Music Retail’s Netflix Moment: Will Your Business Stream or Buffer? 🎸 🎬

By Lee Alexander

Big names are falling. Are you next? 

Walk into some MI stores today and it’s like stepping into a time capsule, some stores literally haven’t changed since I was 14 years old and buying my first guitar. (A second hand Tanglewood Rickenbacker ‘inspired’ guitar with a neck like a banana fyi)

✅Same dusty non inspiring window displays with no CTA’s. 

✅Same cramped, non sensical layout. 

✅Same old tired and uninspiring brands. 

✅Same shrug your shoulders customer service.

Meanwhile, today’s consumers expect Amazon-level ease, Netflix-level UX, and smartphone-level speed.

While some forward-thinking MI retailers have successfully adapted, far too many remain stuck in a rut of outdated practices and attitudes. I see too many stores that are still running a 1995 business plan in a 2025 world, and it’s not just about how it looks. When the experience feels dated, the profit and loss bleeds.

Look at the list of recent casualties:

🇺🇸 Sam Ash — gone. Nearly 100 years of history, wiped out. 

🇺🇸 Guitar Center — shutting store and riddled with debt. 

🇬🇧 JG Windows — closed in December 2024 after 115 years. 

🇳🇱 BAX Music — filed for insolvency. 

🇬🇧 GAK — Closed down and stripped of assets.

These weren’t small shops scraping by. These were household names, major players with long histories and strong reputations.

If they can fall, anyone can.

This isn’t a downturn. It’s a reckoning.

The Real Problem? They Didn’t Adapt.

👉 Too many MI retailers are stuck in the past, running in survival mode — but still using strategies that haven’t evolved in decades compounded by “we’ve always done it this way” thinking.

• An ‘I know best’ attitude.

• Same clunky website from 2010.

• Same old school customer service.

• Same old-school “I’ll wait and see” mindset.

• Same brand mix from 20+ years ago.

All while the customer and the market has completely changed.

They want ease. Speed. Trust. Choice.

·      They shop differently.

·      They research everything online.

·      They expect flexibility, value, and transparency.

And they don’t care how long you’ve been around or that you once sold a cajon to Bob Geldof’s sister if your service, attitude, offering and overall shopping experience feels dated.

What Adaptation Looks Like: reSound Market

Last year, alongside Evan Michaels I co-founded reSound Market — a platform built to unify the fragmented pre-owned instrument market. We saw the opportunity: Great gear was scattered across archaic websites, Facebook groups, and fee-heavy, scam ridden platforms like Reverb and eBay.

So, we built something better.

✅ No selling fees 

✅ Verified listings and vetted buyers 

✅ Retailers keep 100% of their margin 

✅ Professional, trusted customer experience

And here’s what happened:

📈 10,000+ visits a day within the first year

 📈 1000’s of Users, Listings and sales growing daily 

📈 100’s of Retailers, brands and verified private sellers moving gear with zero sales fees

The ones who joined early? They’re winning. Plain and simple.

But others?

They’ve ignored the invite. No response. No interest. No curiosity.

To me at least this attitude is simply business suicide.(If not just plain rude...)

Same Story with Guitars

I also represent and work closely with two phenomenal guitar brands that are absolutely killing it right now:

🎸 JET Guitars — launched in 2020 and has grown rapidly into one of Europe’s fastest selling guitar brands. Boutique aesthetics. Great specs. Fantastic build quality. And the price points? Way below what players expect.

🎸 Spira Guitars — our new sister brand. Modern styling. Built for today’s rock and metal players. Affordable, aggressive, and full of attitude.

Retailers who have embraced these brands are having real success. They’re selling not just to their existing customer base but also to new younger players, TikTokers, emerging pros, and working musicians who want value and vibe — not legacy logos.

Some retailer's have done amazing in-store displays, plugged into influencer communities, and actually listened to what their customers want today.

Better still, both brands return above-average margins for retailers but equally we have worked hard to provide a go to market strategy that is rewarding for the retailer. 

But again — some?

No response. No Interest. No questions.

They’d rather keep pushing the same tired old brands with razor-thin margins and dwindling demand — because it feels “safe.” 🤷🏻

But here’s the truth: There is no safety in standing still.

Let’s Be Real

No — I don’t expect every shop to stock JET and Spira Guitars. 

No — I don’t expect every MI retailer to join reSound.

But I do expect professionals to at the very least explore new opportunities before it’s too late. The complete unwillingness by some MI individuals to even have a conversation tells me that parts of this industry are closing in on themselves. It’s not just about what you sell it’s about how open you are to change and working with others to strengthen your own position, you don’t need to, and neither should you be an island.

This Is the Wake-Up Call

As I said at the start, I am by no means talking about all MI retailers here, let’s be clear on that.

However for some retailers both small and large this must be taken onboard.

🚨 The market has changed. 

🚨 Your customers have changed. 

🚨 And if you don’t recognise this — you will suffer.

Ask yourself:

🔹 Are you evolving faster than the market? 

🔹 Are you exploring new brands, platforms, and channels? 

🔹 Or are you clinging to old habits that are slowly draining your business?

The Bottom Line

This is the Blockbuster vs Netflix moment for MI…

This industry is still full of potential. People still love musical instruments. They’re still playing, still buying, still searching for their next piece of gear.

But they’re not doing it the way they used to.

If you want to survive and grow you need to meet them where they are now and look after them the way they expect.

It’s time to innovate or evaporate.

Hopefully, this sparks some much-needed maybe even uncomfortable conversations. Because the last thing I want is to see another MI retailer turn out the lights for good.