its been pretty harsh for many here in the uk, mostly those who work in the construction industry and those attached to it (carpenters and joiners for instance).

An awfull lot of music shops have gone under, which means their suppliers suffer too. Generally I think there is more interest in music in the UK than there has been for decades (due to X-factor, guitar hero etc), the main problem the retail end has is coping with internet discount sellers who do not have overheads or even carry stock, so those shops who sell boxed items suffer most. The ones that remain have adapted and supply more than boxed products (tuition and specialist service for instance). Its not just the music shops, a walk down any high street tells a similar story.

My families retail music business has been ok thankfully, last February was the best they had ever seen, and early signs indicate ths won't be so terrible. the end of the summer was tough but you just have to learn to keep the spending down and diversify into areas you may not have tried before.