Closing ‘legacy’ stores such as Banks in York (est.1756) or Rae Macintosh in Edinburgh was bound to be unpopular. With a loyal customer base of many years, these were a byword for excellent customer service and specialist staff – letters to MT and Tweets prove as much. So, with the pandemic and Brexit behind us (almost), is this the beginning of the end of bricks & mortar music shops?
To gauge the mood, I spoke with Hobgoblin Music, Gremlin Musical Instrument Company, Schott Music, Blackwell’s Music and Spider Music, and the Music Industries Association.
Difficult years
The effect of the pandemic on retail is well documented, and music stores were no different in facing closure, furlough, four-day weeks and huge uncertainty. Salaries and margins are slim at the best of times, and a number of staff left the business for good.
Rather less is known about the effects of Brexit. In December 2020 the UK left the EU, the UK’s biggest trading partner; but the threat wasn’t the loss of trade as much as new ways of working and increased admin. Few, it seemed, anticipated the disruption with shipping, customs and packaging. ‘In Europe, every single country has its own set of rules, and the manufacturer or the retailer has to take responsibility for [detailing] the precise amount of packaging on the goods and what the goods have travelled in’, explains Nicola Rain of Hobgoblin – ‘This wasn’t structured in a way that favoured smaller businesses.’ Others talk of wrong-shaped boxes, or a standard MDS box requiring a 30-page document – at Blackwell’s, Peter McMullin also highlights the waste and how everything takes much longer.
Nor was there much help from government. For all the UK’s advertisements about being ‘ready’, that ‘everything’ was changing, few knew what or how. Even communication was difficult: ‘I found that there was almost no help in English’, explains Rain.
Fortunately, UK shops don’t generally have a large customer base in Europe – the mainland is already well served by local dealers. Therefore, several took a pragmatic view and scaled back or paused shipping to the mainland. Schott only ships to Europe if the customer is fully aware of local taxes, and in any event has premises in Germany. Hobgoblin and others feel that, without a tax base in Europe (like Amazon has), the cost simply outweighs the benefit. Interestingly, Brexit is seen as an opportunity; but, as Rain puts it, ‘it only represents great potential if you have the resource, patience and brainpower.’
Courtesy of Hobgoblin Music
The Southampton branch of Hobgoblin Music (Sept 2022)
Other threats
Outside the main UK cities, the supply chain is less robust. Large suppliers have focused on half-a-dozen main dealers, leaving smaller shops to fend for themselves. One such is Spider Music on the outskirts of Swansea. Its director, Stuart Lewis, understands that sending reps up and down the country isn’t sustainable. But whereas he used to see every company 15 years ago, only two or three now make the journey to Wales, and it’s not just about distance – ‘They don’t want the admin.’
At Spider, another complaint is not being able to sell ‘core product’, the big-ticket items that large stores take for granted. On a busy Saturday, the first three customers may want a Yamaha Disc instrument, an Epiphone guitar or a Roland keyboard, for example. Unfortunately, big brands aren’t interested in stocking the shop and so customers are turned away. Lewis anticipates the next question, about where else they might try; the answer is ‘nowhere in Wales except PMT in Cardiff’. He knows, however, that few will venture this far and that Amazon will be the eventual winner. ‘If I could get those products,’ he says, ‘we’d be in the next league.’ I believe him – we’re interrupted three times during our call, following questions from customers on first-name terms. It’s a community thing. In the meantime, shops like Spider are looking to bring in core products from abroad.
Education market
Across the UK, there has been a decline in educational sales as national priorities change. Ten or 15 years ago, stores had dedicated specialists for education accounts, with website pages and incentives. These days, admits David Ledsam at Gremlin, the spend is lower, and trade is focused on two or three major educational suppliers – which is obviously good for them. Schools may also by-pass middle men when purchasing, and the system of music hubs has made it difficult knowing who the decision-maker is.
Some shops have built direct links to schools and to good effect. An example is Hobgoblin in Leeds, which recently secured a contract to supply 1500 tin whistles. Where schools are served by national initiatives to purchase instruments, on the other hand, as in Wales, the benefits are less obvious. In Spider Music’s experience, Welsh government spending has sometimes favoured larger dealers across the border, despite claims to be helping Welsh businesses.
A decline in non-class teaching practices is also noted. ‘Whereas Little Johnny was bought Book 1 of a series,’ says McMullin, ‘he tends not to come back for Book 2.’ The cost-of-living crisis has a hand in this, of course, but so too does the ‘marginalisation of music education at entry level’. McMullin sees the decline in music education as the biggest long-term threat to shops such as Blackwell’s.
Extending the offer
Shops that weathered the headwinds did so by diversifying – through product range, rethinking the nature of the business, or having a strong online presence. One example of all three is Presto Music in Leamington Spa, a business that has gone from strength to strength since the 1980s and which often comes up in conversation. Their offer is comprehensive, from instruments and repairs to sheet-music, books, events and even a new streaming service for classical and jazz audio.
Spider, on the other hand, developed as a teaching centre. Staff teach on-site, online, in schools, during their own Rock School courses and, for adults, in the pub. ‘The music school is huge; it’s the bread and butter of the business’, Lewis admits. Typically, he has 15 teachers, including himself, working during the week, and this supports the business: ‘They come to me and buy an acoustic starter-pack, but also need books and accessories’, he explains. Spider has a number of long-term students. It also has a recording studio on site.
In central London, Schott Music, meanwhile, has developed an impressive suite of practice rooms for solo or ensemble use. They’re adding to this in the coming months.
Outlook
There is room for quiet optimism. Store managers are anticipating a ‘decent’ summer this year after better than expected sales from January onwards, and a return of tourism to pre-pandemic levels – besides, one quips, haven’t we been through the worst? I’d hazard a guess that this isn’t the end of bricks & mortar and that there will be a period of consolidation.
‘It’s very patchy, but what I see from my visits,’ observes Ledsam, ‘is that there are fewer shops but they’re much better stocked… and shops that reduced their staff[-ing levels] are beginning to recruit again.’ If there is a pattern of change, it may be to move away from high streets because of high rates or local initiatives such as Ultra Low Emission Zones (which can reduce footfall).
Also, let’s not forget our love of browsing and the need for specialist advice. ‘The high street has moulded itself around service rather than product’, explains Rain, ‘and I think music shops are a big part of that.’ Similarly, McMullin reminds me that ‘Without the brains, this business is nothing.’
Postlude
According to the Music Industries Association, ‘most of these [shops closures] have been down to retirement or businesses making strategic decisions with an eye to a strong future. Overall, Musical Instruments is proving relatively resilient, and the effects of the pandemic and other pressures have led to many companies innovating and thinking outside the box.’
On printed music, the MIA adds: ‘Music publishing has been undergoing huge change, ….and availability has become split between physical editions and downloads. Some stores stock a very limited amount of sheet-music (or none at all) for their own commercial reasons, but there are still those who have considerable offerings both in-store and online. Those retailers offer a level of knowledge that can be invaluable…, and if they haven’t got what you want or need, they have the relationships with publishers to organise special orders.’
