Sweetwater

We recently partnered with the Hip-Hop Education Center to welcome music educators, artists, producers, engineers, scholars, and industry leaders from across the country to Sweetwater for the Future of Hip-hop Music Production & Sound Design Education Retreat. Sweetwater Senior Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer Jeff Ostermann opened the retreat with remarks welcoming attendees to our Fort Wayne campus and setting the stage for three days of conversation, collaboration, and hands-on learning. Participants took part in keynote presentations, fireside conversations, master classes, workshops, film screenings, and hands-on sessions throughout our Fort Wayne campus, including experiences focused on music production, sound design, film scoring, DJ education, and Dolby Atmos. Hosting the retreat gave us an opportunity to bring together people who are shaping the future of music in both the classroom and the industry. It also reflected what has always been central to Sweetwater: creating spaces where musicians, educators, and creators can connect, share their expertise, and help more people experience the power of making music. Thank you to the Hip-Hop Education Center and to everyone who joined us for an inspiring weekend of music, learning, and connection. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

Our 2026 Fort Wayne Zoo Tails & Tunes Takeover brought our team and their families together for a night of live music from Velour, dinner, face painting, unlimited rides, sweet treats, and plenty of time to explore the zoo. Events like Tails & Tunes are part of our Employee Experience Series and give us another opportunity to bring coworkers and their families together outside of the workplace. Shared experiences like these strengthen our culture with connections that extend beyond our day-to-day work and include the people who matter most to our employees. Thanks to everyone who joined us and helped make this year’s Tails & Tunes Takeover a memorable summer night for the Sweetwater community. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

We’re excited to announce that Sweetwater has earned a Brandon Hall Group Silver HCM Excellence Award in the Best Leadership Development Program category for our Manager Development Program. Started in 2020, the program helps our managers strengthen their leadership skills and continue their growth at Sweetwater. The Manager Development Program consists of four four-hour training sessions held over four weeks. To date, 411 managers have graduated from the program. Participants come from every part of the company, and graduates have gone on to more senior leadership roles across the organization. This recognition wouldn’t be possible without the hard work our Learning and Development team puts into supporting personal and professional growth through meaningful opportunities and helpful resources. Congratulations to everyone who has helped build, facilitate, and grow the Manager Development Program and to every person who has invested their time in becoming a stronger leader for their teams and Sweetwater. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #BHGAwards

Paul Reed Smith and the PRS Guitars team recently visited Sweetwater for some hands-on pickup education with our Sales Engineers, and it was the kind of session that spoke volumes — literally. Paul walked our Sales Engineers through roughly 60 pickups, covering everything from $100 modern reproductions to $5,000 vintage finds. The goal was never a head-to-head competition or the elevation of one brand above another. The session was designed to understand how each pickup sounds, where it sits relative to the others, and which players and styles it is uniquely suited for. The PRS team brought the purpose-built pickup testing guitar they use in-house, designed specifically for fast swaps and equipped with a switch to toggle easily between 250K and 500K pots. PRS also brought the actual amp its team relies on for pickup evaluation at HQ. Having the manufacturer's own testing setup in the room meant our Sales Engineers were hearing these pickups the same way PRS hears them. Over three sessions, our team got a front-row look at the care, the craftsmanship, and the attention to detail that goes into every PRS pickup, as well as the profound respect PRS has for other manufacturers in the guitar space. That kind of direct knowledge sharing between a manufacturer and a retailer is exactly what makes the Sweetwater and PRS relationship meaningful. Continued education like this is a cornerstone of the industry expertise our Sales Engineers bring to every customer conversation. We are grateful to Paul and the entire PRS team for making the trip and sharing their passion for the craft. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #PRS #PRSGuitars

Laura Smith, Sweetwater VP of eCommerce Marketplaces, joined a panel of retail eCommerce leaders at eTail™ Boston 2026 this week for a conversation about smarter customer acquisition strategies in a world where every click costs more. Laura also led a retailer-only mastermind roundtable exploring whether marketplaces in 2026 are best understood as growth channels, profit centers, or customer-acquisition engines, which is one of the more pressing strategic questions retailers are working through right now. It’s always good to see Sweetwater represented in rooms such as this, and it’s even better knowing that these conversations and insights have come back home with her. Thanks to eTail for a great event and for including Sweetwater in the lineup. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #eTailBoston #eCommerce

Our Merchandising & Marketing teams recently traded laptops and spreadsheets for microphones, instruments, and stage lights at our second annual M&M Talent Show. Teammates rocked the Performance Theatre stage and shared the talents and passions their coworkers might not get to see every day, from solo performances, full bands, and covers to original compositions. There’s just something special about watching the people you work alongside day in and day out step onstage, boldly share their talents, and cheer each other on. Days like this remind us that music is at the heart of what we do, and it’s the people, their creativity, their courage, and their passions that make Sweetwater such a special place to work. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

This summer, we turned up the volume on employee talent with Sweetwater’s Battle of the Bands. Employee bands from Fort Wayne, Arizona, and remote locations were invited to audition for the competition, with 14 bands ultimately taking the stage to perform live for coworkers, friends, and family. Judges evaluated performances based on musicianship, audience reaction, stage presence, creativity, and overall impact, narrowing the field to four finalists. Then, we handed the decision over to employees across the company, who watched the finalists’ performances and voted for our inaugural champion. At our Employee Appreciation Celebration, we revealed Fort Wayne’s Mom Wagon as the winner of the 2026 Battle of the Bands, earning the traveling trophy and the $1,000 grand prize. More than a competition, Battle of the Bands gave our employees another way to connect through the thing that brings so many of us to Sweetwater in the first place, a shared love of making music. Congratulations to Mom Wagon and every musician who took the stage — and to everyone who helped bring our first Battle of the Bands to life. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

Sweetwater founder and Chairman of the Board Chuck Surack is featured on the latest episode of the top-ranked business and entrepreneurship podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz, where he discusses how his music career, a converted VW van, and an obsession with customer relationships became the foundation of America's largest online music retailer. Chuck never set out to build a company. Right out of high school, Chuck packed his saxophone into a VW van and hit the road to play gigs. What started as a music career quickly evolved into something bigger when Chuck converted the van into a mobile recording studio. From there, he developed digitized sound libraries to sell nationally, moved into high-end pro audio gear, and built a sales culture rooted in genuine customer relationships. How I Built This is hosted by longtime NPR correspondent Guy Raz and features in-depth conversations with founders and entrepreneurs about the real story behind building iconic brands. Each episode covers the triumphs, the failures, and the moments of doubt that most business success stories leave out. Thank you to Guy Raz and the How I Built This team for letting us share the Sweetwater story. The full episode is available now at https://lnkd.in/gSczzCrK. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #HowIBuiltThis #CustomerExperience #Entrepreneurship #Leadership

Sweetwater is proud to share that Founder and Chairman of the Board Chuck Surack and CEO/President Mike Clem have both been named to the IBJ Media 2026 Indiana 250, honoring the state's most influential and impactful leaders across business, government, and nonprofit sectors. Now in its fifth year, the Indiana 250 is built the idea that leadership is measured not just by the size of an organization, but by the depth of its impact on the people and communities it serves. IBJ Media's editorial teams at the Indianapolis Business Journal, Inside INdiana Business, and The Indiana Lawyer spend months researching, consulting community leaders, and evaluating nominees from across the state before the list is finalized. Chuck is recognized in the Civic Leadership category, a reflection of a lifetime spent investing in Fort Wayne well beyond the walls of Sweetwater. Chuck founded Sweetwater in 1979 and has continued to shape the community through Surack Enterprises, a holding company spanning 20 businesses. Most recently, Chuck opened Pearl Arts Inc. in 2024, a nonprofit providing musical and educational opportunities to Fort Wayne residents regardless of their ability to pay. Mike is recognized in the Real Estate, Retail & Construction category, a testament to the growth of a company that started in a spare bedroom and has become the nation's largest online retailer of musical instruments, home audio equipment, and content creator gear. Mike joined Sweetwater in 2003 to launch its online division, making him one of the early pioneers of e-commerce in the music industry. He helped build one of the first major music retail websites, shifting the industry from local store transactions to a national marketplace without ever sacrificing the personal, expertise-driven experience customers deserved. Mike has served as President and CEO since 2023, leading a nearly $2 billion company that continues to raise the bar on what music retail can be. What makes this moment feel especially meaningful is the foundation of both these recognitions. Sweetwater's Sales Engineers communicate with musicians every day to help them find the right microphone for a home studio, or a chase a sound they’ve not quite found in yet. The culture Chuck built and Mike continues to lead is the reason those conversations go the way they do. The commitment to genuine service, deep product knowledge, and treating every customer as a person worth investing in runs through the entire organization. Explore the full list at www.Indiana250.com. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #Indiana250

Today, Sweetwater celebrated the people who make everything possible. Camp Sweetwater brought our team together for an afternoon of good food, great music, and genuine recognition. Nelson's BBQ fired up the smokers before daybreak to serve a camp-style lunch that set the tone for the whole event, and our live DJ kept the energy going from the first set to the last. The celebration also gave us a chance to pause and recognize the colleagues who lead with purpose. Sweetwater's 5 Imperatives Awards and the Manager Excellence Award highlighted teammates who consistently go above and beyond, not because they have to, but because that is simply who they are. The 2026 Battle of the Bands winner was announced to the crowd, and the Adventure in Harmony chalk art trail gave everyone a chance to experience the creativity that runs through this organization every single day. Sweetwater exists to help musicians achieve their dreams, and that work only happens because of the people behind it. Today was a reminder of just how strong that team is.Thank you to everyone who helped plan, organize, and participate in Camp Sweetwater. Here is to another year of doing what we love, together. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #EmployeeAppreciation