Collins Music

What Collins Music does

Collins Music is a family-owned musical instrument retail and service business headquartered at 3 Brown Street, Bunbury, Western Australia. Founded in 1946, the company sells guitars, bowed string instruments, brasswind, and fretted instruments to amateur and professional musicians, students, and schools across the South West WA region. It operates a physical retail store alongside an e-commerce storefront powered by Lightspeed, and reports a workforce of 11–50 employees.

The business generates revenue through four core streams: new and second-hand instrument sales, instrument repair and maintenance, custom bespoke instrument manufacturing, and piano tuning services extended across South West WA, Perth Metro, and Geraldton. Ancillary services include piano trolley hire (priced at $44 full day and $25 half day) and second-hand piano purchase, valuation, and resale. Technical capability is anchored by four family piano technicians with 77+ years of combined experience, led by Russell Collins as master instrument technician and luthier, with Zac Pember as apprentice.

The operating model is a hybrid retail/service SMB with no external investors and no disclosed funding. Go-to-market is primarily regional and word-of-mouth, supplemented by the new e-commerce channel. The competitive position rests on multi-generational brand heritage, specialist trade skills, and a dual physical/digital retail footprint rather than on technology differentiation or scale advantages.

Name

Collins Music

Legal name

Collins Music

Website

https://collinsmusic.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Collins Music is a family-owned musical instrument retailer and service provider in Bunbury, Western Australia, selling new and second-hand instruments and offering repair, piano tuning, and bespoke instrument manufacturing to musicians across South West WA since 1946.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Musical Instrument Retail

NAICS

Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (459140)

SIC

Retail-Miscellaneous Retail (5900)

akta.pro primary industry

Musical Instrument Retail (Guitars, Keyboards, Drums, Band/Orchestra) (CRALAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Instrument Repair, Maintenance & Luthier Services (CRALAEAF), Online-Only Musical Instrument & Sheet Music Retail (CRALAEAI), Sheet Music & Music Books Retail (CRALAEAB), Pro Audio & Recording Equipment Retail (MI-adjacent) (CRALAEAC)

Keywords

• Musical instrument retail
• Instrument repair services
• Custom luthier services
• Piano tuning services
• Music accessories

Headquarters

HQ city

Bunbury

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Instrument and Accessory Sales: Retail sales of wide range of musical instruments and accessories through both physical storefront and online e-commerce platform.
2. Instrument Repair and Service: Professional repair and service for guitars, pianos, saxophones, brass instruments, violins, and woodwinds. Includes tuning, regulation, overhauls, and custom modifications.
3. Piano Trolley Hire: Rental of piano trolleys with instructions for safe piano moving. Offers full-day ($44) and half-day ($25) rental options.
4. Second Hand Piano Sales: Purchase and resale of second-hand pianos, including valuations for insurance and sales purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Collins Music is a family-owned musical instrument retailer and service shop established in 1946 in Bunbury, Western Australia. It retails a broad range of musical instruments and accessories (guitars, percussion, amplifiers, strings, pro audio, parts and hardware, books) through both a physical storefront and an online e-commerce store. The business additionally provides in-house professional instrument services covering repairs, tuning, regulation, overhauls, custom modifications, and bespoke hand-crafted instrument manufacturing across virtually all instrument families (piccolos to grand pianos).

Product overview

Collins Music operates as a traditional family-owned music retail business established in 1946 in Bunbury, Western Australia. Its product portfolio consists of two main components: an online and in-store retail store spanning eight product categories — Musical Instruments, Percussion, Instrument Amplifiers, Accessories, Strings, Books, Parts & Hardware, and Pro Audio — all powered by the Lightspeed e-commerce platform; and a service and repairs division offering professional instrument maintenance across multiple instrument families (guitar, piano, saxophone, brasswind, violin, woodwind) as well as custom hand-crafted bespoke instrument manufacturing. The company sells and ships products directly to consumers through its e-commerce storefront and maintains a physical retail and service location.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Musical Instruments A broad retail category covering acoustic, electric, classical, and other musical instruments available for purchase in-store and online for individual musicians and music enthusiasts.
• Percussion A retail category encompassing drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments available for purchase in-store and online for musicians.
• Instrument Amplifiers A retail category for guitar, bass, and keyboard amplifiers sold in-store and online for musicians.
• Accessories A retail category covering instrument accessories such as cases, stands, cables, straps, and consumables sold in-store and online.
• Strings A retail category for guitar, violin, and other instrument strings sold in-store and online for musicians.
• Books A retail category covering music books, sheet music, and instructional materials sold in-store and online.
• Parts & Hardware A retail category covering instrument parts and hardware components, including GMI Parts brand components, sold in-store and online.
• Pro Audio A retail category for professional audio equipment including microphones, mixers, speakers, and related gear sold in-store and online.
• Instrument Service & Repairs A comprehensive repair and service division offering luthier services for guitars and fretted instruments, piano tuning and regulation, saxophone, brasswind, woodwind, and violin family instrument servicing. Includes tuning, regulation, voicing, major overhauls, refinishing, and custom modifications.
• Custom Bespoke Instruments Custom hand-crafted musical instruments designed and manufactured in-house by master instrument technician and luthier Russell Collins, including bespoke models tailored to individual customer specifications covering acoustic, electric, bass, classical guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, banjos, and other fretted instruments.
• Piano Trolley Hire Piano trolley hire service with instructions for safe piano moving, offering both full-day ($44) and half-day ($25) rental options to piano owners.
• Second Hand Piano Sales and Valuations Purchase and resale of second-hand pianos, including valuations for insurance and sales purposes.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Sweetwater: One of the largest musical instrument and pro audio retailers in the US, with a deep online catalogue, free shipping, and strong content/review engine. Relevant as a benchmark for what an e-commerce-first music retailer can scale into, and as a competitive force for any Australian online store.
• Thomann: Europe's largest musical instrument and pro audio retailer with a globally shipping e-commerce site and broad inventory across Collins Music's entire product set. A useful peer for understanding scale economics and the upper limit of online music retail competition.
• Sam Ash: US multi-store musical instrument retailer with deep guitar, pro audio, and accessory inventory. Overlaps directly with Collins Music's product categories at much greater scale, and ships internationally.
• Guitar Center: US-based multi-category musical instrument retailer with hundreds of stores and a large online catalogue covering guitars, amps, percussion, pro audio, and accessories. Comparable to Collins Music across product categories but operating at vastly greater scale.

Direct peers

• Mannys Music: Long-established Melbourne-based musical instrument retailer carrying guitars, pro audio, percussion, and accessories with strong e-commerce. Similar multi-category retail proposition to Collins Music, albeit at larger scale and on the eastern seaboard.
• Andertons Music Co. UK-based independent musical instrument retailer known for strong YouTube/content marketing and a tight integration of retail, education, and service. Similar in spirit to Collins Music as a specialist independent competing against larger chains through expertise and customer engagement.
• Chicago Music Exchange: Independent US musical instrument retailer specialising in guitars, amps, and boutique/used instruments with strong e-commerce and deep content marketing. A relevant peer for the boutique, expertise-led positioning Collins Music could aspire to in the Australian market.
• Kosmic Sound: Adelaide-based Australian musical instrument retailer offering guitars, pro audio, and recording gear to a similar mix of musicians and enthusiasts. Comparable mid-size Australian independent peer to Collins Music with an overlapping multi-category catalogue.
• Mega Music: Perth-based Western Australian musical instrument retailer offering guitars, pro audio, and accessories online and in-store. Closest geographic peer to Collins Music, serving a similar WA customer base with a comparable omnichannel retail model.
• Reidy & Co Piano Services: Western Australian piano tuning, repair, and restoration specialist serving the Perth metro and regional WA market. Directly comparable to Collins Music's piano service arm and a relevant peer for the high-margin service side of the business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vibrations-music

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Collins Music