Defeated by digital downloads and a miserable economy, Virgin Megastores announced Monday that its five remaining locations would be shuttered by summer. With the 30-year-old Virgin going down, chain record-store retailing is nearly a thing of the past (the mostly mall-based FYE somehow mysteriously manages to hang on).

It’s been a couple of years since Tower Records fell victim to the changing biz, closing its two Chicago locations, but I haven’t completely adjusted to the loss. I still mourn for my weekly excursions to celebrate New Music Tuesday there. Specific new releases were on my list, though I’d inevitably stumble upon something unexpected and add it to the stack, too. Eventually I’d exit Tower with a lighter wallet and way too many CDs stretching out the yellow plastic bag, having benefited from the chance to see, touch, and discover all sorts of new music.

This “Tuesdays at Tower” ritual repeated itself nearly every week for ten years. My New Music Tuesday trips began even further back, when I was a college student and had four to six good record stores to visit before, after, and in between classes.

With such giant meccas of music becoming rarer every day, now it’s all too easy to overlook anything that isn’t a major release. Unless I can get to Target or Best Buy during the week (an option only for bestselling titles), I’ve shifted to making most of my music purchases online. But browsing on the web isn’t the same as being physically surrounded by aisles and aisles of music; the virtual experience doesn’t carry the same kick.

While comprising a vast selection of genres, clicking through page after page on iTunes and Amazon is tiresome. It’s also much more time consuming than a few minutes spent scanning three-dimensional displays and bins. So much for those unexpected discoveries.

Now no longer part of my weekly commute, New Music Tuesday sometimes passes before I think to search out the latest releases. It certainly doesn’t help that iTunes’ “New Music Tuesday” emails typically don’t arrive until Wednesday. Even then, I’ve still missed out on new tunes from artists whose past work I’ve liked, only to discover them months and, in a couple of cases, a year or two later (apologies, Casey Stratton and Leona Naess for missing your many follow-ups).

On that front, some hope arrived last week with the debut of the first-ever iTunes Pass for music. The service has offered TV shows this way for a while, making it possible for folks to pre-purchase a season’s worth of downloads. Now Depeche Mode fans who pony up $18.99 won’t miss a single note, getting access to the band’s upcoming album, Sound Of The Universe, plus singles, remixes, videos, and any additional content the band issues over the next year.

Depeche Mode has long been reliably prolific, with each of the band’s albums spawning several singles, each with multiple remixes and bonus tracks. That familiar history is the major reason I signed up, so I’m not sure the iTunes Pass is applicable to smaller or less established acts. While I’ve set up a few Artist Alerts in my quest to not miss out on new stuff, I do find the guarantee included with purchasing a pass rather appealing (and the math works out nicely, too).

By choosing the iTunes Pass, I’m skipping physical CDs, which the collector (and audiophile) side of me still prefers. With in-store CD selections shrinking more and more, I’ve become accustomed to placing orders online, though the delay between purchase and play means denying myself that New Music Tuesday feeling of joy. Digital downloads offer immediate satisfaction, but the files often lack identifying information, setting me off in search of production and songwriter details elsewhere. No longer do I always know who writes the songs I like, and which teams are behind what hits.

Such guessing games are mostly moot with Depeche Mode. Upon Vince Clarke’s departure from the group after 1981’s Speak & Spell, Martin Gore took over songwriting duties, with other members only occasionally contributing a track or two, and sometimes none at all.

I do welcome new options like the iTunes Pass, which can only help make it easier for music obsessives like me to stay on top of what’s new. I take comfort in knowing that I’m not alone in mourning the disappearance of bricks-and-mortar stores (actor Colin Hanks is reportedly developing a documentary about Tower Records), as I learn to embrace a new kind of New Music Tuesday. I love music as much as I always have, and good tunes will eventually grab my attention, if not nearly as quickly or directly as before.

Purchase the iTunes Pass for Depeche Mode’s Sound Of The Universe, and get an immediate download of the band’s new single, “Wrong,” plus a remix of “Oh Well.”

Jonesing for a “Tuesdays at Tower” fix? Get a virtual one at TowerRecords.com (a separate entity from the retail operation), with good prices and surprisingly speedy delivery for those who wanna get physical.