Can't see how smaller music stores can survive now - and maybe not even some of the bigger stores

Voxman

The Covid19 is wiping out businesses left right & center.  Even the big boys with sleek online facilities and large warehouses are going to be struggling to stay afloat with a loss of footfall and customers deferring buying stuff until there is greater financial stability.  A lot of folk including me have taken a real battering on their pension funds (I've already lost £140,000 and I suspect it's going to get even worse before it gets better), so buying gear is the last thing on my mind at the moment and I suspect that sentiment is expanding fast. 

We were looking for a 'new' ex demo car for my wife, but that's on hold now and have cancelled test drives re 'social distancing' and our current cars haven't been used since last week - so there's just no point in buying anything right now. 

I'm not saying everyone will stop buying but even 'collect only' sales on Ebay will be hit as most folk now won't be prepared to drive/travel and have unnecessary social contact.  

Even before Covid19 we've seen loads of music stores (including famous ones like Ivor Maraints), close. But there has never been a global event like this before - it's impacting on gear manufacturers too, so even if stores do manage to sell existing stocks, getting new stock will become an increasing problem as factories shut down.  

Right now, it's becoming like a dystopian nightmare and there are of course a lot more important things to worry about than music gear - but I feel genuinely sad for self-employed folk who don't have the support and security of a big employer behind them, including guitar techs, luthiers, and smaller amp builders who's businesses may simply not survive, and of course those playing in bands for a living are going to suffer too as venues close. 

Schools are closing (My wife's a teacher) and my daughters and I are in professions where we can work from home so we're luckier than a lot of folk. But things are getting more frightening by the day. 

So I really just want to wish everyone here well, hope you and your families and loved ones all stay well and safe...and do your best to hang on in there and keep rocking. 

 

HAL9000

Sadly, I reckon you’re right. I’ve recently been considering a new Strat and, possibly, a new amp. However that’s now on hold until things have settled somewhat. I’m sure plenty of potential customers are thinking likewise.

carlos

Me when I see a listing on ebay that's for collection only:

soma1975

Covid isn't stopping me buying anything.

Not having any money is.  

Fifty9

I’d also think that playing a guitar that several others have played within the previous 24hrs is possibly a good way to transmit the virus. - a further reason to avoid shops/buying used right now.

soma1975

I thought it could only survive 12hrs outside the body. Go at opening time before anyone else has touched them!

Babones

Wear surgical gloves with thimbles on the end, like Iommi.

ICBM

Yes, it’s going to be very tough for the smaller shops, including the ones like the one I work for which relies on repair work rather than sales, so in normal times was under less direct threat from online competition.

Let’s hope Mr. Sunak is as good as his word and will provide enough help to at least get us through the crisis. Afterwards, who knows... the world may go back to how it was before, or it may not - hard to tell.

monquixote

Even once it's cleared up a lot of the people who still buy in person are going to be a lot more used to buying online and getting deliveries which will be very bad for the high street.

Jalapeno

Decided not to look at my Pension Fund for now - will see what the new reality is come the summer

prlgmnr

I don't think we're quite at "dystopian nightmare" levels just yet, I mean yeah at the supermarket yesterday I had to get a different brand of hot smoked salmon because my usual choice was sold out but it was hardly Mad Max.

Danny1969

There is going to be a huge amount of used musical instrument kit online soon at very low prices ... purely because many musicians like myself have seen thousands of pounds worth of work disappear in the last week .... not just the gigs but the teaching as well !. .... and the only way to make ends meet for a lot of us will be by selling the bits we have treated ourselves too over the years which aren't strictly necessary to gig but were nice to own. At the end of the day you only need a guitar and an amp at a push .... everything else will have to go to try and make up for the loss of earnings. 

I was never a big buyer but I have a couple of amps that can go and a couple of guitars plus some other bits and pieces. Luckily sales of my own products so far haven't been affected being as most come in at under £20 and weigh less than 500g. So I'm in a better situation then most of my professional mates. 

So it will be a buyers market for products like the Helix, expensive amps, USA Strats, boutique pedals etc. 

 

TINMAN82

prlgmnr said:

I don't think we're quite at "dystopian nightmare" levels just yet, I mean yeah at the supermarket yesterday I had to get a different brand of hot smoked salmon because my usual choice was sold out but it was hardly Mad Max.

Not quite, but it’ll come if we don’t get a working vaccine soon-ish. Live sports, the arts (including live music) and hospitality unlikely to return to baseline for a long time and many will go under.

OP is right. The larger music companies/ manufacturers may tough it out but it’s likely that the days of small boutique products is over for a while.

sw67

I don't think my spending pattern will ever be the same. I have some savings that could vanish if i have to help my sons who have both just purchased a house. If the government dont change SSP to a proper level i am looking at a 85% drop in weekly income

OilCityPickups

prlgmnr said:

I don't think we're quite at "dystopian nightmare" levels just yet, I mean yeah at the supermarket yesterday I had to get a different brand of hot smoked salmon because my usual choice was sold out but it was hardly Mad Max.

You should try our area of London ...

TTony

OilCityPickups said:

prlgmnr said:

but it was hardly Mad Max.

You should try our area of London ...

Yeah, but that's normal for where you are Ash!

stonevibe

Essex Recording Studios or whatever he is calling himself today, will be looking for people dumping their guitars cheap, so they can afford to eat and pay bills.

Time for the vultures to descend.

Of course, no one will buy his overpriced items anyway, so he better have deep pockets or all his money will be tied up in stock.

OilCityPickups

TTony said:

OilCityPickups said:

prlgmnr said:

but it was hardly Mad Max.

You should try our area of London ...

Yeah, but that's normal for where you are Ash!

Not far wrong there Tony

On a serious note ... and re the OP: I think many things will not be the same 'after the pandemic'. I think many of us small businesses will get wiped out. The live event/entertainment industry (in which my wife works) is already decimated, with thousands of 'gig economy' technicians, riggers, sound and lighting folks out of a job. The music industry exists financially on live performance since the 'download revolution' ... so huge harm is being done with every week that big international acts can't tour, and indeed smaller live music venues can't open.

Personally I think the outlook is very bleak indeed, for small music manufacturers like us, musicians in general, and of course the bricks and mortar music shop.

DrBob

OilCityPickups said:

TTony said:

OilCityPickups said:

prlgmnr said:

but it was hardly Mad Max.

You should try our area of London ...

Yeah, but that's normal for where you are Ash!

Not far wrong there Tony

On a serious note ... and re the OP: I think many things will not be the same 'after the pandemic'. I think many of us small businesses will get wiped out. The live event/entertainment industry (in which my wife works) is already decimated, with thousands of 'gig economy' technicians, riggers, sound and lighting folks out of a job. The music industry exists financially on live performance since the 'download revolution' ... so huge harm is being done with every week that big international acts can't tour, and indeed smaller live music venues can't open.

Personally I think the outlook is very bleak indeed, for small music manufacturers like us, musicians in general, and of course the bricks and mortar music shop.

On a tangential note I’m also in the live events industry and I’m on a couple of related Facebook groups, I was reading a post on one of them earlier by a “ScottLockyer” and I did think, “Hmm pretty unusual surname, I wonder if she’s related to Ash ?” So that would be a yes then !
I am now wondering if we ever worked together back when there was still work...

Lodious

Danny1969 said:

There is going to be a huge amount of used musical instrument kit online soon at very low prices ... purely because many musicians like myself have seen thousands of pounds worth of work disappear in the last week .... not just the gigs but the teaching as well !. .... and the only way to make ends meet for a lot of us will be by selling the bits we have treated ourselves too over the years which aren't strictly necessary to gig but were nice to own. At the end of the day you only need a guitar and an amp at a push .... everything else will have to go to try and make up for the loss of earnings. 

I was never a big buyer but I have a couple of amps that can go and a couple of guitars plus some other bits and pieces. Luckily sales of my own products so far haven't been affected being as most come in at under £20 and weigh less than 500g. So I'm in a better situation then most of my professional mates. 

So it will be a buyers market for products like the Helix, expensive amps, USA Strats, boutique pedals etc. 

 

Hi Danny, Have you considered giving online lessons?might be an option to get you through

jeztone2

I’ve been thinking a lot about this.

It strikes me that the elephant in the room regarding music retail has been the governments policy of Austerity for the last decade? I know people go on about on line shopping and all that but consider this?

I was in Leipzig last October. Next door to my hotel in the centre of town was a small mom & pop music store. Exactly the sort of place that has closed down in the UK.  They had a display of Weehbo pedals in a cabinet. I’ve always wanted to try the JVM drive. 

Every time I popped in, they were too busy. The place was thriving. People buying and trying out stuff. Now the last time I looked Germany was the home of Thomann. So how come those places are surviving?

The simple (and uncomfortable) answer is that Germany has a more robust middle class. Wheras in the UK. Once you’re outside London & the South East. The biggest employer is the public sector. Who’ve had a decade of pay freezes. 

I mean I think the reason I managed to recover my stolen PRS, was down to the fact there’s very few places one can move a high end guitar in the UK now. There just isn’t.