There’s a pop-up dog-food bakery turned up near us. Owner used to be a boxer. True story.
I think it’s gone now. It’s pop-up, after all. But I don’t have a dog, so I’m not sure. Pop-up stores are all the thing round our way as I’m sure they are round yours. It’s a way of filling empty retail space so that high streets don’t at least appear to be coming like a ghost town.
Which of course, they are.
The emergence of online retailing and the double-whammy of out of town retail parks has been a game-changer for high streets all over the world. With once-vibrant shopping areas now looking derelict. The appearance of a pop-up store is just a band-aid for a terminal disease. Like the last Clash album.
I feel the same is true for Musikmesse’s latest plan to introduce a direct-sell pop-up market to what was once the world’s biggest MI trade show. It’s a move that says that the show is no longer convinced by its own remit as a trade expo and a place to do business, so has to show exhibitors actual £s and €s to demonstrate that their investment has been worthwhile.
There are no shortage of trestle table shows that offer cheap musical equipment to enthusiasts. The UK has plenty for guitarists and drummers that do that just that. Throw in a bit of music, the odd appearance by someone who once played bass/drums for Leopard Nest (NB: not real) and a bit of booze and it’s not a bad day out for a weekend warrior.
Musikmesse, however, should be above that. MI has never been the most formal industry, but it deserves a well-run business event that connects the industry and allows it to show off a little.
The industry seems to have fallen out of love with it, right now. That can change. If it disappears the industry will immediately begin pining for it. And it, or something very similar, will pop-up again.