Left: Dietze Music’s Tim Pratt. Right: Jim’s Music’s EJ Dombrowski.
musician or filmmaker, everybody’s wearing multiple hats, and that really changes the landscape in terms of the tool sets that they need — both digitally and physically — so rather than hire a team, you might shoot your own video. The trend is people want results. I feel like content is king, and for the people who are successful, they have to maintain a schedule, so the trend has definitely been partly speed-related. We’re seeing just a ton of demand for highly por- table, simple-to-operate and useful solutions. And the smaller, the better.” As creator technology continues to evolve, manufacturers are investing heavily in dealer education to ensure retailers can confidently recommend the right solutions. Like Shure, Zoom offers in-store product training along- side an accessible, extensive library of digital educational materials. “We put those instructional videos on our dealer-accessible hosted media site, so they have access to the same educational content that we film for the consumer fac- ing side, and they can repurpose it for their own use,” Barto said. “Everybody gets the resources they need, either by in-person training or by readily available resources.” SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY For many MI retailers, the creator economy is an established category that continues to evolve alongside musicians’ changing creative habits. While the explosive growth seen during the height of the pandemic has leveled out, retailers say demand has shifted rather than disappeared, and they
are not letting this market opportunity go by. At Dietze Music in Omaha, Nebraska, president Tim Pratt has watched the cat- egory mature over the past several years as interfaces were trending during COVID, and it has now shifted to a variety of re- cording and streaming devices. As more customers walk into the store with questions about recording gear, livestreaming equipment and home stu- dio setups, Dietze Music has expanded its creator offerings by dedicating showroom space to demo products and exploring more educational workshops that allow custom- ers to experience the equipment firsthand. For retailers entering the category, Pratt believes success often comes down to the smallest details. “Accessorize! Make sure that you have everything needed for a successful jour- ney right out of the gate,” Pratt advised. “Cabling and adapters are a huge part of this. You don’t want to send a customer somewhere else because you didn’t have something small.” While Pratt doesn’t expect the category to replicate the extraordinary growth it experienced in 2020, he believes creator- focused products have become a permanent part of the modern music retail landscape. “I do believe that our job as retailers is to make sure we have what our customers are looking for to continue down that path,” Pratt said. “Just like playing instruments, people will want to get better and upgrade as they learn.” The rapid growth of podcasting,
livestreaming and YouTube has transformed recording equipment from a niche category into an everyday necessity for musicians looking to share their work online. At Jim’s Music in Green Bay, Wisconsin, vice president EJ Dombrowski has seen that progression firsthand. “We especially see it with younger students,” Dombrowski said. “A lot of our lesson students are not just learning songs anymore — they want to record, post, livestream and share what they are doing. Our instructors are often part of that process, helping students understand how to get their music out through You- Tube and other content platforms. At its core, musicians are creative and willing to try new things, so livestreaming, home recording and video content have become another outlet for that creativity.” Similar to Dietze Music, Jim’s Music’s biggest growth categories have been inter- faces, microphones, studio monitors, mixers and sound isolation materials. For many first-time creators, the journey starts with an interface and microphone. “Most of these customers are starting with entry-level setups,” Dombrowski said. “They are not necessarily building a full professional studio right away. They’re try- ing to get a clean, usable sound, understand how the pieces connect and create something they can share. From there, it opens the door to other categories like better monitors, a small mixer, headphones, accessories or basic room treatment.” To support that progression, Jim’s Music
40 I MUSIC INC. I SEPTEMBER 2026
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