales documents and email access. Also, franchise agreements carry no guarantees or warranties and

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6090-407: Is playable in standard CD players, thus making them backward compatible. CD- MIDI is a format used to store music-performance data, which upon playback is performed by electronic instruments that synthesize the audio. Hence, unlike the original Red Book CD-DA, these recordings are not digitally sampled audio recordings. The CD-MIDI format is defined as an extension of the original Red Book . For

6235-510: Is protected by a film of lacquer normally spin coated directly on the reflective layer. The label is printed on the lacquer layer, usually by screen printing or offset printing . CD data is represented as tiny indentations known as pits , encoded in a spiral track molded into the top of the polycarbonate layer. The areas between pits are known as lands . Each pit is approximately 100  nm deep by 500 nm wide, and varies from 850 nm to 3.5  μm in length. The distance between

6380-522: Is read from a reflective layer using a laser as a light source through a protective substrate. Prototypes were developed by Philips and Sony independently in the late 1970s. Although originally dismissed by Philips Research management as a trivial pursuit, the CD became the primary focus for Philips as the LaserDisc format struggled. In 1979, Sony and Philips set up a joint task force of engineers to design

6525-432: Is stored either in the lead-in area of the CD, where there are roughly five kilobytes of space available or in the subcode channels R to W on the disc, which can store about 31 megabytes. Compact Disc + Graphics is a special audio compact disc that contains graphics data in addition to the audio data on the disc. The disc can be played on a regular audio CD player, but when played on a special CD+G player, it can output

6670-408: Is used: a change from either pit to land or land to pit indicates a 1, while no change indicates a series of 0s. There must be at least two, and no more than ten 0s between each 1, which is defined by the length of the pit. This, in turn, is decoded by reversing the eight-to-fourteen modulation used in mastering the disc, and then reversing the cross-interleaved Reed–Solomon coding , finally revealing

6815-399: Is when the prospective franchisee is also a powerful corporate entity controlling a highly lucrative location and/or captive market (for example, a large sports stadium) in which prospective franchisors must then compete to exclude one another from. However, under specific circumstances like transparency, favourable legal conditions, financial means and proper market research, franchising can be

6960-483: The Compact Disc + Graphics (CD+G) format. Like CD+G, CD+EG uses basic CD-ROM features to display text and video information in addition to the music being played. This extra data is stored in subcode channels R-W. Very few CD+EG discs have been published. Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution, read-only optical audio disc format that was designed to provide higher-fidelity digital audio reproduction than

7105-661: The Compact Disc Digital Audio format which typically provides 74 minutes of audio on a disc. In later years, the compact disc was adapted for non-audio computer data storage purposes as CD-ROM and its derivatives. First released in Japan in October 1982, the CD was the second optical disc technology to be invented, after the much larger LaserDisc (LD). By 2007, 200 billion CDs (including audio CDs, CD-ROMs and CD-Rs) had been sold worldwide. Standard CDs have

7250-473: The Middle Ages when landowners made franchise-like agreements with tax collectors , who retained a percentage of the money they collected and turned the rest over. The practice ended around 1562 but spread to other endeavors. For example, in 17th-century England franchisees were granted the right to sponsor markets and fairs or operate ferries . There was little growth in franchising, though, until

7395-736: The Pacific Time Zone ) to be closed was the one in Mountain View, which closed at 5:00 p.m. One building in Sacramento had been a Tower Records store for 40 years, and the lot across the street had been the location where Solomon began selling records in 1941. R5 Records closed on June 4, 2010, and was sold to rival Dimple Records , which reopened the store in mid-July 2010. Dimple Records closed all of its locations in 2019. The Tower Records building in Boston , located at

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7540-799: The Philippines in the 1990s. The first branch was located in Glorietta 3 Ayala Center Makati City which opened in 1998. The second store was in Alabang Town Center Muntinlupa City which opened in 1999. The third store was in Robinson's Place Manila, all of which are in the National Capital Region. As of 2018, all these branches have closed. In 2020, Tower Records Philippines has been re-launched and re-opened because of Filipino girl group Baby Blue,

7685-522: The Red Book . Introduced in 1999, it was developed by Sony and Philips, the same companies that created the Red Book . SACD was in a format war with DVD-Audio , but neither has replaced audio CDs. The SACD standard is referred to as the Scarlet Book standard. Titles in the SACD format can be issued as hybrid discs; these discs contain the SACD audio stream as well as a standard audio CD layer which

7830-803: The San Francisco Bay Area , expanded in the Central Valley of California by acquiring the leases for the former Tower Records stores in Fresno and Stockton . The Landmark Plaza Tower Records Store in Alexandria, Virginia was permanently closed on December 18, 2006, and the Tysons Corner, Virginia , store permanently closed on December 21, 2006. The noted 24-year-old store in Washington, D.C. ( Foggy Bottom ) closed down

7975-752: The vinyl revival . During the 2010s, the increasing popularity of solid-state media and music streaming services caused automakers to remove automotive CD players in favor of minijack auxiliary inputs, wired connections to USB devices and wireless Bluetooth connections. Automakers viewed CD players as using up valuable space and taking up weight which could be reallocated to more popular features, like large touchscreens. By 2021, only Lexus and General Motors were still including CD players as standard equipment with certain vehicles. CDs continued to be strong in some markets such as Japan where 132 million units were produced in 2019. The decline in CD sales has slowed in recent years; in 2021, CD sales increased in

8120-413: The "territory" if the franchise is worked according to plan. The franchisee must be seen as an independent merchant. It must be protected by the franchisor from any trademark infringement by third parties. A franchise attorney is required to assist the franchisee during negotiations. Often the training period – the costs of which are in great part covered by the initial fee – is too short in cases where it

8265-716: The 120 mm size was adopted. The adoption of EFM in June 1980 allowed 30 percent more playing time that would have resulted in 97 minutes for 120 mm diameter or 74 minutes for a disc as small as 100 millimetres (3.9 in). Instead, the information density was lowered by 30 percent to keep the playing time at 74 minutes. The 120 mm diameter has been adopted by subsequent formats, including Super Audio CD , DVD , HD DVD , and Blu-ray Disc. The 80-millimetre (3.1 in) diameter discs (" Mini CDs ") can hold up to 24 minutes of music or 210 MiB. The logical format of an audio CD (officially Compact Disc Digital Audio or CD-DA)

8410-685: The 1990s, with stores in Seoul and Busan . The Seoul branch became part of Synnara Record (now Media Synnara) and is now part of M2U Record, while the Busan branch has closed. The Seoul branch was used as one of the main filming locations for Seoul Broadcasting System 's 2001 drama Beautiful Days , starring Lee Byung-hun , Choi Ji-woo , Ryu Si-won , Shin Min-a , Lee Jung-hyun and Lee Yoo-jin . Tower Records opened three megastores in Taipei , Taiwan in

8555-614: The 1990s. All stores were located in popular areas of Taipei, and became centers of fashion and music during their existence. The stores closed in December 2003. Tower Records opened stores in Thailand in the 1990s, introducing comprehensive music CD stocking into Thailand for the first time with revolutionary effects on the retail music business. There were several stores in Bangkok, including three megastores inside popular malls. One of

8700-611: The 2000s designed as successors to the CD: the Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio . However neither of these were adopted partly due to increased relevance of digital (virtual) music and the apparent lack of audible improvements in audio quality to most human ears. These effectively extended the CD's longevity in the music market. With the advent and popularity of Internet-based distribution of files in lossy-compressed audio formats such as MP3 , sales of CDs began to decline in

8845-502: The 2000s. For example, between 2000 and 2008, despite overall growth in music sales and one anomalous year of increase, major-label CD sales declined overall by 20%. Despite rapidly declining sales year-over-year, the pervasiveness of the technology lingered for a time, with companies placing CDs in pharmacies, supermarkets, and filling station convenience stores to target buyers less likely to be able to use Internet-based distribution. In 2012, CDs and DVDs made up only 34% of music sales in

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8990-463: The Berkeley location. Franchising The word franchise is of Anglo-French derivation—from franc , meaning 'free'—and is used both as a noun and as a (transitive) verb. For the franchisor, use of a franchise system is an alternative business growth strategy, compared to expansion through corporate owned outlets or " chain stores ". Adopting a franchise system business growth strategy for

9135-574: The Block , and Yo-Yo Ma ) embedded in the front landing. Virgin Megastore took over the store from 2002 to 2007. The space was later a Best Buy store and, after being vacant for some time, in 2016 was opened as a T.J. Maxx store. Online merchant Caiman, Inc., reopened the website from Montreal, Quebec , on June 1, 2007. This company also announced plans to reopen the stores themselves—opening stores in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco within

9280-467: The CD's introduction, Immink and Joseph Braat presented the first experiments with erasable compact discs during the 73rd AES Convention . In June 1985, the computer-readable CD-ROM (read-only memory) and, in 1990, recordable CD-R discs were introduced. Recordable CDs became an alternative to tape for recording and distributing music and could be duplicated without degradation in sound quality. Other newer video formats such as DVD and Blu-ray use

9425-475: The DAC. Even when using high-precision components, this approach was prone to decoding errors. Another issue was jitter , a time-related defect. Confronted with the instability of DACs, manufacturers initially turned to increasing the number of bits in the DAC and using several DACs per audio channel, averaging their output. This increased the cost of CD players but did not solve the core problem. A breakthrough in

9570-686: The English language for the document, as long as the Brazilian party knows English fluently and expressly acknowledges that fact, to avoid translation. The registration accomplishes three things: In Canada, recent legislation has mandated better disclosure and fair treatment of franchisees. The regulations also ensure their right to form associations and launch collective action, even if they signed contracts prohibiting such moves. Franchising in Canada involves 1,300 brands, 80,000 franchise units accounting for about 20% of all consumer spending . China has

9715-550: The Franchising Code of Conduct, a mandatory code of conduct concluded under the Trade Practices Act 1974 . The ACCC regulates the Franchising Code of Conduct, which is a mandatory industry code that applies to the parties to a franchise agreement. This code requires franchisors to produce a disclosure document which must be given to a prospective franchisee at least 14 days before the franchise agreement

9860-461: The Singer venture did not put an end to franchising. Other companies attempted franchising in one form or another after the Singer experience. For example, several decades later, General Motors established a somewhat successful franchising operation in order to raise capital. Perhaps the father of modern franchising, though, is Louis K. Liggett . In 1902, Liggett invited a group of druggists to join

10005-739: The UK marketplace (an example of this express format was in Weston-super-Mare ). However, with tough trading conditions in the UK market, as well as the company's trouble in the States, the firm followed Sam Goody in retreating from the UK market. The London stores in Piccadilly and Kensington were sold to Virgin Group in 2003, who for a while traded under the Tower brand at the former site until

10150-451: The US for the first time since 2004, with Axios citing its rise to "young people who are finding they like hard copies of music in the digital age". It came at the same time as both vinyl and cassette reached sales levels not seen in 30 years. The RIAA reported that CD revenue made a dip in 2022, before increasing again in 2023 and overtook downloading for the first time in over a decade. In

10295-521: The US, 33.4 million CD albums were sold in the year 2022. In France in 2023, 10.5 million CDs were sold, almost double that of vinyl, but both of them represented generated 12% each of the French music industry revenues. Sony and Philips received praise for the development of the compact disc from professional organizations. These awards include: A CD is made from 1.2-millimetre (0.047 in) thick, polycarbonate plastic, and weighs 14–33 grams. From

10440-719: The United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Ireland, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina. The Tower Records stores in Japan split off from the main chain and are now independent. Arguably the most famous Tower Records outlet was the purpose-built building that company staff general-contracted, with many personally contributing their labor, which opened in 1971 on

10585-572: The United States. By 2015, only 24% of music in the United States was purchased on physical media, two thirds of this consisting of CDs; however, in the same year in Japan, over 80% of music was bought on CDs and other physical formats. In 2018, U.S. CD sales were 52 million units—less than 6% of the peak sales volume in 2000. In the UK, 32 million units were sold, almost 100 million fewer than in 2008. In 2018, Best Buy announced plans to decrease their focus on CD sales, however, while continuing to sell records, sales of which are growing during

10730-470: The Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Nashville location on West End Avenue (across from Vanderbilt University ) was in a former Packard dealership. The old showroom floor in front was devoted to CDs, cassettes and vinyl. The area in the back housed videocassette sales and rentals, PC and console games and music paraphernalia. The strip mall next door contained a separate Tower Books. The location

10875-587: The agreement, which leads to refunds and serious payments for damages. The Franchise Law does not distinguish between Brazilian and foreign franchisors. The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) is the registering authority. Indispensable documents are a Statement of Delivery (of disclosure documentation) and a Certification of Recording (INPI). The latter is necessary for payments. All sums may not be convertible into foreign currency. Certification may also mean compliance with Brazil's antitrust legislation. Parties to international franchising may decide to adopt

11020-459: The attention of a businessperson. There are also large franchises like hotels, spas and hospitals, which are discussed further under technological alliances . "No poaching" agreements are prevalent within franchises, thus limiting the ability of employers at one franchise establishment to hire employees at an affiliated franchise. Economists have characterized these agreements as a contributor to oligopsony . Three important payments are made to

11165-487: The biggest megastores was located on the top floor of CentralWorld mall in central Bangkok . In the 2000s as business declined due to piracy and the downloading revolution, the stores were progressively closed and the remaining ones were eventually sold to another dealer. Tower Records in the UK was originally a London-based concern, with a first store in Kensington High Street in 1984 being followed

11310-406: The bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The change in height between pits and lands results in a difference in the way the light is reflected. Because the pits are indented into the top layer of the disc and are read through the transparent polycarbonate base, the pits form bumps when read. The laser hits the disc, casting a circle of light wider than the modulated spiral track reflecting partially from

11455-470: The business using operating manuals, and ongoing operational support including access to suppliers and employee training. A primary disadvantage to franchising is quality control, as the franchisor wants the firm's brand name to convey a message to consumers about the quality and consistency of the firm's product. They want the consumer to experience the same quality regardless of location or franchise status. This can prove to be an issue with franchising, as

11600-451: The center of the disc and proceeds toward the edge, which allows adaptation to the different sizes available. Standard CDs are available in two sizes. By far, the most common is 120 millimetres (4.7 in) in diameter, with a 74-, 80, 90, or 99-minute audio capacity and a 650, 700, 800, or 870 MiB (737,280,000-byte) data capacity. Discs are 1.2 millimetres (0.047 in) thick, with a 15 millimetres (0.59 in) center hole. The size of

11745-407: The center outward, components are: the center spindle hole (15 mm), the first-transition area (clamping ring), the clamping area (stacking ring), the second-transition area (mirror band), the program (data) area, and the rim. The inner program area occupies a radius from 25 to 58 mm. A thin layer of aluminum or, more rarely, gold is applied to the surface, making it reflective. The metal

11890-450: The compact disc has been credited to the cooperation between Philips and Sony, which together agreed upon and developed compatible hardware. The unified design of the compact disc allowed consumers to purchase any disc or player from any company and allowed the CD to dominate the at-home music market unchallenged. In 1974, Lou Ottens, director of the audio division of Philips, started a small group to develop an analog optical audio disc with

12035-464: The company. Under the existing contract, Singer could neither withdraw rights granted to franchisees nor send in its own salaried representatives. So, the company started repurchasing the rights it had sold. The experiment proved to be a failure. That may have been one of the first times a franchisor failed, but it was by no means the last. Colonel Harland Sanders did not initially succeed in his early efforts at franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken . Still,

12180-428: The current location in March 1995), which is said to be one of the biggest music retail outlets in the world, occupying selling space of 5,000 m² (9 floors). TRJ also publishes the free magazines Tower , bounce , and intoxicate directly and through its subsidiary NMNL. In 2014, Tower Records launched the music review website Mikiki, which also posts content from the previously mentioned magazines. In addition to being

12325-423: The diagonal of an audio cassette. Heitaro Nakajima , who developed an early digital audio recorder within Japan's national public broadcasting organization, NHK , in 1970, became general manager of Sony's audio department in 1971. In 1973, his team developed a digital PCM adaptor that made audio recordings using a Betamax video recorder. After this, in 1974 the leap to storing digital audio on an optical disc

12470-532: The enterprise one of the first retailers to move online. Seven years after its founding, Tower Records expanded to San Francisco, opening a store in what was originally a grocery store at Bay Street and Columbus Avenue . In 1979, Tower Records in Japan started its business as the Japan Branch of MTS Incorporated. The following year, Sapporo Store, the first in Japan and internationally, opened. The chain eventually expanded internationally to include stores in

12615-406: The entire market share in regard to US music sales . The CD is considered the last dominant audio format of the album era , as the rise of MP3 , iTunes , cellular ringtones , and other downloadable music formats in the mid-2000s ended the decade-long dominance of the CD. The format was later adapted (as CD-ROM ) for general purpose data storage and initially could hold much more data than

12760-620: The first Tower Records store on Broadway, in Sacramento, California . He named it after his father's drugstore, which shared a building and name with the Tower Theatre , where Solomon first started selling records. The first stand-alone Tower Records store was located at 2514 Watt Ave in the Arden Arcade area of Sacramento. By 1976, Solomon had opened Tower Books, Posters, and Plants at 1600 Broadway, next door to another Sacramento Tower Records location. In 1995, Tower.com opened, making

12905-516: The first few years of its existence, the CD was a medium used purely for audio. In 1988, the Yellow Book CD-ROM standard was established by Sony and Philips, which defined a non-volatile optical data computer data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. Video CD (VCD, View CD, and Compact Disc digital video) is a standard digital format for storing video media on

13050-463: The first four UK albums by the Beatles were released in mono on compact disc. The growing acceptance of the CD in 1983 marks the beginning of the popular digital audio revolution. It was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities, and its handling quality received particular praise. As the price of players gradually came down, and with

13195-813: The format included: The first artist to sell a million copies on CD was Dire Straits , with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms . One of the first CD markets was devoted to reissuing popular music whose commercial potential was already proven. The first major artist to have their entire catalog converted to CD was David Bowie , whose first fourteen studio albums (up to Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) ) of (then) sixteen were made available by RCA Records in February 1985, along with four greatest hits albums; his fifteenth and sixteenth albums ( Let's Dance and Tonight , respectively) had already been issued on CD by EMI Records in 1983 and 1984, respectively. On 26 February 1987,

13340-414: The franchise as a system in which the franchisor licenses the franchisee, for a payment, the right to use a trademark or patent along with the right to distribute products or services on an exclusive or semi-exclusive basis. The provision of a "Franchise Offer Circular", or disclosure document, is mandatory before execution of agreement and is valid for all of the Brazilian territory. Failure to disclose voids

13485-416: The franchise sites, if they are owned or controlled by the franchisor. The franchisee must carefully negotiate the license and must develop a marketing or business plan with the franchisor. The fees must be fully disclosed and there should not be any hidden fees. The start-up costs and working capital must be known before the license is granted. There must be assurance that additional licensees will not crowd

13630-443: The franchisee has little or no recourse to legal intervention in the event of a dispute. Franchise contracts tend to be unilateral and favor of the franchisor, who is generally protected from lawsuits from their franchisees because of the non-negotiable contracts that franchisees are required to acknowledge, in effect, that they are buying the franchise knowing that there is risk, and that they have not been promised success or profits by

13775-416: The franchising authority are becoming increasingly strict. Some franchisors are using minor rule violations to terminate contracts and seize the franchise without any reimbursement. Franchising brings with it several advantages and disadvantages for firms looking to expand into new areas and foreign markets. The primary advantage is that the firm does not have to bear the development cost and risks of opening

13920-443: The franchisor's signs, logos and trademark in a prominent place. The uniforms worn by the staff of the franchisee have to be of a particular design and color. The service has to be in accordance with the pattern followed by the franchisor in the successful franchise operations. Thus, franchisees are not in full control of the business, as they would be in retailing. A service can be successful if equipment and supplies are purchased at

14065-521: The franchisor. Franchise brokers help franchisors find appropriate franchisees. There are also main 'master franchisors' who obtain the rights to sub-franchise in a territory. According to the International Franchise Association approximately 44% of all businesses in the United States are franchisee-worked. Franchising is one of the few means available to access venture capital without the need to give up control of

14210-416: The franchisor. Contracts are renewable at the sole option of the franchisor. Most franchisors require franchisees to sign agreements that mandate where and under what law any dispute would be litigated. In 2016 there were an estimated 1,120 franchise brands operating in Australia and an estimated 79,000 units operating in business format franchises, with a total brand turnover of approximately $ 146 billion and

14355-489: The heavy debt incurred during its aggressive expansion in the 1990s, growing competition from mass discounters and Internet piracy . Mismanagement, managerial incompetence, and crippling restrictions from the first bankruptcy deal also contributed to Tower's demise. Some observers took a pragmatic view. As Robert Moog , inventor of the Moog synthesizer , has stated: "I'm sorry if Tower Records' and Blockbuster's sales plummet. On

14500-478: The highest proportion of franchises per capita in the world. Despite (or because of) the 2008–2009 recession, the total number of franchised units increased by 5.3% from 2009 to 2010. There is no separate law covering franchises, so they are covered by normal commercial law. This functions very well in New Zealand and includes law as it applies to contracts, restrictive trade practices, intellectual property, and

14645-474: The hole was chosen by Joop Sinjou and based on a Dutch 10-cent coin: a dubbeltje . Philips/Sony patented the physical dimensions. The official Philips history says the capacity was specified by Sony executive Norio Ohga to be able to contain the entirety of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on one disc. This is a myth according to Kees Immink , as the EFM code format had not yet been decided in December 1979, when

14790-442: The holiday shopping season. On October 6, 2006, Great American Group won an auction of the company's assets and commenced liquidation proceedings the following day. This included going-out-of-business sales at all U.S. Tower Records locations, the last of which closed on December 22, 2006. The Tower Records website was sold separately to Caiman Inc. The managers of f.y.e. , a music store chain based in shopping malls, had negotiated

14935-524: The international chain by management buyout . The bankruptcy of Tower Records in the U.S. in 2006 did not affect TRJ because it had been completely independent (as of 2015, NTT DoCoMo and Seven & I Holdings are the main stakeholders). As of October 1, 2014, TRJ maintains 85 directly operated store locations throughout Japan, including 10 Tower Mini Stores and the Shibuya Store in Tokyo (moved to

15080-404: The intersection of Newbury Street and Massachusetts Avenue , was instrumental in the conversion of the former street's commercial value. The eight-story building, renovated by Frank Gehry in the late 80s, is prominently visible from the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike . The store (which occupied the first five stories) featured gold stars of Boston artists (including Gang Starr , New Kids on

15225-505: The introduction of the portable Discman , the CD began to gain popularity in the larger popular and rock music markets. With the rise in CD sales, pre-recorded cassette tape sales began to decline in the late 1980s; CD sales overtook cassette sales in the early 1990s. In 1988, 400 million CDs were manufactured by 50 pressing plants around the world. Early CD players employed binary-weighted digital-to-analog converters (DAC), which contained individual electrical components for each bit of

15370-476: The label side of the disc. Scratches on the clear side can be repaired by refilling them with similar refractive plastic or by careful polishing. The edges of CDs are sometimes incompletely sealed, allowing gases and liquids to enter the CD and corrode the metal reflective layer and/or interfere with the focus of the laser on the pits, a condition known as disc rot . The fungus Geotrichum candidum has been found—under conditions of high heat and humidity—to consume

15515-510: The lands and partially from the top of any bumps where they are present. As the laser passes over a pit (bump), its height means that the round trip path of the light reflected from its peak is 1/2 wavelength out of phase with the light reflected from the land around it. This is because the height of a bump is around 1/4 of the wavelength of the light used, so the light falls 1/4 out of phase before reflection and another 1/4 wavelength out of phase after reflection. This causes partial cancellation of

15660-419: The laser's reflection from the surface. By measuring the reflected intensity change with a photodiode , a modulated signal is read back from the disc. To accommodate the spiral pattern of data, the laser is placed on a mobile mechanism within the disc tray of any CD player. This mechanism typically takes the form of a sled that moves along a rail. The sled can be driven by a worm gear or linear motor . Where

15805-428: The late 1980s culminated in development of the 1-bit DAC , which converts high-resolution low-frequency digital input signal into a lower-resolution high-frequency signal that is mapped to voltages and then smoothed with an analog filter. The temporary use of a lower-resolution signal simplified circuit design and improved efficiency, which is why it became dominant in CD players starting from the early 1990s. Philips used

15950-499: The law of misleading or deceptive conduct. The Franchise Association of New Zealand introduced a self-regulatory code of practice for its members in 1996. This contains many provisions similar to those of the Australian Franchising Code of Practice legislation, although only around a third of all franchises are members of the association and therefore bound by the code. A case of fraud in 2007 perpetrated by

16095-645: The leading CD retailer in Japan, TRJ was the majority stakeholder in Napster Japan, a joint venture between TRJ and Napster LLC. On March 1, 2010, Napster Japan and TRJ announced that Napster Japan would terminate all of its services on May 31, 2010, due to the difficulty in covering the costs of maintaining the required systems to continue the services. Tower Records Japan has a subsidiary record label called T-Palette Records , which specializes in idol performers. The first Tower Records store in Mexico opened in

16240-630: The mid-1990s in the Zona Rosa area featuring 3 floors and a live DJ. After international bankruptcy, the stores were acquired by Promotora Musical, a retail company owned by Grupo Carso , the same owner of Mixup record stores. There were Tower Records stores in Mexico City (Gran Sur, Altavista and Mundo E), and Monterrey (Paseo San Pedro). , but eventually closed. The store in Puebla (Las Animas) currently operates. Tower Records opened three stores in

16385-669: The mid-1990s with a flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre at the corner of Queen and Yonge which opened in December 1995 and closed in 2001. Tower Records opened a second location in Toronto in the late nineties at Empress Walk in North York, also on Yonge Street, but it was closed just prior to the flagship store closing. Tower Records opened stores in Hong Kong in the 1990s. There were two stores, one located on

16530-431: The mid-19th century, when it appeared in the United States for the first time. One of the first successful American franchising operations was started by an enterprising druggist named John S. Pemberton . In 1886, he concocted a beverage comprising sugar , molasses , spices , and cocaine . Pemberton licensed selected people to bottle and sell the drink, which was an early version of what is now known as Coca-Cola . His

16675-465: The most franchises in the world but the scale of their operations is relatively small. The average franchise system in China has about 45 outlets, compared to more than 540 in the United States. Together, there are 2600 brands in some 200,000 retail markets . KFC was the most significant foreign entry in 1987 and is widespread. Many franchises are in fact joint-ventures, as at their forming the franchise law

16820-557: The next day, as did the store in Atlanta , Georgia. On Friday, December 22, 2006 – 40 years after Solomon had opened the first Tower Records store in Sacramento – the last Tower Records store in New York City, located at 1961 Broadway, one block north of Lincoln Center , on Manhattan 's West Side , closed permanently along with all of the other remaining Tower Records stores in the United States. The final Tower Records store (in

16965-531: The next nine months, however this never came to fruition. They hired former Tower buyer Kevin Hawkins to assist with the re-opening (Hawkins, along with former Tower employee George Scarlett, then left Caiman). In 2009, Richard Flynn was hired as President. The website remained based in Montreal, but the relaunch of the brand never moved forward. As of November 2020, Tower Records re-opened their online store with

17110-614: The next year by a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m) flagship outlet at 9 Piccadilly Circus and later two more smaller outlets at Whiteleys in Bayswater , and Kingston . However, by the start of the 1990s the chain had grown to encompass a number of other stores, with large entertainment stores also selling movies, books, magazines and games in Birmingham and Glasgow , as well as a number of smaller stores that had been purchased from rival American retailer Sam Goody when it had left

17255-555: The northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Horn Avenue in West Hollywood . In New York City, Tower Records operated a suite of stores on and near lower Broadway in Greenwich Village . The main store was located at the southeast corner of East 4th Street and Broadway. The Tower Records Annex was in the same building, located at the southwest corner of East 4th and Lafayette Street . The third store, Tower Video,

17400-514: The operation of the chain and build a distribution system for servicing it. After the brand and formula are carefully designed and properly executed, franchisors are able to sell franchises and expand rapidly across countries and continents using the capital and resources of their franchisees while reducing their own risk. There is also risk for the people buying the franchises. However, failure rates are much lower for franchise businesses than independent business startups. Franchisor rules imposed by

17545-415: The other hand, it wasn't that long ago that those megastore chains drove a lot of neighborhood record stores out of business." In February 2004, the debt was estimated to be between $ 80 million and $ 100 million, and assets totaled just over $ 100 million. On August 20, 2006, Tower Records filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time, in order to facilitate a purchase of the company prior to

17690-536: The polycarbonate plastic and aluminium found in CDs. The data integrity of compact discs can be measured using surface error scanning , which can measure the rates of different types of data errors, known as C1 , C2 , CU and extended (finer-grain) error measurements known as E11 , E12 , E21 , E22 , E31 and E32 , of which higher rates indicate a possibly damaged or unclean data surface, low media quality, deteriorating media and recordable media written to by

17835-530: The positive regulation of the franchise sector but its eventual submission to the review was in favour of the status quo of self-regulation. By the end of 2012, about 2,031 franchise brands were operating in Brazil, with approximately 93,000 locations, making it one of the largest countries in the world in terms of number of units. Around 11 percent of this total were foreign-based franchisors. The Brazilian Franchise Law (Law No. 8955 of December 15, 1994) defines

17980-535: The purpose of ownership. It is classified as a wasting asset due to the finite term of the license. Franchise fees are on average 6.7% with an additional average marketing fee of 2%. However, not all franchise opportunities are the same and many franchise organizations are pioneering new models that challenge antiquated structures and redefine success for the organization as well as the franchisee. A franchise can be exclusive, non-exclusive or "sole and exclusive". Although franchisor revenues and profit may be listed in

18125-419: The quality control challenges. Each party to a franchise has several interests to protect. The franchisor is involved in securing protection for the trademark, controlling the business concept and securing know-how . The franchisee is obligated to carry out the services for which the trademark has been made prominent or famous. There is a great deal of standardization required. The place of service has to bear

18270-543: The raw data stored on the disc. These encoding techniques (defined in the Red Book ) were originally designed for CD Digital Audio , but they later became a standard for almost all CD formats (such as CD-ROM ). CDs are susceptible to damage during handling and from environmental exposure. Pits are much closer to the label side of a disc, enabling defects and contaminants on the clear side to be out of focus during playback. Consequently, CDs are more likely to suffer damage on

18415-399: The rise and fall of Tower Records, using archival footage and exclusive interviews with former staff, especially Russell Solomon and former COO Stan Goman, as well as celebrity customers Bruce Springsteen , Elton John and Dave Grohl . Another documentary called Art Gods (2013) is an oral history of the development of an influential in-store display design ethic at Tower, originating from

18560-438: The sale and distribution of goods and services minimizes the franchisor's capital investment and liability risk. Franchising is rarely an equal partnership, especially in the typical arrangement where the franchisee is an individual, unincorporated partnership or small privately held corporation, as this will ensure the franchisor has substantial legal and/or economic advantages over the franchisee. The usual exception to this rule

18705-432: The same physical geometry as CD, and most DVD and Blu-ray players are backward compatible with audio CDs. CD sales in the United States peaked by 2000. By the early 2000s, the CD player had largely replaced the audio cassette player as standard equipment in new automobiles, with 2010 being the final model year for any car in the United States to have a factory-equipped cassette player. Two new formats were marketed in

18850-488: The same-sized disc. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in); they have been used for CD singles or delivering device drivers . The CD gained rapid popularity in the 1990s, quickly outselling all other audio formats in the United States by 1991, ending the market dominance of the phonograph record and the cassette tape . By 2000, the CD accounted for 92.3% of

18995-589: The seventh floor of Times Square at Causeway Bay , the other at Diamond Hill . Tower Records is operated in Ireland by Record & Discs Ltd. (owned by Press Up Entertainment ) under a licensed franchise of MTS Incorporated (USA). As of 2021, two stores still operate in Ireland both located in Dublin, one on Dawson Street and the other on O'Connell Street upstairs in Easons . Tower Records Israel opened in 1993;

19140-511: The standard in 1996. Philips coined the term compact disc in line with another audio product, the Compact Cassette , and contributed the general manufacturing process , based on video LaserDisc technology. Philips also contributed eight-to-fourteen modulation (EFM), while Sony contributed the error-correction method, CIRC, which offers resilience to defects such as scratches and fingerprints. The Compact Disc Story , told by

19285-726: The store could be fully refurbished, while the other stores were closed. The store was subsequently renamed Zavvi in September 2007 after a management buyout of the Virgin Megastores . Zavvi entered administration in late 2008 and administrators closed the Piccadilly store on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. As of 2017 the site is occuplied by a non-music retailer. The 2015 documentary All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records by filmmaker Colin Hanks chronicles

19430-420: The windings (the pitch ) is 1.6 μm (measured center-to-center, not between the edges). When playing an audio CD, a motor within the CD player spins the disc to a scanning velocity of 1.2–1.4 m/s ( constant linear velocity , CLV)—equivalent to approximately 500 RPM at the inside of the disc, and approximately 200 RPM at the outside edge. The track on the CD begins at the inside and spirals outward so

19575-621: Was a popular shopping spot for Israeli pop stars like David Broza, Meir Ariel, Aviv Gefen, Riki Gal and others. TRI closed its final location in Ra'anana in November 2015. In 1979, Tower Records in Japan started its business as the Japan Branch of MTS Incorporated. The following year, Sapporo Store, the first in Japan, opened. In 1981, Japanese subsidiary Tower Records Japan Inc. (TRJ) was established. In October 2002, TRJ went independent from

19720-468: Was an early device that used light for both recording and playback of sound signals on a transparent photograph . More than thirty years later, American inventor James T. Russell has been credited with inventing the first system to record digital media on a photosensitive plate. Russell's patent application was filed in 1966, and he was granted a patent in 1970. Following litigation, Sony and Philips licensed Russell's patents for recording in 1988. It

19865-407: Was easily made. Sony first publicly demonstrated an optical digital audio disc in September 1976. A year later, in September 1977, Sony showed the press a 30 cm (12 in) disc that could play an hour of digital audio (44,100 Hz sampling rate and 16-bit resolution) using modified frequency modulation encoding. In September 1978, the company demonstrated an optical digital audio disc with

20010-425: Was famous for their late-night Monday events that culminated at midnight on Tuesday when staff started ringing up sales of new releases. Because of the store's proximity to Music Row , country music stars could occasionally be seen performing or shopping there. As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over CD price fixing Tower Records, along with retailers Musicland and Trans World Entertainment , agreed to pay

20155-427: Was given away free in their stores to promote their record sales. After nine years, in 1992, the magazine began national distribution with a cover price of $ 2.95, (~$ 6.00 in 2023) but it was canceled when the company discontinued U.S. operations. From 1983 until December 2002 Tower Records published it monthly, 222 issues in all. Tower Records entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the first time in 2004. Factors cited were

20300-506: Was little growth in franchising until the early 20th century, and in whatever form franchising existed, it looked nothing like what it is today. As the United States shifted from an agricultural to an industrial economy, manufacturers licensed individuals to sell automobiles, trucks, gasoline, beverages, and a variety of other products. The franchisees did little more than selling the products, though. The sharing of responsibility associated with contemporary franchising arrangement did not exist to

20445-476: Was located on the southeast corner of East 4th and Lafayette Street, and specialized in video and the second floor of this location also sold books. Their location on the Upper West Side , near Lincoln Center on 66th Street and Broadway, was a magnet for those working in the field of musical theatre. There was also a location in the basement of Trump Tower, and a small clearance annex on 86th Street on

20590-431: Was not explicit. For example, McDonald's is a joint venture. Pizza Hut , TGIF , Wal-mart , Starbucks followed not long thereafter. But total franchising is only 3% of retail trade, which seeks foreign franchise growth. Compact disc The compact disc ( CD ) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It uses

20735-489: Was one of the earliest—and most successful—franchising operations in the United States. The Singer Company implemented a franchising plan in the 1850s to distribute its sewing machines. The operation failed, though, because the company did not earn much money even though the machines sold well. The dealers, who had exclusive rights to their territories, absorbed most of the profits because of deep discounts. Some failed to push Singer products, so competitors were able to outsell

20880-514: Was published on 1 March 1979. A week later, on 8 March, Philips publicly demonstrated a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference called "Philips Introduce Compact Disc" in Eindhoven , Netherlands. Sony executive Norio Ohga , later CEO and chairman of Sony, and Heitaro Nakajima were convinced of the format's commercial potential and pushed further development despite widespread skepticism. In 1979, Sony and Philips set up

21025-667: Was still used at the Arizona-based chain Zia Records. In 2006, the company introduced the Tower Insider program. The program was free of charge and allowed a customer to receive a membership card that could be scanned with each purchase, allowing the customer to receive coupons and notification of special deals via e-mail. In addition to compact discs and cassette tapes , the stores sold DVDs, electronic gadgets like mp3 players, video games, accessories, and toys, and

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