End of an Era as Last South African Music Shops Set to Close

South Africans are bidding farewell to Musica, yet another cultural giant which will be closing shop soon. Musica stores, which are owned by the South African Clicks Group, have been the leading music retailer in the sales of physical CDs and DVDs for close to three decades. Musica admittedly provided a home for many South Africans to leisurely browse through their favourite music in very much the same way book lovers do in book stores. However, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and having been outcompeted by the digital music world, all Musica stores across the country will be closing permanently.

READ: South Africans Say Goodbye to Beloved 'Cosmo SA' Magazine

In a statement issued by the Clicks Group, the company writes:

"Musica has been operating in a declining market for several years owing to the structural shift globally to the digital consumption of music, movies and games from the traditional physical format.The inevitable demise of the brand has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in the rapid decline in foot traffic in destination malls where Musica stores are typically located."

The closure of Musica is not surprising given the considerable impact that the digital era has had on traditional industries such as print media, video rentals and even photographs or images. The demise of previously lucrative enterprises such as Cosmopolitan SA, Blockbuster, Kodak and several others has been testament to this shift towards the digital with failure to adequately adapt proving detrimental.

Naturally, there are widespread concerns of further unemployment in South Africa given the closure of Musica during a pandemic. However, the Clicks Group has reportedly stated that employees will be absorbed into the group's expanding health and beauty stores "where this is operationally feasible."

The closure of all Musica stores is reportedly set to take full effect by May 31st of this year.

Here's what some South Africans on social media have had to say about the news: