THE independent music store may soon be a thing of the past in Galway as a number of established stores native to the city are to close their doors in the coming weeks and months.

Redlight Records on Eglinton Street, Zhivago Records in Terryland and Golden Discs, also on Eglinton Street, are all due to close in the near future as decreasing sales and increasing competition drive the smaller music stores out of the market.

The imminent closure of the three shops comes in the wake of the closure last year of Mulligan’s Records on Middle Street and the other Redlight Record store on Shop Street.

The owners of the shops cite a variety of reasons as to why they are closing, but common to them all is the pressure that has been brought upon them from the entry of the likes of Tesco and other supermarkets into the business of selling CDs and DVDs.

Owner of Redlight Records, Des Hubbard plans to finally close his last store in the city in early September after almost 30 years in the business.

"I have been at this game for 29 years so it’s time for a change. My decision was half forced...