Competition among Harvard Square's music stores may never be the same.

Tower Records, a monster in the music retail industry, opened a new branch on Mt. Auburn St. this weekend. The new store, which is housed in the two-story building adjacent to Crimson Travel, is now the largest music shop in the Square.

Tower Records features a spacious sales area with eye-catching 3-D posters, fluorescent blue lights and 10 television screens simultaneously broadcasting MTV.

The store sells tapes and compact discs of pop, soul, rock, folk, international, jazz, blues and clas sical music.

"We try to make our selection as varied as possible," said Jim H. Hardin, the cassette buyer at Tower.

According to Hardin, Tower expanded to Harvard Square because the area boasts an "eclectic market of all tastes."

Tower Records originated in Sacramento in 1960 and has outlets across the nation, including one in downtown Boston and one planned for Burlington.

Hardin predicted that Tower would dominate the local music market and that the Square's smaller stores would die in the competition.

"I'll be surprised if Strawberries and Discount Records are still around in the future," he said.

But Hardin said that loyal customer cores probably would ensure the survival of the Coop and Newbury Comics.

Wayne A. Hoffman, assistant manager of Discount Records on JFK St., said Tower's main advantage is the enormous quantity of titles they have in stock.

"All of the businesses went through a certain amount of paranoia," Hoffman said.

But Hoffman said that Discount Records will continue to prosper because it provides a different selection, with unique jazz, vocal and international sections.

On the other hand, Victor Lee, manager of Strawberries, said his store would prevail because it beats Tower on prices.

All the stores, including Tower, are betting that more consumers will be attracted to the Square and make it the center of music sales in the Boston area.