Founded on June 1st, 1981 by Randy King and John Larson, the business first opened as King-Larson Music Services. Originally located at 505 W. Broadway, the first building was less than spacious. It was a tough time to start a business. Not only were there other music stores already established in the area, but it was also a tough economic time. "In 1981 we were in the middle of a recession and people told me the store would never make it," Randy noted. Despite the tough times, KINGMUSIC succeeded because it fulfilled a need in the area for a business that was involved in the community and put music education first. Later that year, when John Larson left the area to pursue other interests, Randy called in his brother David. Renamed the company KINGMUSIC, the brothers began to grow their high school dream.
Randy and David maintain that the most important ingredient for the success of KINGMUSIC is music education. If no one is investing in the future of music, there will be no future in music. In 1984 they purchased Piersol Music House in Kankakee and eventually in 1986 they merged the two firms under one roof at the current location: 670 W. Broadway. In it's new location, Randy and David expanded music education to include 10 studios for Piano, Band Instruments, Guitar, and Voice lessons.
A crowning achievement came in 1994 Randy and David King were named the "Businesspersons of the Year" by the Bradley-Bourbonnais Chamber of Commerce. Achievements noted during the award ceremony included sponsoring the local contingency for the Worlds Largest Concert, the Monster Concert, featuring 200 area piano students, and for creating the Kankakee Valley Wind Ensemble Most importantly is their involvement to the community.
Feeling growing pains that same year, KINGMUSIC began a large remodeling project that included all new display walls, an expanded selling floor, redesigned office space, a redesigned waiting area for music lessons and a new front counter with three checkout terminals for faster service. This remodeling project concluded with the purchase of a new computer network and point of sale software.
In 1997 KINGMUSIC again reached out to the community by introducing the New Horizons Band. Originally started at the Eastman School of Music in 1991, the New Horizons band has been adding chapters throughout the country. The NHB is intended for anyone "40 and older," regardless of their musical experience.
Further expansion continued in 1998 when KINGMUSIC obtained a new location for it's Academy of Music. Located just across the street from the store, the new KINGMUSIC Academy of Music includes a waiting area, a large area for our KINGMUSIC Loves Kids programs, including "Music Play For Little People." In Addition to these classes for 6 month - 9 year olds, we use this space for various Workshops and Seminars.
Recently, we relocated our Instrument Repair Department to larger headquarters and have added the Ultrasonic Band Instrument Cleaning System to our facility. | 
