We spoke to the MusicZone team based in Deanrock Business Park, Togher, Cork. Ray, Shane and Adam share their insights about the challenges, and joys of running a physical music shop in these ever evolving digital times.
Why is there a MusicZone?
Ray: I always had a great love for music growing up as a child, there was an old ” new” at the time 3 in 1 at home, with a turntable on top, radio, cassette player and space at the bottom for maybe 50 records. It was in the “good” room in a small terraced house just off Barrack Street in Cork City. I loved spending time in that room with the music as a child.
I was working part time in McDonalds when a friend of mine Tim (still a friend, and a good customer, does all our instore videos for us) got a job in the local Golden Discs in Patrick Street. I remember saying that if any work was coming up there to give me a shout. True to his word he did, he was leaving to join the Guards and there was a full time job going. I got the job, started there in Oct/Nov 1994, I loved it.
I worked for Golden Discs until early 2001, happy days. An opportunity arose in Carrigaline, a town outside Cork when a shopping mall was about to open there. I had no money though. I spoke to my brother about it and he remortgaged his home to loan me 25,000 punts. I managed to borrow 10k punts from the credit union, and the reps from the record companies said I would get 30 days credit (breathing room) and Music Zone without a .ie was born on the 8th of May 2001.
You moved from Douglas Shopping Centre, after the fire, how is it in your new location?
Business became challenging in Carrigaline from 2007 on, after a few bumper years in 2003,04.and 05. Steve Jobs’ iPods were taking over, business started to drop, I tried all sorts in the shop to survive, internet cafe, tee shirt printing service, but by 2010/ 2011 things were fairly critical, it was nearly last rites time. I managed to do a deal to get out of the lease in Carrigaline and took a one year license in Douglas Village SC in Nov 2011. It was going OK in there, only okay to be honest and then we were flooded in that shop on the 27th June 2012, ah man.
It was really tough, all folks seemed to want was iTunes vouchers. Polite answer always was sorry we don’t do them, impolite answer would have been em hem we are a physical record shop. It was tricky. I managed to secure in license for 12 months in Douglas Court ( as well as Douglas Village, don’t ask, surviving on fumes and felt Douglas court would be a better option) so had two record shops in Douglas for a short period of time.
January 2013 and it was solely one shop in Douglas Court and running it myself and there was a chink of light coming. David Bowie and vinyl, we had been back selling vinyl for a couple of years and had done RECORD STORE DAY in April 2012 before the flood and over time sold everything we got in.Bowie released a ” surprise” album for his birthday in 2013 ” the next day” and we had sold 10 vinyl copies and 20 CD copies in a few days. Is that a corner I see?
In 2004 there were just over 200 record shops in Ireland, it was 37 in 2012!! About 50 now I think, 5 in Cork, ourselves, Bunker, 33BPM, Plugged and Golden Discs. We stayed in Douglas Court until 2016 when the landlord was doubling our rent, moved back over to Douglas village 16th August 2016. Then the fire in car park Aug 31st 2019, ahh man again.
It was stressful trying to find a home, a lot of stock water damaged, lots going on but found a new home in November 2019 in Togher. Musiczone.ie had been born by now also.
We love the shop in Togher, it feels like home, I think it has a warm homely vibe to the place. It’s a special place, we do a load of live music in there, album launches, listening parties, midnight openings, supporting the local music scene is hugely important to us. There is no real footfall but then the rent is much better than in a high footfall area, you have to make the decision to visit.
Shane : I was working on the day that the fire happened. It didn’t really sink in until I was leaving in my car. The new location in Togher is great though. The shop suits us.
How do you see things going in the future? Do you plan / want to change anything?
It is hard to know how things will be in the future, challenging if the previous 23 years is anything to go by! The record companies are selling more and more direct to consumers (D2C) as they are the rights holders that’s their prerogative 100%….some would say our suppliers are our competitors. A lot of music websites are record company websites but they give the impression they are not. It’s hard to compete with your suppliers at times.
Record companies doing a lot of D2C selling and we are dealing more and more with Artists who don’t have a record company, Mick Flannery, David Kitt, Jerry Fish, John Blek to names only a few. The old model was artist, record company, shop , consumer, now those parts change and move. Service and community is what makes record shops stand out. You have to nurture those things. Threats to us are the industry itself and the SS….storage and spouses!!
In the light of a revival in sales of CDs, following the rebirth of vinyl too, there seems to be a market demographic to whom CDs now offer good value. What is your take on this potential trend?
CD is hugely important for us, great format, great sound, good value in general. CD has been good for us, across a several new titles, better selling than vinyl, and vinyl pricing can be an issue too.
Shane : I thing people who really appreciate music/art and that real people (for now) create it, will always gravitate towards a physical product to have in their hands. I love movies and I find it the same with blu rays/dvds, I love having a collection. People will say I’m daft because it’s all on streaming nowadays, but the way the market is and the rights to the movies are being divided up, sometimes movies disappear off streaming and might not reappear for years, and when you own a blu ray copy, you actually own it and can put it on whenever you want.
In the same way as vinyl and cd, actually making the effort to physically put something on is a little ritual in itself and I feel makes you feel more invested in it. Also, the special features are there with dvds which are interesting. I think second hand blu rays and dvds might have a slight revival in them. The only problem is space for said collection!
Different age groups listen to, and use, music in different ways. For example Tiktok memes, rather than playing CDs. How do you navigate this diversity of music consumption and ensure MusicZone is part of the conversation?
Thats a tricky one, Shane and Adam ( the two lads integral to the shop and to me, more friends than colleagues ) would be way better at social media, Instagram, twitter and that, we aren’t on Tik tok, and would we want to get on that? Advice appreciated!
Shane : I think parents/adults play a role in educating kids about the value of art and artists. Real human beings put blood, sweat and tears into creating art, even though it is delivered on a conveyor belt nowadays as ‘content’. We all should want to pay for art and support communities where art is nurtured properly.
I admit that I fell into the trap of downloading music in my early twenties but I remember asking Ray what the story was with vinyl before I started working in MusicZone, I thought it was more for DJs. He told me it’s for music fans. And I thought, ‘hey, I’m one of those’. Bought my first vinyl off him that day, The Band’s self titled and never looked back.
Again, building a collection is fun.
High Fidelity, how relatable is that narrative (book or movie take your choice) to your experience of running a music shop? What are the similarities and differences for you guys?
Ha ha very similar in some ways and not similar at all in one important way. The level of knowledge amongst the two lads behind the counter and the folks on the other side of the counter is frightening!! From that point of view , it’s very similar to High Fidelity, both Shane and Adam are excellent musicians and in the midst of getting really good projects out into the world.
But, musical snobbery and the obnoxious attitudes in HF, those days are long gone. If someone enjoys Daniel O Donnell or Cannibal Corpse and they get something out of it, then that’s good enough for us. There’s enough BS in the world without a jumped up record shop person telling you your music is shit.
Shane: High fidelity is great. How little stories and memories and feelings attach themselves to songs/albums. They often come up in conversations with customers.
The different characters you meet in an indie record shop definitely rings true.
Your instore gigs and listening parties create a good community. How far away do people come from to attend? Is this a good example of the kind of activities you need to differentiate yourself from the online options?
People travel from other counties in Munster and from further away, Galway, Dublin. This is why we are different, we believe fully in supporting music and musicians and helps get us out of bed, service and community are our strengths I think.
Shane: At the last John Blek instore there was a couple there from Germany. The newsletter/instagram video is something where we try to add a personal/conversational touch to which is reflective of how we are in the shop with customers, many of whom are now friends.
Your staff, as evidenced from the newsletter that you send out, have a wide range of musical interests. How do you decide to stock and not stock in the shop?
Ah the lads have great taste, musicians ears also. We get sold over 200 albums a week. It is impossible to give most of those any proper time, to be honest, we listen to what people tell us on the shop floor, and people listen to what we tell them is maybe worth a listen. Buying stock is tricky as its all firm sale stuff, no returns, stock is money. You want a variety and so much stuff coming out (reissue and new) its impossible to stay on it all, and have an opinion on it all. Listening to people is your friend here, experience and instinct also, and we still make mistakes! 15 or 20% of stock in the shop is still deadwood, tricky!
Shane : I try to listen to new stuff and if I think something is good, might suggest getting it in. We all listen to a variety of stuff so that helps to cover each other’s blind spots.
But yeah, it can be tricky with the more obscure stuff as you don’t want it to be sitting on the shelf for ages. With the very mainstream stuff, we have to be careful, especially with the location in Togher not having a lot of footfall and customers here not being into chart topping stuff as much.
What are your own favourite genres and/or periods of music? Between you and your team, if you each had to pick your favourite 3 songs to put on in the shop or when you get into your car, what would they be?
I listen to all kinds of music, mainly indie rock for me, bits of jazz, bits of neo classical , ambient, good singer songwriters. 3 fav songs is nearly impossible, in fact it is impossible!!
Todays three favourites for me would be different tomorrow and probably different the next day.
Shane : I would say my favourite period of music would be grunge from the early 90s.
I was born in 89 so was a bit young for the main years of it, but my cousins were into it along with britpop, and I remember seeing Nirvana videos on tv in their houses and it just stuck with me (Man United too). I also like jazz and funk, got into that in college and associate it with a certain time. And pop punk/metal from my teens. I would find it hard to pick individual songs as it can change depending on your mood etc. But at the moment, I really like the song ‘Caroline’ on Laura Marlings new album. And on a desert island I’d probably pick ‘Riders on the Storm’, as you could use it to remind yourself of rain when it’s hot for ages and then when there’s an occasional tropical storm you could play it in unison!
More about MusicZone
Whether it is through sourcing rare records for long term collectors or recommending King Crimson to young listeners, I’ve always loved the sense of community that a local record shop can foster. This sense of community is something that we aim to preserve in the internet age through the personality of our independent store.
We are also dedicated to transferring this community into the internet world. With the largest selection of records in Cork and Munster and free shipping in Ireland when you purchase three or more records, we pride ourselves on the variety of music we provide and our dedication to our customers. Together we have a knowledge and in store camaraderie that you can’t get just anywhere.
We also love to champion local bands from Cork and Ireland. We believe that the Irish music scene is the strongest it has been for years, and with in store performances and a wide ranging stock of local artists we aim to help up and coming musicians build a foundation for their musical futures.
Make sure to pop in and say hi if you’re in Deanrock Business Park, Togher. We’ll take good care of you.
Opening Hours
Monday : 10:00 – 16:30
Tuesday : 10:30 – 18:00
Wednesday : 10:00 – 17:30
Thursday : 10:00 – 17:30
Friday : 10:00 – 18:00
Saturday : 10:00 – 17:00
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