In addition to rock and pop, the store carries country and other musical genres.[/caption]

Since James May opened Music Town on Stuebner Airline Road in 1979, he has seen music industry changes including the death of disco, the rise of rap and a recent rebirth in popularity for vinyl records.

May said music lovers are still loyal to physical formats, and the record store’s sales have not declined dramatically despite the popularity of digital music downloads and services.

“It’s holding its own,” May said of Music Town. “We still carry a full catalog of CDs including the top 200.”

A recent increase in demand for long-playing vinyl records has come from the younger audiences, he said.

“The high school kids started it, and now adults are getting back into it,” May said.

He attributed his store’s staying power to the downsizing of larger music stores after weak sales in the early 2000s. A small store could remain flexible and maintain a devoted core audience, he said.

Music Town offers both used and new CDs and LPs. In the process of buying collections, May said he sometimes stumbles upon valuable rarities.

“Sometimes unusual albums come through,” May said.

The store has a copy of a Beatles album, “Yesterday and Today,” that is worth $1,500 because its original cover, was deemed distasteful and was covered by the record company.

Music Town carries both new and used albums.[/caption]

Demand still exists for older formats such as cassette tapes, May said.

“You’ll get somebody that bought a 1976 Cadillac with a cassette player, and he wants cassettes,” May said.

Khindra Harper, a Spring resident and customer at the store, said she enjoys the musical soundtrack albums the store offers.

“It’s hard to find any store that will sell records anymore,” Harper said.

Music Town

17034 Stuebner Airline Road, Spring 281-251-2924 Hours: Mon.-Fri. noon-8 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.