Music stores strike the revamp chord
MUSIC EQUIPMENT SHOWROOMS in town are reinventing themselves to woo customers. t2 takes A LOOK AT the booming business of ROCK’N’ROLL
For every professional musician lighting up a pub stage in town, there are a hundred teenagers waiting in the wings to take up music as a serious career. And these aspirants know their equipment — a thousand websites have taught them all about every make and model of guitar, every drumhead, every customised amplifier, every effects rack. And even in Calcutta, they are going in search of the best in global gear.
And music stores around town are playing their tune. They have taken the revamp route, updating their offering, bringing the best equipment and service to the city. A far cry from the dusty stack of violins, guitars or unkempt drums that have long marked Calcutta shops, they are now adopting swanky displays in the style of stores such as Musicians Mall in Mumbai or OnStage, New Delhi.
Revamp road
Even the 101-year-old J. Reynold & Co on Mirza Ghalib Street is looking to change its offering. “We plan to redesign the entire upper floor of the present store area and turn it into a 1,200sqft rehearsal space/testing room. For that, we need to find an alternative storage space for much of the equipment that is shipped to us from Mumbai, but we’ll be converting soon,” says Peter Remedios, chairman of J. Reynold & Co.
Reynolds has already updated itself with the plush Roland Planet adjacent to its existing store. It was an expansion from Roland’s lone showroom in Kankurgachhi. Both the outlets stock choice single-unit guitar effects from the Boss line, professional amplifiers, the hot-seller all-in-one wonder electronic drum, the HandSonic, Roland V-Drums and top-of-the-line Roland workstation keyboards.
Braganza & Co. off Mirza Ghalib Street, long known for its excellent post-sales service in violin and piano repairs, has also pumped up the jam, transforming its dusty storefront to an air-conditioned area with neatly stacked guitars, drumsets and keyboards. The shop is also looking to expand to another outlet soon.
The extent to which the business of music has grown in the city can be gauged by the more recent entrant Guitar Center @ Tolly, a property owned by Iqbal Ahmed. The group owns two more stores — Roland Pro Music Shoppe at Kidderpore and Music Messe at Esplanade, both fairly recent additions to the music store roster.
Guitar Center @ Tolly is the newest venture by Ahmed, which opened doors in February. The SP Mukherjee Road address (near the Tollygunge Phari crossing) has already acquired an adjacent space to accommodate a Plexiglass-built guitar/amp testing room, more rack space and even a drummer’s pedestal to test new arrivals. The display is a musician’s delight, not to mention the readily available top-of-the-line equipment and good after-sales service.
“In this business, investment equals profit. It’s very simple: if you keep a wider range of options for your customer, you are bound to sell more equipment,” explains Ahmed.
But the display and design aspects are equally important and both Remedios and Ahmed visit equipment expos abroad, particularly Musicmesse Frankfurt and other fairs in Japan and Hong Kong. “You really get a very good idea about delivering the goods from these expos,” says Remedios. Translating these concepts to a Calcutta storefront is the next step.
Professional musicians and those aspiring to take up a career in music are happy at the greater availability of gear. While the younger lot would like better stocks, more options — and “better prices”, they emphasise — most pros in town welcome the post-sales service offered and the availability of basics like drumheads, guitar strings, cables, sticks and stands. “The fact that new shops are coming up and the older ones are sprucing themselves up is a definite sign of improvement on music in the city,” says drummer Chiradeep Lahiri.
Guitarist Amyt Dutta (Skinny Alley/Pink Noise) feels there really cannot be any comparison between the equipment market three decades back, when he was starting out, and now. “We had next to nothing in terms of equipment and had to make do with whatever was locally available. Now, the market has opened up manifold,” he says. With the influx of imported equipment now available, Amyt feels that local brands should up the ante about the quality of manufacturing. He also suggests stocking up on accessories and improved after-sales service.
The younger lot is ready for more: “There should be jam pads, like in stores abroad!” suggests Yudhajit Biswas, bassist for the budding band Black Rose.
The downturn has not really turned the volume down on sales. “Things may have changed in Delhi and Mumbai, but shows keep happening in Calcutta. And as long as musicians are playing regularly, the recession doesn’t really affect our business,” says Ahmed.
Spread the music
There are also plans to widen the scope of these musical instrument retailers. While Guitar Center @ Tolly often organises performances by up-and-coming bands, J. Reynold & Co. has plans to promote music through an academy. Among other things, the chain wants to start a music school which will teach how to play instruments as well as related arts like DJing, and dancing, host workshops and roadshows by professionals to highlight product capabilities, offer live performances and tie up with schools for musical education programmes involving small wind instruments like flute and clarinet, along with percussion.
Youngsters get an opportunity to showcase their talent, the stores get to flaunt their equipment, professional musicians acquire endorsement deals — it’s a win-win situation for all.
And music stores around town are playing their tune. They have taken the revamp route, updating their offering, bringing the best equipment and service to the city. A far cry from the dusty stack of violins, guitars or unkempt drums that have long marked Calcutta shops, they are now adopting swanky displays in the style of stores such as Musicians Mall in Mumbai or OnStage, New Delhi.
Revamp road
Even the 101-year-old J. Reynold & Co on Mirza Ghalib Street is looking to change its offering. “We plan to redesign the entire upper floor of the present store area and turn it into a 1,200sqft rehearsal space/testing room. For that, we need to find an alternative storage space for much of the equipment that is shipped to us from Mumbai, but we’ll be converting soon,” says Peter Remedios, chairman of J. Reynold & Co.
Reynolds has already updated itself with the plush Roland Planet adjacent to its existing store. It was an expansion from Roland’s lone showroom in Kankurgachhi. Both the outlets stock choice single-unit guitar effects from the Boss line, professional amplifiers, the hot-seller all-in-one wonder electronic drum, the HandSonic, Roland V-Drums and top-of-the-line Roland workstation keyboards.
Braganza & Co. off Mirza Ghalib Street, long known for its excellent post-sales service in violin and piano repairs, has also pumped up the jam, transforming its dusty storefront to an air-conditioned area with neatly stacked guitars, drumsets and keyboards. The shop is also looking to expand to another outlet soon.
The extent to which the business of music has grown in the city can be gauged by the more recent entrant Guitar Center @ Tolly, a property owned by Iqbal Ahmed. The group owns two more stores — Roland Pro Music Shoppe at Kidderpore and Music Messe at Esplanade, both fairly recent additions to the music store roster.
Guitar Center @ Tolly is the newest venture by Ahmed, which opened doors in February. The SP Mukherjee Road address (near the Tollygunge Phari crossing) has already acquired an adjacent space to accommodate a Plexiglass-built guitar/amp testing room, more rack space and even a drummer’s pedestal to test new arrivals. The display is a musician’s delight, not to mention the readily available top-of-the-line equipment and good after-sales service.
“In this business, investment equals profit. It’s very simple: if you keep a wider range of options for your customer, you are bound to sell more equipment,” explains Ahmed.
But the display and design aspects are equally important and both Remedios and Ahmed visit equipment expos abroad, particularly Musicmesse Frankfurt and other fairs in Japan and Hong Kong. “You really get a very good idea about delivering the goods from these expos,” says Remedios. Translating these concepts to a Calcutta storefront is the next step.
Professional musicians and those aspiring to take up a career in music are happy at the greater availability of gear. While the younger lot would like better stocks, more options — and “better prices”, they emphasise — most pros in town welcome the post-sales service offered and the availability of basics like drumheads, guitar strings, cables, sticks and stands. “The fact that new shops are coming up and the older ones are sprucing themselves up is a definite sign of improvement on music in the city,” says drummer Chiradeep Lahiri.
Guitarist Amyt Dutta (Skinny Alley/Pink Noise) feels there really cannot be any comparison between the equipment market three decades back, when he was starting out, and now. “We had next to nothing in terms of equipment and had to make do with whatever was locally available. Now, the market has opened up manifold,” he says. With the influx of imported equipment now available, Amyt feels that local brands should up the ante about the quality of manufacturing. He also suggests stocking up on accessories and improved after-sales service.
The younger lot is ready for more: “There should be jam pads, like in stores abroad!” suggests Yudhajit Biswas, bassist for the budding band Black Rose.
The downturn has not really turned the volume down on sales. “Things may have changed in Delhi and Mumbai, but shows keep happening in Calcutta. And as long as musicians are playing regularly, the recession doesn’t really affect our business,” says Ahmed.
Spread the music
There are also plans to widen the scope of these musical instrument retailers. While Guitar Center @ Tolly often organises performances by up-and-coming bands, J. Reynold & Co. has plans to promote music through an academy. Among other things, the chain wants to start a music school which will teach how to play instruments as well as related arts like DJing, and dancing, host workshops and roadshows by professionals to highlight product capabilities, offer live performances and tie up with schools for musical education programmes involving small wind instruments like flute and clarinet, along with percussion.
Youngsters get an opportunity to showcase their talent, the stores get to flaunt their equipment, professional musicians acquire endorsement deals — it’s a win-win situation for all.
GETTING GEAR
ELECTRIC GUITARS: The big names include Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, ESP/LTD and Washburn. Starter prices at Rs 9,000, while on-demand orders for particular models can see the price exceed Rs 1 lakh.
ACOUSTIC GUITARS: Fender and Ibanez are the more common brands. Of late, some stores are also bringing in more expensive brands like Taylor and Takamine. And most shops manufacture their own brands of acoustic guitars, Reynolds and Braganza being the pioneers in the field. Prices start at Rs 1,200. Once again, special orders can cost Rs 1 lakh-plus.
KEYBOARDS: The Roland stores have cornered a chunk of keyboard sales. Other brands include Yamaha, Korg and even the ubiquitous Casio. Prices start at
Rs 25,000 approximately.
DRUMS AND CYMBALS: Tama, Mapex and Basix had been dominant drum brands till this year, when Japanese heavyweight Pearl also entered the Indian market with its full line. Prices for acoustic drums begin at Rs 20,000. American and Canadian cymbal majors Zildjian and Sabian are more prevalent than the Swiss brand Paiste. Starter packs (of four cymbals) come for Rs 15,000. The electronic drums market is more or less a Roland monopoly, with its V-Drums line starting from Rs 50,000.
ACOUSTIC GUITARS: Fender and Ibanez are the more common brands. Of late, some stores are also bringing in more expensive brands like Taylor and Takamine. And most shops manufacture their own brands of acoustic guitars, Reynolds and Braganza being the pioneers in the field. Prices start at Rs 1,200. Once again, special orders can cost Rs 1 lakh-plus.
KEYBOARDS: The Roland stores have cornered a chunk of keyboard sales. Other brands include Yamaha, Korg and even the ubiquitous Casio. Prices start at
Rs 25,000 approximately.
DRUMS AND CYMBALS: Tama, Mapex and Basix had been dominant drum brands till this year, when Japanese heavyweight Pearl also entered the Indian market with its full line. Prices for acoustic drums begin at Rs 20,000. American and Canadian cymbal majors Zildjian and Sabian are more prevalent than the Swiss brand Paiste. Starter packs (of four cymbals) come for Rs 15,000. The electronic drums market is more or less a Roland monopoly, with its V-Drums line starting from Rs 50,000.
WHERE TO SHOP
J. Reynold & Co. (Mirza Ghalib Street)
Roland Planet (Mirza Ghalib Street and Kankurgachhi)
Roland Pro Music Shoppe (Kidderpore)
Music Messe (Esplanade, near Chandni Chowk)
Guitar Center @ Tolly (SP Mukherjee-Tollygunge Phari crossing)
Braganza & Co. (off Mirza Ghalib Street)
Roland Planet (Mirza Ghalib Street and Kankurgachhi)
Roland Pro Music Shoppe (Kidderpore)
Music Messe (Esplanade, near Chandni Chowk)
Guitar Center @ Tolly (SP Mukherjee-Tollygunge Phari crossing)
Braganza & Co. (off Mirza Ghalib Street)
Arka Das
Published in t2, The Telegraph, September 2, 2009
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