Where Have All the Music Shops Gone?

Walk down any high street today and you’ll see it: another empty unit where a music shop used to be. In the last decade, we’ve watched these little sanctuaries quietly vanish—one by one—until only a small handful remain. It’s strange how quickly it’s happened, and stranger still how much we all seem to miss them only once they’re gone.

I still remember the sheer excitement of going into music shops as a kid (Academy of Sound on Humberstone Gate in Leicester). Me and my friends would head there on Saturdays like it was a destination, not just a shop. The moment you stepped through the door, it felt cool—walls lined with gleaming guitars, amps humming quietly in the background, the friendly buzz of people trying out riffs they probably shouldn’t. The atmosphere alone made you feel like you were part of something bigger, something musical. It wasn’t just browsing; it was an experience.

These days, of course, a lot of people buy their guitars online. It’s convenient, quick, often the “best price” on paper. But best price doesn’t always mean best value. Value comes from assurance, craftsmanship, setup, and support—things you can’t always see on a product page. And buying a guitar you’ve never actually held is a gamble. Instruments are personal: the feel, the balance, the response. You don’t know if a guitar is yours until you’ve played it, even briefly.

And then there’s the setup. Factory setups are… fine, sometimes. Other times the action is high, the frets scratchy, the intonation questionable. You can get it sorted locally, sure—but that’s extra time, extra cost, and extra frustration, especially for beginners who don’t yet know what “right” feels like. Too many first-timers unbox a guitar only to discover it’s uncomfortable or uninspiring. How many future musicians did we lose because their first guitar wasn’t set up to succeed?

Now compare that with walking into a proper music shop.

Someone greets you. They talk to you like you’re already a musician, even if it’s your first visit. You can pick up ten guitars and find the one that speaks. You get real advice from real players. If something feels off, someone fixes it on the spot. And when you leave, you’re not just carrying a guitar—you’re carrying the confidence that it’s ready to play, backed by local support and genuine care.

That experience matters. It’s the heartbeat of why independent music shops ever existed in the first place: community, connection, and expertise.

And it’s exactly why we created The Intasound Standard. 

As the world shifts more and more toward online buying, we want to bring the spirit of that music shop experience into everything we sell—whether you’re in-store or ordering from your sofa. At it's core is our Play-Ready Promise: every guitar is checked, adjusted, tuned, and prepared before it ever reaches your hands. No mystery setup. No guesswork. No disappointment.

We can’t bring back every music shop that has disappeared…
But we can keep the values that made them special alive.

And that’s what the Intasound Standard is all about.