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' as in recording, so that includes CDs and MiniDiscs too - not just good old vinyl.
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. Even the ubiquitous CD looks like it may be eclipsed by DVDs and MP3s soon.
Yet, despite the changes in format the one thing that doesn't change is the UK's insatiable appetite for music.
Chart breakers
In the past 17 years annual expenditure on all musical formats has risen year on year according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), from a total of £104 million in 1973 through to 2001's £1,232 million.
And despite the poor sales of cassettes, singles, LPs and MiniDiscs in 2001, the underlying annualised trend still managed an inflation-busting total growth of 5.3%.
So even though the media are predicting the 'end of music', sales are showing quite the opposite. In fact, 12" single sales are still growing (6.2 million in 1998 up to 8.5 million in 2001) despite vinyl having being labelled a 'dead format' for the past 10 years.
One note of warning, though. BPI recorded that in the summer quarter of 2001 there was a drop in sales, the first in 10 quarters. But it attributed this to increasing uncertainty about the economy and the falling number of visitors to the UK. Q4 rallied, however, and provided a 5.2% rise.
However although music in all it's formats is still popular, record shops are not necessarily a dead cert. Mail order and the internet offer 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, 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, MD of 21-year-old record chain Fopp (www.fopp.co.uk) 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."
