Music & Arts Center

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Music & Arts
IndustryMusic retail
Founded1952; 70 years ago (1952)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
FounderBenjamin O'Brien
Headquarters
Frederick, Maryland
,
U.S.
Area served
Mid-Atlantic and Southeast
ProductsBand and orchestra instrument sales and rentals, guitars, keyboards, sheet music and books, musical accessories, repairs and private music lessons. Often described as the largest private lesson program in the United States, in the year 2017 independently contracted music educators conducted over 1.5 million private lessons with students.
OwnerGuitar Center, Inc.
Number of employees
1,500 (2005)
Websitehttps://www.musicarts.com/

Music & Arts is a music retailer founded in 1952, specializing in band and orchestra instrument sales and rentals, guitars, keyboards, sheet music and books, musical accessories, repairs and private music lessons. A subsidiary of Guitar Center since its acquisition in 2005, Music & Arts includes over 200 retail locations, over 140 educational representatives, and over 100 affiliate locations.

History[]

The first Music & Arts Center was founded by Benjamin O'Brien in a small house in Bethesda, Maryland in 1952. That first store offered music lessons, music and art supplies plus dance lessons — thus the name Music & Arts. The company gradually expanded in Maryland and Virginia, later opening retail stores in Atlanta, the Philadelphia area, the Carolinas, Nashville, Denver, and the Northeast. With 62 stores throughout the East Coast and Colorado, Music & Arts Center soon became one of the largest retail music store chains serving school band and orchestra programs.[1] In 1998, the corporate headquarters moved from Rockville to Frederick, Maryland.[1]

By 2005, Music & Arts Center was operating 60 retail locations and 7 educational support centers throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.[2] On February 9, 2005, Guitar Center announced the acquisition of Music & Arts Center and its plans to merge Music & Arts Center with its American Music Group division.[2] The new company, operating as Music & Arts Center, included 82 retail music store locations spanning the United States, 1,500 employees, 330 affiliate dealers, and over 150,000 annual instrument rentals. Music & Arts has become the largest school music dealer in the United States.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Music & Arts Center: About". 2007-04-21. Archived from the original on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2016-12-15.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b Clabaugh, Jeff (9 Feb 2005). "Guitar Center acquires Music & Arts Center".
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