Cactus closing affects local music scene

Image credit: Pixabay

KHOU-11’s Nancy Holland files a report on the closing of Cactus Music and Video and the impact on the local music scene.

A few weeks ago, Houston Press music columnist John Nova Lomax tackled the same topic, in the form of reactions from local music people on the impact of the closing.

Techie types are quick to argue that brick-and-mortar stores like Cactus are now obsolete because of broadband and music downloading. That may be true for some (even many) music consumers, but local independent stores like Cactus (and Waterloo in Austin) also are an important part of the local live music scene. I would suggest that such stores can survive in towns where there is a vibrant local music scene — and may have more trouble in towns like Houston, where the live music scene isn’t so vibrant (hence nobody is rushing to buy Cactus from the current owners).

Local musicians are going to have to be more creative about marketing when Cactus closes. They may have to reach out more to existing local music blogs. They may have to take the lead in developing a more comprehensive local music site. Or, the local music scene may just wither, because Houstonians are more interested in downloading mp3s from home than seeing live music. Time will tell.


(Old) Forum Comments (2)

About Kevin Whited 4306 Articles
Kevin Whited is co-founder and publisher of blogHOUSTON. Follow him on twitter: @PubliusTX