Sweetwater was bought by private investment firm Providence Equity Partners, and it’s all downhill from here.
Let me back up. Some folks know the story of how Guitar Center was bought by a private investment firm, which immediately saddled GC with crazy debt and started cutting corners (understaffed stores, etc). So it’s natural to think that when a private investment firm buys a music company, things will go downhill. But will they?
Providence Equity Partners invested in Autotrader. And when they did, guess what happened? Cuts to staff. Fewer people doing more work. I know someone who worked there and saw this first hand.
Sweetwater was always willing to cut deals with customers to get more sales. How long do you figure that will last? Providence wants to expand Sweetwater, maybe overseas. I figure fewer employees doing more work, but we’ll see.
I’m publishing this opinion on Monday, September 6, 2021. I’m going to wait a year and then see what ended up happening. But I’m not optimistic. I say the private firm brings in a bunch of boobs who know nothing about music and they screw stuff up, but I hope I’m wrong.
