What does it mean for musicians and teachers
When music stores close?
This is a difficult question to answer because there are so many factors involved. The following article is based on what I know and understand as a music teacher and musician.
Q: What is the purpose of a music store?
A: To provide customers with access to instruments for purchase, and to provide knowledge of instruments. To provide access to music books, recording gear, amplification gear, mixing gear, cables, foot pedals, and hundreds of other items. Another service that can usually be found at a music store are music lessons by qualified teachers.
Q: Do online stores take away business from established music stores?
A: In a word, yes. We live in a world of shopper convenience. Almost anything can now be purchased online and delivered to your door, sight unseen. Without a properly developed online website for would-be shoppers of established stores, they are more inclined to shop at an online store that has far more choices including delivery. If a music store does not provide a wide selection of quality items on its website, and they do not provide delivery - the customer is likely to shop at a store with delivery options.
Q: Why is it important to shop at a store opposed to an online website?
A: Tangibility. There simply is no better way to shop for a musical instrument than to actually touch the instrument. Hands-on experience is the only true way to know whether or not the instrument you are shopping for is the one that was made for you. Shopping for a guitar must be done in person. If you buy a used guitar at a pawn shop, you have to actually play it before you buy it. If a friend is selling his/her guitar, you have to try it before you hand over the money. If you shop at a music store for a brand new guitar, you have to try out at least a dozen different guitars before you will know which guitar is your guitar. There simply is no satisfaction in the experience of searching for an instrument online.
Q: Why are online music stores more successful than established music stores?
A: The older generations still shop at the box stores. Just like shopping for a new or used vehicle, you have to actually go to the dealership to kick the tires. If you go shopping for a new dress for your daughter's prom dance, she cannot buy that dress online without trying it on first. There is a satisfaction of being able to touch a tangible item before the consideration of purchasing it. You want to know what it is you are buying before you simply hand over your money. The younger generations who grew up with the internet - well, they don't always see it that way. They grew up in a world where you can buy anything you want online and have it delivered to your door - and the only tangible thing they've touched in this process is their cell phone.
Online stores know their markets, and which markets continue to grow and which ones aren't. If an online music store makes it easier for an online shopper to purchase an item without ever having contact with it, then the convenience of this transaction is much more appealing to the customer. Established music stores must be properly managed from the top all the way down the line, because they have an obligation and uphill battle to keep walk-in customers flowing in and out of their doors. It always starts from the top. The old ways of marketing through radio spots, newspapers and yellow-pages telephone books, no longer work and haven't worked for many years.Â
Q: What does it mean for musicians and teachers when music stores close?
A: It means no longer having a place to go to shop for gear and having that one-on-one relationship with the same sales representative you've known for many years. It means no longer having a place to teach music lessons. It means no longer having a place where musicians can interact and network directly with one another. It means that you as a professional musician can no longer shop for that two-thousand dollar acoustic Taylor guitar at the store you've been loyal to for so many years - and the competition store doesn't carry expensive high quality instruments, and only carries three-hundred dollar Fender acoustic guitars.Â
Q: What does any of this mean for the beginner instrumentalist?
A: When a music store closes, it means one less place to learn how to play music. The would-be teenager who wants to take guitar lessons, will now have to talk his/her parents into driving them all the way across town for a half-hour lesson or to get new strings or a cord for his/her amplifier or a guitar stand or guitar picks. It means that the would-be instrumentalist now must consider purchasing his/her new guitar online without ever picking up, playing or trying out lots of other guitars. They have no idea what to shop for, what they will like or not like. They are left with buying a guitar without ever touching it. When it gets delivered to their front door, they take it out of the box, play it a few times and discover that it wasn't what they wanted after all. They either return it for a refund or they stuff it in a bedroom closet where it will collect dust. Without access to a place where a new beginner music student has access to teachers and lessons who can help answer questions and guide them in their goals, an online music store can never truly be a sufficient way to learn how to play music.
Commentary
Sam Ash music is closing all of their stores nationwide. This is a catastrophic blow for all musicians, teachers and students. In all honesty, I think that it is simply a matter of time before all music stores will disappear and become a thing of the past.
There are no real "music" heroes in the music world. There are no Eddie Van Halens or Neil Pearts to motivate and inspire new would-be musicians. Gone are the days when going to a music store could be an all afternoon event. In my younger days, I was like a kid in a candy store. Having a chance to play an American made Fender Stratocaster through a Fender Twin was like pretending to be Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton. Plugging a Gibson Les Paul Custom into a Marshall stack was like being Peter Frampton or Jimmy Page. Walking over to a piano and playing "Come sail away" was a thrill.
Checking out amplifiers, guitars, foot pedals, choosing which picks you wanted - all of those were only a few of the reasons why I actually spent more money at music stores than I did at Radio Shack. I never would have dreamed as a kid that one day I would actually become a guitar teacher at a music store. I remember the excitement of being part of the musicians world and doing lessons with my students, watching them succeed in their lessons and becoming better instrumentalists. Music stores have always been an oasis for musicians. It's where "like-minded people" can interact together and talk about music, exchange ideas and talk about gigs they've done and where they will be playing this weekend, or songs their band is adding to their set lists. So many years ago, this was the world I knew very well. I loved being part of the music climate of Central Florida. I played in several bands and projects. I met dozens of insanely good musicians. I got gigs offered to me as I was just standing in the hallway of the music store. I met celebrity musicians who used to frequent the music store. So many of those early students had smiles pasted on their faces when they'd show up for their guitar lessons. They were happy to be there because it was like a candy store for them too.
It is a true and terrible shame that none of those things will ever happen again. Musicians I know have all gone on to other avenues in the music world. Only a handful of them even play gigs anymore. What was once a meeting place for all musicians, the music store of yesterday will soon be gone forever. I blame the internet, I blame greedy corporate entities and poor management, I blame the changes in generational priorities in music, I blame social media, I blame the economy and the rising cost of living. I blame all of that for the demise of the local music stores.