WHAT DO CANADIAN MUSICIANS
WANT FROM MI RETAILERS ?
WE ASKED THEM
By Michael Raine
Every retailer knows that they have to stay in tune with what their customers and community are doing and wanting – and few things have so quickly and dramatically altered the retail landscape and the behaviour of shoppers than the pandemic . With stores forced to shut their doors and adapt , whether it be implementing curbside pickup , expanded online shopping , or other options , customers also had to adapt to the circumstances . What folks on both sides of the equation found is that they missed a lot about the old normal , but also appreciated some of the new innovations and conveniences . And so , as we emerge from the pandemic ( hopefully for good this time ), we wanted to find out what is still attracting musicians to their local MI retailers , both when it comes to their brick-and-mortar offerings , as well as their online presence .
To do this , in partnership with Canadian Music Trade ’ s sister publication , Canadian Musician , we surveyed 130 musicians from across Canada ( and a few American musicians who opted to do the survey anyway ) in March 2022 about their current shopping habits and preferences . Let ’ s take a look at what they said ….
First , in terms of how often musicians report they ’ re entering brick-and-mortar music stores , it ’ s a little less often than I expected . Over 30 % said they go into an MI store only every couple of months , and a quarter of all respondents said it ’ s even less often than that . Just 10 % say it ’ s weekly .
That said , more than 40 % of respondents buy something almost every time they enter an MI store , and an additional 9 % say they buy something around three-quarters of the time .
In comparison , when it comes to browsing and researching instruments and gear online , more than half are doing it at least a few times a month , with 11 % saying “ daily ” and two-in-ten say they do it multiple times a week .
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