Indie stores highlight role on breaking acts: Bard says record companies' focus on chart product and cutbacks in reps have encouraged decline of indies.(Retail)

The UK's record companies are being urged to change their attitude towards indie retailers, in a bid to prevent the demise of what remains a vital breeding ground for new music.

A new survey by Bard (the British Association of Record Dealers) warns that unless concerted efforts are made to support independent specialist retailers, record companies could ultimately lose one of the most successful ways of breaking new talent.

The report, instigated by Bard deputy chairman Paul Quirk, details the steady demise of the indie sector in the UK and states that the number of stores is declining at a rate of about 4% a year--the equivalent of three shop closures per month.

Quirk points to the increasing number of sales outlets available to consumers, in contrast to a market which is not growing in size. Developments such as internet sales, downloading and supermarket sales are also hitting small businesses hard.

"This is a major Bard issue," he says. "Our independent members are having a really hard time at the moment and some are being treated pretty badly by the record companies."

According to Quirk, record companies are now neglecting the indie sector. "Once upon a time, not just sales reps, but radio promotions people and even student promoters would call into shops to meet and talk to the retailer," he says. "Now nobody calls in, there is less and less focus on back catalogue and we're seeing a switch across the board to telesales."

Quirk knows only too well the problems facing the indie sector, having run his own store--the Ormskirk-based Quirk's Records--since 1970. He contends that the number of indie retailers going out of business has much to do with record companies placing too much emphasis on new releases and chart product.