It is a given among regulars at Colony Records that a customer need only whistle, hum, or “la, la, la” a few bars of a tune for an employee to recognize it. Through the narrow corridors and battered shelves of the cozy store in the storied Brill Building in Times Square, a knowing worker will then peruse and (more often than not) find the sheet music, vinyl record or CD the person is looking for.

The speed and specificity with which the task is completed could beat out some expert music shoppers who use Google or iTunes. But it is that age of search engines, file sharing and illegal music downloads that its owners say has led to the imminent downfall of Colony Records, a bastion of New York City’s intimate music store culture.

Owners of the store, on the corner of 49th Street and Broadway, confirmed Thursday that, after 64 years of business, it would shut down in the near future — possibly within the next few months — because of a dip in profits over the last few years caused by the shift in the music industry toward digital sales.