Adam Bergeron

Brick-and-Mortar Closures and How that Affects the Music Landscape

Change can be a good thing, even if it means that old systems we’ve become accustomed to are no longer available to us. As change happens around us, we adapt and evolve.

This article discussed how Sam Ash – a major national music retail company – closed its doors earlier this year, after over a century in business. The chain acknowledged that they could no longer keep up with online retail companies, who are out-performing brick-and-mortar retailers with better inventory, superior customer service, and (perhaps most importantly) lower prices.

The impact of this monumental closure, if it indicates a growing industry trend, is two-fold.

First, more musicians will have to “take their chances” by purchasing musical items without trying them – a difficult request of blind faith, given that musical instruments each have a different physical and emotional feel. The variations between key resistance on keyboards, neck width on guitars, or the auditory “ring” of cymbals are all determining factors that can only be experienced up close and in person. Musicians purchasing their instruments online need somewhere to “try out” the gear they’re buying, and I’m eager to see how online retailers address this issue in the future.

Second, there will be less availability for in-person lessons due to reduced physical locations. With brick-and-mortar locations quickly disappearing, I foresee the trend where online music lessons will become more and more common (perhaps even as much so as during the pandemic). I believe that students will eventually accept this format as a viable educational possibility, rather than an experiential outlier.