Sad news reaches the Quietus this morning via an email saying that one of our favourite record shops, Rounder in Brighton, is to close from Sunday, July 29th. Rounder has been in business for 46 years, and is the latest of many shops to be forced out of operation thanks to illegal filesharing and the collapse in music sales.

"We are closing because we can't make it add up any more," the statement reads. "We are a business that has been decimated by downloads (both legal and illegal), VAT avoidance by the big online retailers, a double dip recession, & the decline of the high street. Our lease has ended and we have nowhere to go."

Shop owner Phil Barton praised his employees: “The shop and the staff have always striven to be the best. We are not able to deliver the best anymore and with the deepest regret I have to close the doors at the end of July. Rounder has been a part of my life, and my loyal staff's lives for so long that having to close is a very bitter pill to swallow. We tried everything to stay open, but the basic economics were killing us.”.

The statement continues: "We would like to give heartfelt thanks to all our customers over the years, and hope that we have managed to provide you with some special and great music throughout this time. That's why we have been here – as place to obtain, hear, find out about, discuss all types of the weird & wonderful world of music, to be a social hub for a musical city, a place where future bands are born, where record labels are started, where local bands can stock their first release, where you can get tickets for gigs, where there's something playing on the shop stereo that might be your new favourite band. Sadly, in 2012, this is just not financially viable."