Australian Music Industry
John Blanch grew up learning all about solid customer service from his father, who owned a grocery store north of Sydney, Australia. Those lessons helped John during his career in the music industry, which began in retail and expanded into wholesaling. His fun stories about selling pianos in the...
Palmi Snorrasen grew up in Iceland and was formally trained on the trombone, vibraphones, and accordion as a teenager. By his eighteenth birthday, Palmi was playing professionally and he later moved to Australia in 1961 and by the end of the decade was working in music retail. He purchased and...
Graham Hoskins played trombone professionally with the likes of The Bee Gees. When he was off the road he worked in a local music store in Perth, Australia and did so for eight years. In July 1980, at the age of 25, Graham decided to open his own store, Concept Music in West Perth. As his store...
John Goldsmith is the owner of Kosmic Music, a retail store in the western Australian city of Perth. He began repairing amps and loud speakers, which led to his involvement with backline gear for concerts. His first company provided the sound for the Rolling Stone's 1973 concert at the Perth...
Neville Kitchen was a school teacher when he married Linda May in 1969. Her father, Bill May, the founder of Maton Guitars, soon asked for some assistance. Neville joined the company to help for a short time when he soon discovered he loved the staff and the products. He remains with Maton to this...
Tony Hosking grew up surrounded by music. His father, Ray, was a respected studio session trumpeter and helped young Tony land his first job in the brass department of Allan's Music store in Melbourne. Over the years, he had several fascinating jobs within the industry including reviewing each...
Richard Snape is a passionate and active member of the Australian music industry. He began playing flute in school and later worked for several music stores in and around Melbourne including Allans Music and Allans Publishing. In 2006 Richard became a shareholder and an Executive Director of the...
Michael Coleman and his wife formed a music store near Melbourne in 1989. Today, Cranbourne Music, remains a family business with their three children's involvement. An early milestone of the store's success was gaining the Casio line of products and with a strong foundation, Cranbourne branched...
Linda Kitchen is the daughter of Bill May, the founder of Maton Guitars. Bill established the guitar company in 1946, which has since become an important producer of acoustic and electric guitars. Since her involvement within the company in the 1980s, Linda has focused on the acoustic guitar models...
Colin Steel is the founder of Keyboard Corner and KC's Rock Shop, both located in Melbourne, Australia. Colin began his career in music retail at Brash's Music in 1968 during the great home organ boom. Having talked his parents into purchasing a Wurlitzer organ when Colin was 14, he knew all...