Sleister (Share the) Music

Store credit with Sleister Music, either from instrument trade-ins, in-kind sponsorships, or as donations from the Sleister (Share the) Music partnership program do not expire.

We provide each partner school band program with a shared Google Sheet detailing the history of credits (deposits) and debits (usage/charges) to the store credit balance. To use the store credit, please email roadrep@sleistermusic.com to request a repair, invoice, or other item be billed to store credit as opposed to paid by your organization. We usually will still send an invoice for new orders to be paid by store credit, but will then mark them as paid using store credit along with a new balance.

Any school band program in the State of Iowa from which students rent or purchase instruments from Sleister Music is eligible to partner with Sleister Music in this program.

Any school band program that has students with active rent-to-own contracts in good standing with Sleister Music is eligible to earn store credit through the Sleister (Share the) Music program — not just beginning band programs. For 2025, we issued store credit only when new rent-to-own contracts were initiated. Starting January 1, 2026, and in each future year thereafter, the program will work like this: For each student with an active rent-to-own contract in good standing as of December 31st of the calendar year, the student's band program that they are associated with at that time will receive $20 of store credit, the program is a participant in the program. This credit is tied to the student’s school and program for the calendar year (determined specifically by the school band they are associated with at December 31 of that year) in which the rent-to-own contract was active. You can accumulate credit year after year — a rental contract can generate credit annually, not just in its first year. What does not qualify for credit? Instruments purchased outright Short-term rentals Repair or maintenance plans Rent-to-own contracts that are paid off or returned/canceled before December 1 of the calendar year

No - no exclusivity from a band program is required. We do require an onboarding meeting to explain the program details, answer your questions, and set ourselves up to be an effective partner for your program. Additionally, we ask to connect annually once onboarded into the program, usually in January-March. This annual conversation serves to show you the store credit ledger and to learn about your experience working with Sleister Music on student instrument rentals, recruitment, etc. However, if you love our rental program offering, with its repair and maintenance plan, world-class instruments, and complimentary accessories, we do have band programs that we are their preferred vendor of band instrument rentals and repairs. It is our goal to make it easy for you and your students to use our rental and repair programs.

We help you reduce friction for families and keep students playing - so you can focus on educating, not troubleshooting or chasing instruments! Here’s what that looks like in practice: Recruitment assistance: On-site instrument testing support, or loaner testing sets, to give students with instrument recommendations. Band rental nights: We handle the setup, family questions, and enrollment logistics in the spring and fall. We offer this for both band information/rental nights and also super lesson-style nights. Complimentary accessories: Fewer interruptions: Repair & Maintenance coverage keeps instruments in students' hands. You can even send in an instrument with repair plan coverage on behalf of the student and receive a loaner in the meantime for them. A true local partner: Based in Ankeny since 2013, all that Sleister Music does is make sure that instruments in school band setting

Our hope is that the store credit donation from Sleister (Share the) Music enables students and educators to get more joy out of teaching, learning, and making music in a school band setting. Here are a few possible ways of doing so: Purchase needed accessories for students – Use store credit toward items like reeds, valve oil, sticks, mallets, etc. for students who need but may not be able to afford them Offset repair or maintenance costs –Store credit can be used for instrument repairs or cleanings, whether for school-owned instruments or even a student in need Purchase instruments for the school program Reduce administrative tasks - if you have a shop minimum repair, or a small reed purchase, using the store credit account instead of the district budget can save some time and hassle of making POs - that time can be used for planning or teaching, instead! Fill holes in your budget - We often hear that program budgets are insufficient to keep all instruments working properly. or that certain budgets are deactivated for accounting reasons at times that band programs are still active. The store credit account does not get frozen at the end of your fiscal year. We only ask that the store credit be used for the benefit of the band program in some capacity, and do hope that our contributions allow your program to be better than it otherwise would be!