Just Released New for 2025

For the Year Ended 2025, Slowing Demand, New Competitors, and Online Growth Reshape Retail. Sales decline and productivity measures slip, while online sellers continue to gain market share.

By the numbers, 2024 was a down year for the 200 largest North American music products retailers on every front. Estimated gross revenues for the group declined 4% to $6.63 billion, compared to $6.90 billion in 2023, the employee count trended down 6.2% to 21,140 versus 22,830 in 2023 and the number of storefronts declined 4.5% to 1,116 versus 1,168. The 54 retailers on the roster who posted sales gains for the year were in a distinct minority. 134 of their compatriots saw declines ranging from 1% to 40% and only 12 posted flat revenues.

Declines are never welcome, but the music products retailers who struggled in 2024 can take some comfort knowing that many other industries faced a similar plight. Consumer surveys conducted by credit card issuer VISA, Bank of America, and the University of Michigan tell the same story. Roughly 80% of middle income consumers, defined as those with incomes between $50,000 and $150,000, noticed material price increases in 2024 and 90% of them reported implementing some level of budget cuts. These belt tightening moves however, were not equally distributed. They were evident in in grocery aisles where generic brands gained market share, and in declining sales volumes for many other consumer products: home appliances, down 5.7%; footwear down 5%; apparel down 3.2%; and consumer electronics, excluding smart phones, down 0.8%. For the music products industry, these consumer pressures were reflected in a 6% decline in guitar sales, a 24% decline in acoustic pianos, and a 3% decline in recording gear.

In the 2025 Top 200 Report, you will find detailed data on America’s largest music stores and what their sales were in the last year. In addition to total revenues, this report includes sales per employee, sales per store, and productivity rankings, as well as general background and contact information for the 200 largest U.S music retailers.

The most current report includes information on companies with sales ranging from $2 million to $2 billion. Collectively, this group of leading music stores employs over 20,000 and accounts for more than 70% of overall music industry sales volume.

Available formats:

• PDF: $65.00
• Microsoft Excel + PDF: $119.95 – Spreadsheets include five years of sales history with year-over-year comparisons, store count, employee count, product types sold, CEO, and complete contact information.

Order below.
Information in the current report includes estimated sales, employment, and location count data for the largest 200 music stores in the United States.