Have your say: Letters to the Editor April 2023

Going, going, gone?

February saw the very sad announcement that seven of the eight Musicroom stores across the UK were closing on March 17. This was a particular blow as one of them is my beloved Banks Musicroom in York (nothing to do with Banks Publishing, which is thankfully alive and well!). I think the massive reduction of music shops creates an incredibly difficult issue. Claiming that teachers can just go online simply isn’t a solution for new or unseen titles. Music shops are indeed ‘showrooms’ where many teachers properly check the contents and overall quality of a book before buying. When I recently attended the Casio Grand Hybrid Teacher Development day and the Music & Drama Expo, time and time again teachers told me they wanted to see books ‘in person’ before purchasing them. Many had purchased books without doing so and were sadly disappointed.

We need to find some creative solutions to this problem. I would like to appeal to all music education organisations to consider pulling together and consider, for example, if a ‘mobile music book bus’ could travel around the UK. Parking on Saturday morning and midweek at Music Service addresses, it could sell to students here but also local teachers who want to come and take a look. This is perhaps an ‘out there’ solution, but we do need something; the internet is not the complete answer, it really isn’t. Music education is already struggling, and ensuring teachers can select the right materials for their students to thrive is vital for the next generation of music-makers.

I’d like to pay tribute to the wonderful staff at Banks Musicroom who have served me, my students and my three children brilliantly for decades now. You will all be sadly missed – you have been outstanding. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you also to the staff at the other Musicroom stores; even though I don’t know you personally, I am sure you too have been equally fabulous. I hope you find new fulfilling employment very soon. You deserve it. Good luck and very best wishes to all.

We must also support the music shops we have left. I will be heading to Forsyths Music Shop in Manchester when I next visit my daughter studying at RNCM. We can also support stores that have more online services. Let’s fight to keep the stores we have left.

Karen Marshall, York

THE PERIS by Harry Venning