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<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; In recent years, the way people consume music has been changing, leading to changes to the way people buy it.</p><p>And one local record-store and music-school owner has been working to keep music coming to the homes of the people of the Wyoming Valley.</p><p>Joe Nardone Jr., 51, calls the Gallery of Sound &#8220;the family business,&#8221; a term he uses with what sounded like affection. Started in 1972 by his father, Nardone said the business actually got a boost from the flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes that year.</p><p>&#8220;He made a deal to get into the Wyoming Valley Mall, and concurrently the flood happened,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;He had a store downtown, too, but downtown was wiped out, and suddenly the mall was the only thing.&#8221;</p><p>Nardone said the flood changed the shopping dynamics of the area, leaving the downtown area to play catch-up with the mall &#8212; and, by extension, the new record store.</p><p>Over time, the Gallery of Sound grew under the Nardone family&#8217;s watch, expanding to 11 stores at its height.</p><p>Nardone said he got involved in &#8220;the family business&#8221; roughly 30 years ago, back when he was 21. He said that he was actually planning on getting involved in a different facet of the music industry.</p><p>&#8220;I went to Lehigh University; I was involved in the radio station, and I had some ideas of getting into the other side of the music business,&#8221; Nardone said.</p><p>With the record industry booming in 1988, Nardone&#8217;s plans changed. He instead decided to get involved with the record store.</p><p>But that boom didn&#8217;t last.</p><p>&#8220;Back in the 90s, you had acts like Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC who would routinely sell 10 million albums,&#8221; Nardone said with a hint of wistfulness. &#8220;Now, the benchmark of success is one million.&#8221;</p><p>Nardone said sales began to lower, first with the rise of online music outlets like iTunes and the more questionably legal Napster, then the later advent of subscription-based streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.</p><p>Different purchasing habits eventually led to a downsizing of Gallery of Sound. Instead of the 11 store chain it once was, extending as far away as Matamoras, there are now just two left: in Wilkes-Barre Township and Dickson City.</p><p>But that doesn&#8217;t mean the record store hasn&#8217;t carved out its own unique niche.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a change in the business,&#8221; Nardone said, explaining the stores&#8217; focus has had to change to still attract customers. &#8220;It&#8217;s harder to be a full-line record store.&#8221;</p><p>Instead, Gallery of Sound focuses on being a one-stop shop for a music nerd. In addition to vinyl records and CDs, the store now also sells record players, band T-shirts and other music collectibles.</p><p>Nardone notes the way people even think about buying music has changed. Since customers now are able to listen to albums online before they buy them, they&#8217;re able to treat the vinyl as a collector&#8217;s item instead of the only way they listen to music.</p><p>&#8220;People don&#8217;t buy lousy records anymore,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;They buy it because they want to say to people, &#8216;This is what I collect; this is what I like.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Interestingly, Nardone said this has allowed for a system where artists are able to connect more intimately with their fans, crafting more unique record-buying experiences. Then, the Gallery of Sound tries to get artists into the store to bring in customers.</p><p>Nardone said nationally famous acts like All Time Low, a member of the Doors and others, have appeared in the store to play small sets or do signings. There&#8217;s also a focus to get nationally recognized local acts like Breaking Benjamin, Title Fight and Tigers Jaw to attract the fans.</p><p>&#8220;People will come in for those and will say, &#8216;Wow, I didn&#8217;t think you&#8217;d have this,&#8217;&#8221; Nardone said, explaining the value of these events.</p><p>But Nardone made it clear that the Gallery of Sound isn&#8217;t the only way he&#8217;s trying to bring music to the area.</p><p>In late 2016, Nardone opened Rockology Music Academy only a few doors down from the Wilkes-Barre Township Gallery of Sound.</p><p>The school takes a different approach to music education, Nardone said. Taking inspiration from the 2003 film &#8220;School of Rock,&#8221; Rockology features a band program, which teaches students how to make music together.</p><p>&#8220;And they&#8217;re not just playing stuff like the Ramones would play in their garage,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;The kids are trying harder stuff. They&#8217;re learning things about music they would&#8217;ve never learned.&#8221;</p><p>With five or six instructors, the approximately 50 kids have knowledgeable instructors who can teach them exactly what they want to learn.</p><p>&#8220;If they want to learn to sing classically, they can do that; if they want to sing like Arianna Grande, they can do that, too,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;Whatever you want, we&#8217;ll direct the program toward you.&#8221;</p><p>Nardone said he&#8217;s &#8220;very happy&#8221; with the progress of the students, and that they&#8217;re improving greatly, saying that bands started at the school have played locally as part of the program to great success.</p><p>Nardone chalks up the success to the passion of the kids.</p><p>&#8220;They have to like it &#8230; but very few have left,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Customers look at music at the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Customers look at music at the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A customer leaves the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. The store has had to adapt to changing consumer habits. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound2.jpg</photo1><caption1>A customer leaves the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. The store has had to adapt to changing consumer habits. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joe Nardone Jr., owner of Gallery of Sound, poses for a picture in his music store in Wilkes-Barre Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Joe Nardone Jr., owner of Gallery of Sound, poses for a picture in his music store in Wilkes-Barre Township. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound2CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A customer leaves the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. The store has had to adapt to changing consumer habits. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound2CMYK.jpg</photo3><caption3>A customer leaves the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. The store has had to adapt to changing consumer habits. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound3CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joe Nardone Jr., owner of Gallery of Sound, poses for a picture in his music store in Wilkes-Barre Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound3CMYK.jpg</photo4><caption4>Joe Nardone Jr., owner of Gallery of Sound, poses for a picture in his music store in Wilkes-Barre Township. </caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound1CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Customers look at music at the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL01xx17GalleryofSound1CMYK.jpg</photo5><caption5>Customers look at music at the Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre Township. </caption5><photoCredit5></photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>GALLERY OF SOUND</strong></p><p><strong>&#8226; Where</strong>: 186 Mundy St., Wilkes-Barre Township</p><p>Laurel Mall Drive, Hazleton</p><p>Fashion Mall, Scranton-Carbondale Highway, Dickson City</p><p><strong>&#8226; Info</strong>: 570-208-2833, <a href="http://www.galleryofsound.com" target="_blank">galleryofsound.com</a></p><p><strong>ROCKOLOGY MUSIC SCHOOL</strong></p><p><strong>&#8226; Where</strong>: 350 East End Center, Wilkes-Barre Township</p><p><strong>&#8226; Info</strong>: 570-970-9999, <a href="http://www.rockology.info" target="_blank">rockology.info</a></p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Joe Nardone Jr. talks adapting at Gallery of Sound, opening new music school