the end of my music empire

last month saw the end of my music empire called musicexchange. the coolest 2nd hand cd shop in malaysia finally bite the dust and closed its door after more than 7 years in business.

i started musicexchange in march 1999 when i was really down and out. jobless and seriously in need of cash, i thought of this brilliant idea of emulating those overseas 2nd hand cd stores which i frequented a lot while i was an overseas student in sydney.

i posted an ad in the newspaper and i got 2 partners immediately. with mere rm10K, we got the ball rolling and after weeks of meetings, planning and pre-stocking, we opened a tiny shop (120 sq ft!) in the seedy lane behind lot 10, called jalan walter grenier. it wasn't too far fetched to say that it was music exchange that turned walter grenier into a happening place for music lovers.

the media simply adored us and gave us lots of coverage. we were instant success. cash registers were ringing and all of us were esctatic. i lost count the number of times musicexchange was featured in print media. i was in cloud nine. it was instant fame.

good times didn't last long. disputes among the partners creep in and i was not at all happy with the way the store was managed. we made a lot of money in the first two years but that was it before piracy, downloads, dwindling sales and all sorts of problems came in.

in its dying breath during the last 2 years, music exchange has changed direction to focus on vinyls (LPs). cd sales have practically stopped; LPs sales is the only way to survive.

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looking back, i made several mistakes. i shouldn't have gotten partners who are just music fanatics but have no interest in managing a business. also, being the founder and majority shareholder, i should have a black and white agreement to stipulate my terms and conditions. we were all too naive. we thought we could live, eat and die in music.

but let's not cry over spilt milk. i truly enjoy the experience of turning a dream into reality. and in the process, met lots of like-minded friends and customers. there were also many hilarious anecdotes during the course of our business which we will all remember till the day we die.

since relinquishing my control over the business, i have thought hard over the years on other businesses that's related to music but looking at the global scene for music, i better don't harbour such thoughts.