July 26, 2021 I Acquisition
Music & Arts Acquires Mississippi Music
Rosi Johnson
Music & Arts, one of the nation’s largest musical instrument retailers and lesson providers, has announced it has acquired all four Mississippi Music stores, located in Flowood, Biloxi, Hattiesburg and Meridian, Mississippi. These acquisitions represent the first Music & Arts locations in the state of Mississippi.
Mississippi Music has had a history in these communities serving families and schools, and the locations have now been integrated into the Music & Arts family of stores. The agreement was finalized and went into effect on July 21. The terms were not disclosed.
“My main goals were to take care of my employees as well as I could, and our customers, which include school music service and our band directors,” said Rosi Johnson, owner of Mississippi Music and former NASMD president and NAMM board member. “That was a top priority. And by transitioning to Music & Arts, we feel like they will cover the majority of these goals.”
According to a statement from the company, Mississippi Music generates an estimated thousands of new rentals annually. As Music & Arts, the stores will continue to serve the needs of students and the strong music programs in these areas by providing musical instrument lessons, rentals, sales, repair and accessories.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Jeff Gottlieb, president of Music & Arts. “It’s an opportunity for us to continue to grow our business and, candidly, we have both a responsibility and an opportunity here. This is a business that, for 75 years, has been one of the premier music retailers in the country. I couldn’t be more impressed with what the family’s done over the 75 years, what they’ve built, what Rosi’s done from a leadership perspective. I actually spent yesterday all day down at Mississippi Music and the people are phenomenal.”
In transitioning to Music & Arts, all of the Mississippi Music retail staff, education reps and repair techs have the option to remain in their current positions. Five dedicated education reps will continue to work based out of these locations — one apiece at Hattiesburg, Biloxi and Meridian, and separate primary and secondary education reps at Flowood. These reps maintain an intensive strategy of meeting one-on-one with every music educator possible in their communities.
