Music Mart- Music: Food for the Soul

-By Nitin Manchanda.

Bob Marley once said, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain”. As I am an avid music lover, I’ve always been fascinated by sounds, be it the vivid clatter of insects in the darkness of night, the assuring chirping of birds at dawn, the crunching sound of creatures lurking waiting for its prey in the dense forest. For a layman all these would just be noises, but for me they are a variety of instruments playing in a bittersweet symphony and God being the choir master..

So this exuberance for music took me to the ‘Google-God’ and I got to know about the oldest music shop in Pune, Music Mart. Excited, I picked up the receiver and called. A pleasant voice greeted me and I took the initiative of telling him that I wanted to meet and get to know about them, which fetched me an instant positive response. So next morning, I got on the bus filled with anticipation and high hopes of finding something that would entice my music urge. With Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to heaven” playing in my headphones, I hoped to find my elixir, my heaven. As I got down from the bus at M.G Road I was not at all disappointed. In front of me, I saw varied instruments and delighted, I entered the shop.

This was not like any generic music shop but as if Andy Warhol’s vivid paintings had come alive. As hundreds of musical instruments surrounded me, it felt like a concert of safari duo calling “ all the people in the world “ to come and witness this magnum opus There were guitars ranging from acoustics to electric, keyboards to  brass pipes - it was like being in a surreal dream with Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy Page playing especially for me.

My personal favorite was the army band instruments section which brought back fond memories of me at school, playing the trumpet, the accompanying drums and the students marching along to the beats. As I was lost in my Neverland, I was suddenly greeted by a young turbaned boy asking me “how can I help you?” Just at the spur of the moment, I said, “can we be partners in crime?” (starting a rock band). After a brief moment of silence, we both laughed heartily and our tete-e-tete started.

He was the owner’s son and me aspiring for a corporate life. I told him about my keen interest in music and my curiosity regarding the management of a music shop. As we sat down for a cup of tea, amidst the aroma of the homemade brew and gentle soothing music sounding in the background, I inquired about the origins of Music Mart. Gurpreet in his husky but tender voice said, “it was established in Pakistan before partition, handled by Mr. Balwant Singh and mainly dealt with supplies to the British army “. He continued by saying that after partition the business shifted to Pune and is currently handed by his family’s third generation. I asked about the people working there. He, with his active, cagey, calculating eyes answered that the head of the Music Mart is his father Mr. Raminder Singh while his brother Ravneet handled the walk-in customers. He himself handled the government supplies and bulk order.

As we started to talk about management, I asked him about imports and where the instruments were repaired. He was little startled and taken aback at first, but after seeing the name tag of Sadhana College around my neck, he knew what I was talking about. Imports from China, U.S.A. and some European countries were done. The workshop and repair department was situated in Kondwa. Components were imported and assembled at the workshop itself.

While sipping on our tea, I took the discussion towards what kind of customers they cater to? He told that diversification was the name of the game, since  so many different people came in-kids, college goers, teenagers,  I.T. Industry crowd etc. He also added (humbly, not being pompous) that their known customers would be Coco (from the band,Agnee), Savio (lead guitarist of Silver Band, winner of All-India Band Competition) and many more.

As our tea was nearly finished, he ordered a refill. I nonchalantly asked, “What is the most prized possession you have?” With a twinkle in his eye, (he smiled as if I was wearing a joker’s hat), “BAZOOM … 15 LAKHS“. As I sat there awestruck, our tea arrived. 

As vapors spirals rose from our tea, I asked him, “What was their music store’s USP?” He calmly took a sip, then like a virtuoso, said “Customer satisfaction, loyalty of customers (over 40 years old customer relations) and on the technical front, full range of Brass instruments, which are not commonly available at other music stores”. 

We further discussed about the music industry, its future prospects, how piracy was eating into the entertainment industry, (why Eminem does not come to perform in India, pun intended!!) Post which I took his leave, joking that soon I would return with the 15 lakhs and buy the BAZOOM. 

Elated I left the place.  Sitting in the bus on my way back, I relived the whole day. The thought that stayed with me the most was that the customer is the king. As long as an organization’s practices and processes are tuned towards the same, it will be a success. Customer satisfaction will result in customer loyalty and enable brands to survive decades and decades’ altogether. Just as photocopying became synonymous with Xerox, fast food with McDonald’s, and so on; Music Mart has managed to create a niche for itself for ‘Music-food for the soul’ and not just any other shop that sells music instruments.

As it is said, the journey is more important than the destination. So today, I didn’t care about my destination because I had experienced my stairway to heaven …..