Robin Padgham Piano Teacher

Music shops

They've all gone!
Maybe not all of them, but so many have.

It was a sad day when Windblowers of Nottingham closed down. The reasons were entirely understandable: the owners had run it for decades and wanted someone to take over to keep it going but were unable to find anyone. The wind instrument sales and repair business continues in new premises on the Beeston Business Park but the days of browsing through packed shelves of sheet music have gone. Which is a great shame.

Although never a favourite of mine, Foulds of Derby has also closed its doors. The original store in Irongate was opened by Charles Foulds in 1908. If for no other reason, it was always good for a browse of their piano showroom (in a separate room at the back) where a good range of acoustic uprights and a few grands could be found. A part of the business remains, catering for guitarists, and is now known as Foulds Guitars.

Musicroom went around the country buying up a fair number of independent music shops, such as Fox's Music in Nottingham's Victoria Centre and Banks in York. Subsequently, all except one were closed, the exception being in London just off the Charing Cross Road but that too was closed in 2023. That final closure was decided upon after careful consideration and evaluation of the current business climate and the challenges facing the retail industry.

Retail on the high street is most definitely not what it was even only ten years ago. In fact, it is almost a thing of the past and of course, not just for music shops.

What other music shops exist where you can browse and choose music that you want to play? There are probably still some around but all the familiar and most useful ones have gone. Foyles in London is good for a couple of hours browsing but it's not exactly local.

Better news
It's good to see that PMT is still trading with about a dozen shops throughout the country. They sell lots of good, fun, interesting stuff, acoustic and electronic instruments, amps, speakers, etc. and aimed mainly at rock/pop bands and suchlike. Well worth a visit. I've been to three of their shops (and bought stuff) in Leeds, Birmingham, and Oxford. Nice helpful staff.

They've don't something rather silly with their name in my opinion, because PMT used to stand for Professional Music Technology which sounded nice and robust and, well, erm, professional. Now it stands for Play Music Today. Somehow it sounds like a bit of a downgrade to me.

Hobgoblin is another interesting shop that's still going, catering more for the Folk Music crowd. There are nine shops as I write this. I've visited two of those and can easily spend an hour or more browsing the vast and eclectic range of instruments that they stock.

Sheet music
PMT and Hobgoblin are great places but when it comes to buying sheet music, it appears that online is one of the few, if not the only way forward. The mighty Amazon is one option and MusicRoom, although having closed all their high street stores, do still sell an extensive range of sheet music online.

Online will never be the same as spending an hour in Windblowers though. For a start, you have to know what you want to buy. Browsing through images of the front covers of books is not going to help you discover something new. There's no element of Serendipity to online shopping, and no help either, especially when it comes to sheet music.

Links
Websites of business mentioned above are linked to below. All open in a new tab.

Hobgoblin

PMT

Foulds Guitars

Musicroom

Windblowers

Last Updated: 9th April 2025

Music shops

Last Updated: 9th April 2025