Sunset Music
Sunset Music is a family-owned, single-location retail music store in San Francisco's Sunset district, founded in 1948, selling sheet music, instruments, and accessories while offering repairs, rentals, lessons, and practice rooms to local musicians and students.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1948
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Sunset Music does
Sunset Music Company is a private, single-location retail music store operating in San Francisco's Sunset district since 1948. The company sells sheet music, instructional and repertoire books, small musical instruments (harmonicas, recorders, saxophones, trumpets, ukuleles), accessories, gifts, and record needles, and claims to carry the largest sheet music selection in San Francisco. Beyond product retail, the store provides instrument repair and restringing/tuning services (for violins, violas, cellos, guitars, electric basses, and harps), rentals of clarinets, flutes, guitars, electric basses, and harps, on-site music instruction for guitar, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone, and two weekday practice rooms, with referrals for additional instrument services.
The business operates exclusively through its brick-and-mortar storefront at 2311 Irving Street, with no e-commerce, online sales, or delivery channels. It is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM, with near 23 years of continuous operation at the current Irving Street location. The company is privately owned by Evelyn Masuda, a trained pianist and violinist with a Bachelor's of Music from San Francisco State University, who assumed ownership following founder Jerry Thomas's retirement in 1988. There is no evidence of external investment, venture capital, or private equity involvement; the business is bootstrapped and family-operated.
Revenue is generated primarily through one-time product sales and a mix of professional services (repairs, instruction) and recurring rentals, with all transactions sourced from walk-in customers in the local San Francisco market. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and customers are directed to contact the store directly. The customer base consists of local individual musicians, music students, hobbyists, and music educators, with no B2B anchor accounts and no enterprise contracts. The company has no digital infrastructure, no app, no API, and no disclosed technology stack beyond a basic informational website.
Sunset Music firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sunset Music
- Legal name
- Sunset Music Company
- Website
- https://sunsetmusicsf.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1948
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Sunset Music is a family-owned, single-location retail music store in San Francisco's Sunset district, founded in 1948, selling sheet music, instruments, and accessories while offering repairs, rentals, lessons, and practice rooms to local musicians and students.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sunset Music industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Musical Instrument Retail
- NAICS
- Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (459140), Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (45914)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sheet Music & Music Books Retail (CRALAEAB)
Keywords
Where Sunset Music is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Sunset Music business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Sheet Music and Books Sales: Sale of sheet music (popular, classical, instructional) and books (repertoire, instruction, theory, technique, exercise) for various instruments including voice, cello, recorder, sax, trumpet, ukulele, viola, and violin.
- Musical Instruments Sales: Sale of musical instruments including harmonicas, recorders, saxophones, trumpets, and ukuleles.
- Accessories and Gifts: Sale of accessories (teaching aids, manuscript paper, flashcards, dictionaries, charts, games, stickers), gifts (mugs, stationery, tote bags, jewelry, scarves, composer busts, t-shirts, keychains, socks, ties), and record needles.
- Instrument Repair Services: Restringing and tuning services for violins, violas, cellos, guitars, electric basses, auto harps, and table top harps. Referrals provided for flute, clarinet, saxophone, and violin/string technicians.
- Instrument Rental: Rental of clarinets and flutes to customers.
- Music Instruction: Onsite instruction for guitar, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone. Referral services available for other instruments.
Distribution channels1 record
Sunset Music product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sunset Music is a neighborhood sheet music and music retail store that sells sheet music, music books, and instructional/repertoire materials, alongside a curated selection of musical instruments including harmonicas, recorders, saxophones, trumpets, and ukuleles, plus accessories and gifts. The store also provides instrument restringing and tuning repair, rentals of clarinets and flutes, on-site music instruction for guitar, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone, and weekday use of two practice rooms. All sales and services are delivered in person at the Irving Street storefront, with pricing provided on request.
Product overview
Sunset Music is a traditional brick-and-mortar sheet music store and music retail business established in 1948 in San Francisco's Sunset district. The company operates as a single-location retail store offering a diverse portfolio of products and services. Its core product offering includes Sheet Music and Books (with the largest sheet music selection in San Francisco, covering popular, classical, and instructional categories), Instruments (harmonicas, recorders, saxophones, trumpets, and ukuleles), and Accessories and Gifts (teaching aids and novelty items). The service portfolio includes Instrument Repair (restringing and tuning for orchestral and string instruments), Instrument Rental (clarinets and flutes), Music Instruction (onsite lessons for guitar, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone), and Practice Rooms (two rooms available during the week). The company historically sold records and still carries record needles, reflecting its long-standing presence in the neighborhood.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Sheet Music and Books
Companies that use Sunset Music
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sunset Music technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Sunset Music partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Sunset Music competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hal Leonard: Major music publisher that also sells sheet music, instructional books, and related products directly to consumers and educators. Comparable to Sunset Music on the sheet music and instructional book side, with publisher scale.
- Sheet Music Plus: Online-first retailer specializing in sheet music, music books, and instructional materials across virtually all instruments. Closely comparable product mix to Sunset Music's sheet music and book category, but with a national digital-only model.
- West Music: Regional musical instrument and education retailer offering instruments, lessons, and repair services. Comparable integrated service-and-retail model to Sunset Music, though operating across multiple Midwest locations.
- J.W. Pepper: Long-established sheet music and music book retailer serving schools, educators, and individual musicians through catalogs and online channels. Directly comparable to Sunset Music's core sheet music and book offering, with a much larger national footprint.
- Sweetwater: Leading musical instrument retailer known for expert sales staff and bundled services. Comparable to Sunset Music's combination of instrument retail plus service-oriented customer support, though at vastly larger scale and online-first.
- Sam Ash: Multi-store musical instrument retailer offering instruments, lessons, and repair services. Closely comparable service mix to Sunset Music's instrument sales plus lessons and repair, though operating at national chain scale.
Broad incumbents
- Guitar Center: Largest U.S. specialty retailer of musical instruments, gear, and accessories. Overlaps with Sunset Music's instrument category and lesson offerings as part of a much broader national portfolio.
- Musician's Friend: Large online musical instrument and gear retailer. Comparable to Sunset Music's instrument retail category, though operating exclusively online at national scale rather than as a neighborhood storefront.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Sunset Music social profiles
Digital presenceSunset Music financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sunset Music leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Sunset Music funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sunset Music M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sunset Music
What does Sunset Music do?
Sunset Music is a neighborhood sheet music and music retail store that sells sheet music, music books, and instructional/repertoire materials, alongside a curated selection of musical instruments including harmonicas, recorders, saxophones, trumpets, and ukuleles, plus accessories and gifts. The store also provides instrument restringing and tuning repair, rentals of clarinets and flutes, on-site music instruction for guitar, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone, and weekday use of two practice rooms. All sales and services are delivered in person at the Irving Street storefront, with pricing provided on request.
Is Sunset Music a public or private company?
Sunset Music is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Sunset Music founded?
Sunset Music was founded in 1948. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Sunset Music based?
Sunset Music is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Sunset Music make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Sheet Music and Books Sales are the primary driver. The others are musical Instruments Sales, accessories and Gifts, instrument Repair Services, instrument Rental and music Instruction.
Who are Sunset Music's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hal Leonard, Sheet Music Plus, West Music, J.W. Pepper, Sweetwater and Sam Ash. Broad incumbents are Guitar Center and Musician's Friend.
Does Sunset Music have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sunset Music.
What industry is Sunset Music in?
Sunset Music's product category is Musical Instrument Retail. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALAEAB, Sheet Music & Music Books Retail. Its NAICS code is 459140.