If you know your Fall from your Fauré and your Goldie from your Górecki then you just may have what it takes to be a record retailer. And we mean 'record' in the broadest sense of recording, not just vinyl or CD.
But it’s a tough sector: the mass-market for vinyl has long since gone, along with the market for pre-recorded tapes and practically every other recordable format we've bought or collected over the last fifty years. For a while now it’s looked like the once-ubiquitous music store CD may be eclipsed by net based music retailers and MP3s.
Format keeps changing, but the one thing that remains the same is the UK's insatiable appetite for music. Here are some things to consider before you decide to set up shop.
Chart breakers
According to figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the retail value of music sales fell by 15% in 2007. And while digital expenditure rose by 78% -- or £54m -- and accounted for some 9% of consumer spending on music over the year, digital increases were insufficient to offset physical format losses over 2007. Industry revenue fell by 13.5%.
Similarly, year-on-year album sales were down most months in 2008, though the rate of decrease isn’t as high as media predictions of the ‘end of music’ would suggest. The overall decrease for 2008 was around 5.5%; in August, the decline was 2.7%, while in May it ran at 8%.
Recent years have proved difficult for music retail, with many companies going into administration, and supermarkets and web-retailers taking increasing shares of the market. The widespread availability of unauthorised free music online both hampers the development of legitimate digital music services and cuts into CD sales.
So although music in all it's formats is still popular, record shops are not a dead cert by any means: the falling retail price of music continues to make life very difficult for retailers. However, the internet and mail order are viable alternatives to basing your business in a shop.
A different tune
The mass market tends to buy Top 40 CDs from the big chains such as HMV and Virgin, retailers such as WH Smith and Woolworths, or along with their weekly shop at a supermarket such as Tesco. But hardly ever from a smaller record shop.
Competition is fierce and, apart from the convenience of doing so, buying these larger retailers is also cheaper. One thing is certain, though, the days, when smaller shops sold everything from pop to classical are truly over.
Today, if you want to be successful record retailer, whether in a shop or online, you need to target a niche sector, whether it be dance music, reggae, classical or indie.
Classical records have seen a real increase in sales, partly due to the popularity of pop-classic radio stations such as Classic FM. A smaller rise in Jazz sales has also been noticed but only in the South East where radio station Jazz FM has also been successful in building a faithful - and well-heeled - audience. However, the move to digital radio via satellite TV may just see this trend spreading through the regions.
Qualifications
Becoming a record retailer is a matter of dedication and knowing your subject rather than of having qualifications. The typical entry point for a retail owner is to have gained experience in record retailing, either as a worker in a record shop or more often as a buyer at a shop.
Most begin small and build up - starting with just a box of rare or cheap records and a market stall is not uncommon. Phil Leigh owner of mail-order outlet Norman Records (www.normanrecords.com) in Leeds, says, "I used to work in record shops years ago and eventually I was in charge of buying stock, which was great. I started up with £50, a box of my own records and a typewriter.
"I did it all from home but moved premises a couple of years ago. Starting small is good but the downside is you build up slowly. I suppose you have less to lose that way. I started doing this part time and one day quit my job and started doing this full time and finally it's paid off."
Gordon Montgomery of independent record chain Fopp concurs: "Start according to your resources - I had lots of retail experience in HMV and Virgin and I brought all my customers through my Virgin days. However, my mistake was having only having a small amount of finance and it took ages to expand business as I only had enough to restock and pay my wages"
The qualities required are pretty much what you would expect for any other small business. "Aside from common sense, you need the patience of a saint, stamina and a very understanding partner", says Leigh.
If you're looking for advice on starting out there's no substitute for talking to people already in the business. "I used to speak to other mail order dealers on the phone and pop into second-hand record shops in Leeds to speak to them about stuff but largely I did it all single-handedly," says Leigh.
It's also very important to listen to your customers says Montgomery. "Basically whatever the customers asked for was my market research. When a customer asked, 'Can you get me this indie single', I would look into that area."
** Image courtesy of Swansea Photographer on Flickr **
