Four financial strategies to help music retailers survive the uncertain

Music Authority’s
retail sales have
slipped 20–45
percent monthly
since the economy
took a nosedive last year.
Melissa Loggins, co-owner of
the Cumming, Ga., full-line
dealership, is daunted by the
downward trend — but only to
a point. Her store’s music lessons
program skyrocketed from
377 to nearly 500 students during
the past 14 months. And
she expects it to keep growing.
“For us, right now, lessons are
floating the business,” she said.
Loggins called her lesson
program “a profit center” in
itself, a service that not only
covers overhead but offsets
underperforming segments,
such as retail. Her challenge
now is controlling that growth
with limited resources.
“The downside is in better
times I was able to take our
extra money and improve studios,”
she said. “The upside is
we’re still here, and we’ll make
it through.”
THE PRIVATE SCHOOL MODEL
Music Authority’s success
hasn’t come by happenstance.
When Loggins and her
husband, Andrew, purchased
the business four years ago,
they decided to invest in creating
a structured yet fun curriculum.
Their first step: contacting
teacher organizations, such as
Music Teachers National
Association, and creating a list
of qualities that colleges sought
in freshmen music students.
“We took the model of a private
school, and we tried to
apply it to our music program,”
she said.
“Our kids come in for a 30minute
lesson, and they’re going
to have a book. It’s not optional.
They’re going to learn how to
read music, and I mean standard
notation, not just tablature.
“[Students] also learn how
to work with other kids.
Because the other thing we ran
across is we might have a really
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MUSIC AUTHORITY I BY ZACH PHILLIPS
THE LESSONS AUTHORITY
Music Authority
is riding out
the recession
with a growing
education
division
Melissa Loggins
Inside RETAIL
great guitar player, but you
throw him in with a piano
player, and they can’t communicate
with each other.”
Music Authority attracts
world-class teachers, in part, by
paying them $25.50 an hour.
The store keeps the remaining
$12.50. (Private lessons cost
$19 per half-hour if paid with
cash or check and $20 if paid
with plastic.) One teacher even
relocated from Buffalo, N.Y., to
the Atlanta area to work there.
All teachers are required to
have post-secondary education
in music — the equivalent of
finishing sophomore year in
college.
Right now, Loggins said she
has a stack of teacher resumes
an inch thick on her desk.
REFERRAL BUSINESS
Music Authority doesn’t
advertise. Loggins estimated
95 percent of her new
lesson sign-ups come via referrals
from existing students.
Still, the company works hard
to keep current students satisfied
and enthusiastic about
music. Every summer, it hosts
rock camps, which Loggins
called “a huge thing.” This
year, it’s launching a girls-only
rock camp. An in-house recording
studio also gives students
the opportunity to tape themselves.
Students in upper-level
classes are required to use the
MAY 2009 I MUSIC INC. I 13