NAMM SHOW ISSUE
NAMM SHOW ISSUE NAMM SHOW ISSUE NAMM SHOW ISSUE NAMM SHOW ISSUE
THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC PRODUC TS RETAILERS
January 2019 Volume 36, No. 1
’s
Grand Renaissance RETAILER’S INITIATIVES PAYING OFF HANDSOMELY By Brian Berk
BE SURE TO WATCH
msretailer.com/conventiontv-at-namm-2019
Just a few years ago, Guitar Center Inc. was a different retailer. Simply stated, it had some issues it needed to fix. But today, under the expert tutelage of president and CEO Ron Japinga; senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer Jeannine D’Addario; several other executives; and its associates, Guitar Center is now firing on most cylinders. The future looks bright for Guitar Center in many ways. Perhaps more importantly, Guitar Center’s success could be a great sign for the MI industry. (continued on page 48)
The Nifty Fifty 50 PRODUCTS BEING FEATURED AT THE NAMM SHOW By Brian Berk Want to get a great crosssection of products being featured at The NAMM Show without having to visit every booth in Anaheim? Not able to attend the show? We have a great, one-stop solution for everyone. (continued on page 24)
The Yamaha Sonogenic is held like a guitar. It gives you 30 distinct Yamaha Voices to make your music with, including piano, synth and drums. Aspiring Musicians learn quickly by playing along to their favorite songs with the free downloadable Yamaha Chord Tracker app for Come See Us at NAMM Show Booth 9902 for iPad. Just put the Sonogenic in “Jam� mode, which only plays the correct chords and soloing notes.
2
a
Advanced Players will love the ability to control software-based synths and virtual instruments from a smart device via Bluetooth. Demo Plus, USB audio streaming and MIDI make the Sonogenic a full-featured controller and an on-the-go audio interface.
JANUARY 2019
L AT E S T
z z u B
Night of Worship Celebrates a Decade
For the 10th consecutive year, Yamaha will present the NAMM Night of Worship, featuring performances by Christian musical artists Matt Redman and Ellis Hall. The event will take place in the Pacific Ballroom of the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, Jan. 24 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., during the 2019 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif. Redman, a full-time worship leader since the age of 20, has been recognized for the Grammy-nominated “Our God,” as well as the doubleGrammy winning “10,000 Reasons,” which won in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance categories. Hall is an accomplished singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator. Raised by a Southern Baptist family to become a man of great faith, Hall has mastered drums, piano, keyboards, guitar, and his favorites, upright and electric bass. Hall’s single “Calm My Heart O Lord” was on the ballot for the 2017 Grammy Award in the Contemporary Christian Music genre. He hit the gospel charts with his single “Yes Lord,” a duet with gospel recording artist Carlett Martin featured on her 2014 release, “Unbreakable.” Night of Worship sponsors include Elation Professional, Shure, Kyser, Ultimate Ears and California Baptist University.
Ellis Hall
RCF to Acquire DPA Microphones RCF Group signed a definitive agreement to acquire DPA Microphones A/S from The Riverside Co. DPA, based in Alleroed, Denmark, provides high-end professional microphones for the live, broadcast, theater and studio end-user segments. RCF Group, with headquarters in Italy and branches in the U.S. and Europe, operates under the companies RCF, AEB Industriale (dB Technologies) and EAW. The company designs, produces, and sells products and solutions for professional audio and installation systems. “Since my early days, I have been fascinated by the world of microphones. Our portfolio already represents excellence in pro audio, and we are very proud to add to our roster DPA, a company that also represents excellence in the microphone industry. We can now offer the complete audio chain, from microphones to speakers, for the satisfaction of professionals around the world,” said Arturo Vicari, CEO of RCF Group. Chiomenti provided legal assistance on the transaction for RCF
Group, which was also assisted by New Deal Advisors, for financial due diligence. Deloitte provided assistance for tax and legal due diligence. “We have come a long way during the past few years. Share of sales coming from new products is up from less than 5 percent to more than 40 percent, and all major areas in the business have been professionalized and streamlined. Now we look forward to a bright future under new ownership in a group with an uncompromising quality-oriented approach to the pro audio business, just like ours,” said Kalle Hvidt Neilsen, CEO of DPA.
Gibson’s Memphis Operations Moving to Nashville
Gibson Brands Inc. is moving its Memphis, Tenn., operations to Nashville, effective once its lease expires in April. “After thorough evaluation, and amid the previously disclosed April 2019 expiration of our Memphis lease, we have determined that integrating the company’s Memphis operations with our Gibson USA and Gibson Custom facilities in Nashville, where Gibson is headquartered, is the right next step for our business,” Gibson said in a statement. “This integration will provide the company with an opportunity to drive scale, streamline our production and create much-needed synergy. With this planned integration, a number of Memphis-based employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate to Nashville, and our goal over the next several months is to support our employees and allow our business to have the appropriate time to manage this transition accordingly.” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
3
THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC PRODUC TS RETAILERS
VOLUME 36 NO. 1
Columns 52 NAMM Educational Session Listings 58 Tips From the Teacher
San Diego Music Studio’s Kimberly Deverell joins the Music & Sound Retailer by penning her first column about lessons and education.
59 Ravi on the Record
Former columnist for the Retailer, Ravi, returns for a special cameo article to pay tribute to a retailer we recently lost.
Features
60 The Music & Sound Independent Retailer
On the Cover Guitar Center’s Grand Renaissance
62 Five Minutes With
Tom Sumner was named president of Yamaha Corp. of America on April 1. This is the first time that the world’s largest musical instrument manufacturer, Yamaha Corp., has named an American executive to the top position in the United States. We asked Sumner what that means to him, how his tenure has gone thus far and much more.
MI’s largest retailer has had an incredible recent turnaround. We get an exclusive scoop from CEO Ron Japinga and senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer, Jeannine D’Addario.
64 MI Spy
The Nifty Fifty
MI Spy is back. He/she took on the City of Brotherly Love to find a keyboard. Could he/she find a keyboard in the Keystone State?
Looking for all the latest product launches at NAMM? You’ve come to the right place. Here are 50 for you.
68 Front and Center
A couple of months back, we took a look at Ossining, N.Y.-based Mike Risko Music. Now, the Women’s International Network conducted an interview with Miriam Risko, for whom music is truly in her blood.
70 Confessions of a Retailer
Springfield Music’s Donovan Bankhead returns for Part 3 of his “Keeping Your Pipeline Moving” column.
72 Not Your Average Column
It’s a new year, and Tim Spicer has four resolutions to make it your most successful year yet.
74 Retailing Better
It’s 2019. The reality is MI retailers need to have a strong online component, explains Robert Christie.
76 In the Trenches
What is a MAP Holiday? Allen McBroom explains.
78 Retailer Rebel
A new year is a good time to think about where you are and where you plan on going. Composing a brand message is a simple and effective way to start planning your strategy going forward. By deciding what this message is, you set the tone for your store.
80 Shine a Light
Wheaton, Md.-based Washington Music Center celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018 and is still going strong.
82 Veddatorial
There are plenty of reasons why brick-and-mortar retail still provides plenty of benefits. Dan Vedda explains.
84 Under the Hood
Buzz 3 Latest 16 People 18 Products 4
In our first of two “Under the Hood” articles this month, we take an in-depth look at Audinate’s Dante AVIO Series.
86 Under the Hood
Our second “Under the Hood” takes a look at Celestion’s F12-X200.
94 The Final Note
We wrap up the editorial portion of our January NAMM issue with an interview with Justin Norvell, executive vice president, Fender Products, a Kurt Vonnegut fan who is a completely self-taught guitarist. Find out who his greatest influence is and much more.
JANUARY 2019
EDITORIAL
The State of the Industry Is Strong
Happy new year! In addition to all of the cool stuff I hope you enjoy in this NAMM issue, I want to place special emphasis on this month’s cover story about Guitar Center. As many of us are excited for a new year, attending The NAMM Show or both, I’m pleased to discuss the turnaround our industry’s largest retailer has had. I truly feel this bodes well for the industry as a whole and that Guitar Center’s future is in great hands, led by president and CEO Ron Japinga and senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer Jeannine D’Addario, both of whom spoke to the Music & Sound Retailer for this month’s cover story. The story also debunks talk that the retailer is in a difficult financial position. In fact, one national publication, which I will not name, claimed Guitar Center was in “dire straits” only months ago. Another publication stated that Guitar Center faced “imminent bankruptcy.” Maybe it’s just me, but any retailer that recently spent $5 million to reopen a flagship store — as Guitar Center did in Hollywood recently — doesn’t seem like it is in dire straits or facing imminent bankruptcy. As you will read, Guitar Center is strong. This story is a great way to kick off a new year. “We are no longer a company trying to find its way. We are a growth company,” Japinga told the Retailer. And when you’ve finished reading our Guitar Center story, please enjoy the rest of the magazine. We cover 50 new products being highlighted at The NAMM Show in our second cover story titled “The Nifty Fifty.” And that’s in addition to several more products you will find in our Product Buzz section. We also have two “Under the Hood” stories this month and a great “Five Minutes With” interview with Yamaha’s Tom Sumner. Washington Music Center is spotlighted in our “Shine a Light” feature. MI Spy even returns after a month off.
I’d also like to announce that all of our retail columnists are back this year. I know it’s a great thing to read what your peers have to say about our industr y, and I believe we have tremendous options for you, comprising Dan Vedda, Allen McBroom, Gabriel O’Brien, Tim Spicer, Robert Christie, Will Mason and Donovan Bankhead, most of whom have articles in this issue. I’d also like to announce that a new retail columnist is joining us this year. Kimberly Deverell, studio manager at a fantastic retailer, San Diego Music Studio, in San Marcos, Calif., will write some columns about education and lessons under the title “Tips From the Teacher.” I believe this adds a tremendous new element to the magazine. Getting back to The NAMM Show, if you are attending, please make sure to check out our sister media broadcast, ConventionTV@NAMM. We will have plenty of the latest products and news featured on the broadcast, in addition to what you will find in this magazine. Our website, msretailer.com, is another great way to get the latest updates. And of course, please stop by and say “Hello” to the Retailer at Booth 10318. We are always happy to see you. If you’re unable to attend The NAMM Show, don’t worry. As mentioned earlier, this issue of the Retailer, as well as our website, offers plenty of information regarding what is going on at the Anaheim, Calif., trade show. Also, make sure to check out our February issue for an in-depth review covering what took place at the Anaheim Convention Center this month. As always, thank you for reading this magazine. Until next month.
January 2019 Volume 36, No. 1
BRIAN BERK Editor bberk@testa.com ANTHONY VARGAS Associate Editor avargas@testa.com AMANDA MULLEN Assistant Editor amullen@testa.com
GEORGE HINES SKIP MAGGIORA Editorial Advisors
ROBERT L. IRAGGI Advertising Director riraggi@testa.com
JANICE PUPELIS Art Director STEVE THORAKOS Production Manager CIRCULATION circulation@testa.com FRED GUMM Digital Art Director
RICKY PIMENTEL Art/Production Assistant rpimentel@testa.com
DONOVAN BANKHEAD ROBERT CHRISTIE KIMBERLY DEVERELL JEFF KYLE JR.
MICHELLE LOEB WILL MASON ALLEN MCBROOM GABRIEL O'BRIEN
ROBIN HAZAN Operations Manager rhazan@testa.com VINCENT P. TESTA President/Publisher TIM SPICER DAN VEDDA LAURA B. WHITMORE Contributors
Editorial and Sales Office: The Music & Sound Retailer, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York 11050-3779. Phone: (516) 767-2500 • Fax: (516) 767-9335 • MSREDITOR@TESTA.COM. Editorial contributions should be addressed to The Editor, The Music & Sound Retailer, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York 11050-3779. Unsolicited manuscripts will be treated with care and must be accompanied by return postage. Sound & Communications • DJ Times • Sound & Communications Blue Book The Music & Sound Retailer • The DJ Expo • IT/AV Report The Retailer Report • Convention TV @ NAMM • InfoCommTV News VTTV Studios The Music & Sound Retailer (ISSN 0894-1238) (USPS 0941-238) is published 12 times a year for $18 (US), by Retailer Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779. Periodicals postage paid at Port Washington, N.Y. and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Music & Sound Retailer, PO BOX 1767, LOWELL MA 01853-1767
JANUARY 2019
©2019 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. FENDER, FENDER in script, TELECASTER and the distinctive headstock commonly found on Fender guitars and basses are registered trademarks of FMIC. Acoustasonic is a trademark of FMIC. All rights reserved.
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. UNLOCK NEW SOUNDS WITH THE AMERICAN ACOUSTASONIC ™ TELECASTER.®
CRAFTED IN CORONA, CALIFORNIA
L AT E S T
z z u B
MusicNomad Gives Back
MusicNomad introduced “ONE FOR MUSIC,” a give-back program whereby it is donating 1 percent of company sales to musicians and programs that play or promote music in everyday life. “Whether it’s being leaders in the instrument-care category or for how much we give back, we prefer to lead,” said Rand Rognlien, MusicNomad’s founder. The goal is to support people on their musical journeys and spread the power of music to feed their souls and the souls of those who hear it. The money supports local, national and international musicians and music programs, stated the company. “MusicNomad started as a musicians’ advocate organization before we created products, so giving back is in our veins. While we have always given back, we wanted to make it official and stronger,” said Rognlien.
8
Sabian Gives Surack Special Gift Sabian presented Sweetwater founder and owner Chuck Surack with a signed and framed Limited Edition David Garibaldi Soul Side Ride, released in honor of Tower of Power’s 16th studio album, “The Soul Side of Town.” Sabian President Andy Zildjian and Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi presented Surack with the Soul Side Ride during the Sweetwater All-Stars opening slot for a Tower of Power performance at the Clyde Theater in Fort Wayne. The performance was in celebration of Tower of Power’s 50th anniversary, and the Ride was signed by all the band
members. Surack is an accomplished saxophonist and is a member of the Sweetwater All-Stars. “Our excellent partners here at Sweetwater have played a huge role in our growth, and I am honored to be here to be here to present Chuck with this very special cymbal,” said Zildjian. “I’m humbled to receive such a thoughtful and unique gift,” added Surack. “We value our longstanding partnership with Sabian and hope to continue to provide our customers with the high-quality products offered by Sabian.”
Pioneer to Be ‘Revitalized’ Under New Investment Plan Pioneer Corp. will receive a 77 billion yen (approximately $684 million) investment, as well as a cash offer to existing Pioneer shareholders of approximately 25 billion yen (approximately $222 million), from global private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), under what is called the Pioneer Revitalization Plan. The plan aims to bring stability to the business by securing vital working capital and management support from BPEA, and “removing uncertainty about the company’s ability to continue sustainable operations.” BPEA and Pioneer are confident that the Pioneer Revitalization Plan offers the best option to take the company back to a sound operational footing and return to a growth path. “I believe BPEA shares our vision for a return to growth, making it the best partner to implement the Pioneer Revitalization Plan. Mindful of my responsibilities as Pioneer’s leader, it was only after very careful consideration that I concluded
that an alliance with BPEA is imperative to the success of the Pioneer Revitalization Plan. My mission is to help revitalize Pioneer as quickly as possible and return the company to a position where it can deliver products and services that delight all of our customers,” said Koichi Moriya, president and CEO of Pioneer. This transaction is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary meeting of Pioneer shareholders scheduled for Jan. 25, as well as gaining regulatory approvals including international and domestic antitrust clearances. The third-party share allotment is expected to complete on March 1, 2019, at the earliest, with BPEA set to take full ownership of Pioneer in March 2019. “BPEA has spent a lot of time building ties with Pioneer and developing this plan, so we are delighted to be able to partner with Pioneer at a pivotal time in its history. We are a long-term investor, averaging five or more years, and have successfully partnered with a number of Japanese companies since opening our Tokyo office in 2006. We are confident that the combination of our investment and management support offered under the Pioneer Revitalization Plan will enable Pioneer to fully realize the potential of its innovative technology, well-established brands and employees. Our goal is to ensure that Pioneer continues to offer products that embody the Pioneer brand and are loved by so many people around the world,” said Jean Eric Salata, Baring Private Equity Asia CEO and founding partner. Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. is acting as financial advisor to Pioneer, and Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu is acting as its legal counsel. Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. Ltd. is acting as financial advisor to BPEA, and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is acting as its legal counsel. JANUARY 2019
BRING THE PARTY WITH YOU PORTABLE ACTIVE TWO-WAY ARRAY SYSTEMS EVOX
J8 • • • • •
EVOX
128dB Max SPL 1,400W, 2-Way Amplifier 12” Woofer, Hi-Power 2.5” V.C. 8x2” Full-range Transducers 1.0” V.C. Also Available in White
JMIX8 • • • •
All the features of J8 plus: 8-Channel Digital Mixer w/ Multi-FX Hi-Z Input for Musical Instruments Auxiliary Output
EVOX
REMOTE CONTROL VIA BLUETOOTH The RCF EVOX App allows you to fully control the JMIX8. Available for iOS and Android.
EXPERIENCE RCF EVOX
VISIT: www.RCF-USA.com NAMM Booth: #18310
L AT E S T
z z u B
Golden Anniversary for Morley
the Tel-Ray name that led to the creation of the Morley brand and line of pedals. We are all proud to be part of such an iconic brand name. We will also be celebrating in various ways throughout 2019, and our special Chrome Bundle is just the kick-off,” said Morley’s Bill Wenzloff. At The NAMM Show, Morley will have a bigger location at Booth 4833. It will also highlight its Chrome Bundle, limited to 300 pieces worldwide. It contains a special run of a chrome mini Power Wah, chrome ABY, a commemorative booklet showing a few interesting products over five decades, a retro Morley Man Sticker and a few other special items.
Morley, maker of pedals, switches and Ebtech audio solutions, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in MI at The NAMM Show this month. Started in the late ‘60s as Tel-Ray Electronics by two brothers Marv and Ray Lubow, the company originally repaired televisions and radios, but ventured into guitar effects when Ray Lubow sought to design a compact Leslie rotary speaker simulator. Since its founding, Morley has brought many innovations to the guitar effects world, including the introduction of ElectroOptical circuitry, the first Switchless activation wah and the industry standard ABY Switcher. “The origins of Morley pedals go back much earlier than 50 years, however. 1969 was the year we started seriously making guitar effects under
Frampton to ‘Come Alive’ at NAMM
Point of Sale + Website + Rentals
Getty Images
Grammy-winning guitarist, singer and songwriter, Peter Frampton, will receive the Les Paul Innovation Award at the 34th annual NAMM Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, taking place on Jan. 26 in Anaheim, Calif., during The NAMM Show. The award is given to individuals who personify the innovative thinking of Les Paul, often referred to as the “Father of Modern Music.” “It is a distinct honor to receive the Les Paul Innovation Award,” Frampton noted. “I would say that many of my career highlights occurred while holding an instrument in my hands that bears Les Paul’s name. I was lucky enough to know him personally, and I owe him so much. He
ALL IN ONE
cloud-based system • POS & Website (Integrated Inventory) • Rent to Own • Reverb Integration • Product Data from 1,000+ Vendors, Over 1 million items • Class Management • Service/Repairs Tracking • Automated Marketing
"Our year-over-year sales increased by 35% after switching to Rain Retail" ~Jeremy Chapman, Owner, The Acoustic Shoppe
www.rainpos.com/music sales@rainpos.com • (801) 893-3680 10
• And more!
See how it works!
Booth #3916
was a wonderful character, as well as a genius. [He was] an incredible guitar player, as well as the inventor of so much music technology. Les changed the way we record forever. I can only hope that I’ve been able to make a fraction of the positive impact that Les Paul made in his iconic career.” A multi-platinum-selling artist, Frampton recently celebrated the 42nd anniversary of his fifth solo album, “Frampton Comes Alive!” In 2007, he won a Grammy award for “Best Pop Instrumental Album,” and he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014. Frampton joins artists such as Jackson Browne, Joe Perry, Don Was, Slash, Todd Rundgren, Pete Townshend and Steve Vai, among others, who have received the Les Paul Innovation Award since its creation in 1991. JANUARY 2019
My ambition
is to share my passion with other musicians, no matter what they play. You want to give every musician the ability to play at their very best. Our payment solutions, tools and technologies make it easy to offer your customers more purchasing power. They’ll also help you increase store traffic, raise average transaction size and build repeat business. Just right for your future. Find out how we can help you realize your ambitions. Visit synchronybusiness.com/music or call us at 888-393-1955.
Credit extended by Synchrony Bank. ©2019 All Rights Reserved.
What are you working forward to?
L AT E S T
z z u B
Hal Leonard Named U.S. Remo Marketing Partner
Hal Leonard on Jan. 1 became a principal distribution and marketing partner for Remo in the United States, with shipments to dealers starting on Feb. 1. For more than 60 years, Remo has been an industry leader in its field, since founder Remo Belli pioneered synthetic Mylar drumheads in 1957. Headquartered in Valencia, Calif., Remo is the world’s largest drumhead company. In addition to publishing music education materials, songbooks and sheet music, Hal Leonard is now also a distributor of musical instruments with a diverse lineup of products. Hal Leonard is adding Remo to a line of drum products including Gretsch drums, Gibraltar hardware, Vater drumsticks, Paiste cymbals, and other drum products from CB Drums, Percussion Plus, KAT Electronics and Tycoon. “Hal Leonard is known for service and education, making them a great fit with Remo’s mission. We look forward to working together to make more players and more sales for the retailer markets everywhere,” said Bob Yerby, vice president of global sales and marketing for Remo. “We are thrilled and honored to offer our dealers the great-selling and artist-approved Remo products. As a distributor, our role is to serve and support the dealers. Adding Remo to our drum catalog is going to make it easier for accounts to quickly get their Remo orders shipped along with our other complimentary lines. This will save them time and money. We look forward to growing the existing business and reaching new markets with our dealers,” added Brad Smith, vice president of MI Products at Hal Leonard.
That’s Amore
In celebration of sales and marketing efforts by the independent manufacturer representatives of RCF in the United States, a group of representatives was honored with a trip to Italy and a tour of the RCF headquarters and manufacturing facilities. “We couldn’t reach these levels without this valuable group of representatives,” said RCF USA CEO Roni Nevo. “The awarding of this trip is the honor for their hard work and contribution that leads to our continued growth.” Members of the rep force from On the Road Marketing, Quest Marketing, Eaton Sales, Bob White Associates, Ludwig Marketing, Cowser Marketing, Marshank Group, J.A.M.S. and Audio Source joined the RCF USA
12
SABIAN Knows No Bounds
SABIAN announced a major rebranding to reinforce the company’s reputation as the brand for drummers who don’t follow the crowd. The new Unbound branding, reflected in a new logo and tagline, acknowledges that drummers are independent, creative and emotionally involved in their choice of instruments and sounds, stated the company. “Drummers are highly independent and want to be recognized as artists who do their own thing. We want drummers to feel that SABIAN is the brand that’s ‘got their back’ by providing the unique sounds to help them create their unique music,” said SABIAN President Andy Zildjian. The new branding launched Jan. 24 at The NAMM Show. The rebranding will include a complete overhaul of the company’s website, cymbal logo, graphics and all marketing communications. For more information, visit sabian.com/unbound.
Blues Angel Ascends With Second Store
Blues Angel Music opened a new location in Spanish Fort, Ala., on Nov. 24. During Blues Angel’s 21 years in operation, it has occupied multiple addresses in Pensacola, Fla., but this marks the first time it opened an additional location. “Over the last couple of years, we noticed we were attracting more and more customers from across the Alabama state line,” said Jim DeStafney, owner of Blues Angel Music. “We did some research. What we found was there was not a full-line music instrument store like ours in the area.” “We wanted to bring Blues Angel Music to Spanish Fort, but in a different way,” added co-owner, Nan DeStafney. “The new location is just over half the size of our Pensacola store, but we wanted to do all of the same things, so we went with a more modern, streamlined concept.”
management team on the trip. “We learned a lot during our visit,” said Quest Marketing representative Matt Pogorelc. “The new
demo room was great, and being able to hear the new products before they come to market gives us a tremendous advantage.”
The group had leisure time during the trip as well. A tour of Milan took them to sights including the Sforza Castle and Milan Cathedral.
A group of RCF representatives recently took a trip to Italy in honor of the company's sales and marketing efforts.
JANUARY 2019
L AT E S T
Letter to the Editor
Brian, There’s a lot of truth in your [November] editorial. When I was a kid, my dad was a federal ranger. He was the only law enforcement guy for miles and miles, and he got called upon to do a lot of enforcement that wasn’t always strictly in his job description. One day I was at his office, and a young couple came in. They wanted to apologize to him and thank him for what he did for them. As I listened to the conversation, I realized my dad had arrested this young couple and locked them up for three days. After they left, I asked him, “Why would someone thank you after you arrested them?” His answer was pretty simple. “Just because you’re ruining someone’s week doesn’t mean you can’t be nice to them while you’re doing it.” Over time, I found out that they were both drunk and disorderly, had damaged federal property and were in hot water. (They were Ole Miss students, which was 30 miles away.) He took them to the Panola County jail to sober up and wait for bail money. This was the late ‘60s or early ‘70s. Long-distance calls were expensive, but my dad called their parents on his dime to tell them they were okay, but they’d
QSC Gets ‘Loud’
QSC will premiere its global campaign, “Play Out Loud,” at The NAMM Show. “Play Out Loud” is an expression of the company’s dedication to instilling artists and performers with the confidence to enthusiastically and passionately connect with their audiences. “The equipment that performers use needs to be reliable, easy to work with and sound great, like the perfect band member. When the performer puts it all out there for their audience, QSC has their back, allowing them the freedom to express themselves fully and confidently,” QSC stated. MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
be in jail until Monday. He also bought sandwiches and took them a meal, since they were locked up after the night meal. He kept their car at our house and drove it there himself. That saved them a wrecker bill and storage fees. When they were bailed out on Monday, the parents brought
them out to him, and he told the folks to go easy on them — they were good kids once they sobered up, they just didn’t need to be drinking on federal property. They picked up their car, thanked him profusely and drove off into their future. I’ve always remembered my 6' 4" father, the B17 pilot, the VFW
z z u B
commander, the ranger, standing there with his flat-top haircut and cigar, saying, “Just because you’re ruining someone’s week doesn’t mean you can’t be nice to them while you’re doing it.” A very, very good editorial. Thanks for the memory. Allen McBroom
Rand Cook & y d in C Note From
MM.ORG 2019 • NA Y R A U N A J IAL • ADVERTOR
The NAMM Show Plan: How to Prepare, Work the Floor and Follow-Up After twenty-nine years of attendance, our business developed a fine-tuned, NAMM Show pre-plan. Here are a few pages from our playbook to create a successful experience. Why NAMM
How We Work the Show
We always get excited about our trip to The NAMM Show. It is not only a once-a-year opportunity to improve our business, but also a rare chance to be with industry peers and those from the NAMM organization that we consider to be our extended family (or NAMM-ily!).
Together with our employees, we experience The NAMM Show and understand the full picture of our marketplace. We carry this awareness back to our store and share it with our staff, customers and students. From there, they go out and make even more music. That’s why we always like to say: the music begins at The NAMM Show!
We always plan to arrive in Anaheim a day early for the Retail Innovation Summit, which is an intensive training session loaded with ideas to help improve your business. Every morning, we wake up early to attend the daily Breakfast Session. This inspirational, educational series is filled with trends and strategies, and it’s so worth losing that extra hour of sleep! From there, our company sets out on a divide-andconquer mission of meetings, educational sessions and networking events. At the end of each show day, we all have drinks and share what we accomplished. We excitedly chat about what cool, new merchandise we saw, our fun experiences, any celebrities we met, what we learned and more. It’s a total blast because there’s always so much to share. Of course, it’s not all rest after the show day! There are post-show concerts, receptions, parties and events to visit! Finally, we consistently share our experience on social media so that those back home can attend The NAMM Show virtually through us.
Plan for Success
Follow-Up and Implementation of Our NAMM Ideas
First, identify which staff members to bring along. We think it is essential to bring a meaningful portion of our team to the show with us, as the experience makes better salespeople and more dedicated employees. Prep them on the excitement of attending and what to expect. We recommend sharing past stories to illustrate what the show is really like. Additionally, we review how to best conduct vendor meetings, define goals, discuss vendor-specific issues and identify relevant information.
We hold a staff meeting right after the show to debrief and share our experiences with the entire group. We distribute the materials we collected about new products (and share show swag!) to include the whole team in making merch decisions. We then complete any orders not placed at the show. We discuss tips learned during NAMM U and collectively determine what to incorporate into our business and marketing plans, making decisions about how to implement new methods and policies. For example, we changed teachers from contractors to employee status from what we learned from a NAMM U session.
The educational opportunities at NAMM U continue to revolutionize our operations. So much of what we know about retail and the industry was learned at NAMM, and the ideas we picked up there are partly the reason why we went from a little-known store to 2014 Dealer of the Year.
Be sure to utilize online resources. We scout the education and events schedule and identify NAMM U sessions pertinent to our business. From there, we assign NAMM U sessions to appropriate staff members. On the new My Show Planner tool, we can add events to each team member’s calendar and discover recommendations based on their specific interests. Combining these tools, we create a schematic to cross-reference staff, show days, NAMM U sessions and other sessions of interest such as the Coalition on Coalitions, Top 100 Member Reception, Marketplace Fairness Roundtable and Smart Women in Music reception. With these events blocked out, we begin booking appointments with vendors prioritized by the merchandising needs of our business. For example, if we’re looking to take on a new ukulele line, we build in visits to ukulele vendors and gather information to bring home and consider.
Then, for our marketing efforts, we create and unveil our “New from NAMM” webpage, showcasing our new product offerings. We share the website’s launch via email and social media and start pre-planning for the next show, which will take place back in Southern California, January 16—19, 2020! Cindy Cook • NAMM Board of Directors Co-Owner, Director of Marketing and Education The Candyman Strings & Things
NAMM Show Tips: Things we have learned from 29 years of attending: • Bring staff with you to experience the The NAMM Show, helping create more loyal, involved and happier employees! • Plan ahead by downloading the new mobile app by searching “NAMM Shows” in your app store. • Make sure you and your staff have all travel discounts, including Uber and Lyft, to minimize expenses. • Set goals for vendor appointments and share with your team. • Prioritize vendor meetings by existing accounts and new products that may work for your business.
• Leave 15 minutes between each appointment, allowing for time if a meeting runs late or if the next appointment is on the other side of the campus. • Review the education schedule and plan for large doses of ideas from NAMM U! • Make sure to plan time for special events and networking with friends. • Take advantage of the opportunity to assemble the “full picture” of our industry. • Share your experience in real-time via social media so your community can experience it too!
Cindy and Rand Cook have transformed The Candyman Strings & Things in Sante Fe, New Mexico into a welcoming music hub and education center serving people from all walks of life; from families to professional musicians, and everyone in between. The Candyman was presented several NAMM Top 100 Dealer Awards including the 2014 Dealer of the Year. Along the way, Cindy has also been involved with the guidance of NAMM, serving on the NAMM Board of Directors.
Through our unique Circle of Benefits model, the proceeds from The NAMM Show are reinvested into programs to support music education throughout the world. By supporting NAMM, you not only help your own business, but you also directly contribute to creating more music makers.
Plan Your Show Build a customized agenda, review show discounts and other planning resources by visiting www.namm.org/plan.
The Music Begins Here
PEOPLE
z z u B
McDonald Retires From Fender
Fender Musical Instruments Corp.’s (FMIC) chief product strategist, Richard McDonald, one of the company’s most esteemed and longest-tenured employees, retired on Dec. 7. McDonald, known as a charismatic leader, beloved mentor and pivotal figure in the music industry, retired after a 25-year run with Fender. He was also honored with the Music & Sound Retailer’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement/Hall of Fame award at the 2018 NAMM Show. “Richard’s unparalleled charisma, passion, and commitment to the Fender brand and family have had an incredible impact on thousands of Fender employees and hundreds of products over the life of his illustrious career,” said Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender. “He will undoubtedly be missed, but we are thrilled for him and his family as he enters this well-deserved and exciting chapter of his life.” Known for his charm, innate leadership skills, magnetic personality and natural ability to inspire and generate tangible cultural change, his story is one that motivates and encourages. His contributions to Fender’s product catalog are so vast that his name has become synonymous with the brand. He has worked in seven different Fender locations, under five different CEOs — Bill Schultz, Bill Mendello, Larry Thomas, Scott Gilbertson and Andy Mooney — and was part of the management team that helped engineer the move to Hollywood. “Richard was not only a boss and mentor, but the pinnacle example to follow in his staff’s development” said Justin Norvell, executive vice president, Fender Products. “His combination of ability, knowledge, passion, charisma, motivational skills and tenacity were things all of his staff hoped would rub off on us. He also allowed those who worked for him the platform to develop and follow their vision and passion. He will truly be missed, and we are proud to continue his legacy.” Joining the company in 1993 as a small parts coordinator, McDonald rose through the executive ranks and was promoted to chief product strategist in 2017. In that role, he provided counsel and guidance for the long-term product vision of Fender’s core business and continued mentoring his disciple and successor, Norvell. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president, Fender Brand, until 2014, during which he was most proud of his work building the Fender product team’s profile and evolving product experiences for the future. Among these outstanding accomplishments at FMIC, McDonald also served as Fender amplification and audio marketing manager (1997-2000) and vice president of electric guitars (2000-2002) — an especially creative period during which he was instrumental in developing some of Fender’s most successful products. As senior vice president of global marketing (2002-2014), he subsequently led the unification of FMIC’s entire global marketing organization. “It has been a privilege to work with the most esteemed brand in this industry and have my fingerprints be anywhere near Fender,” said McDonald. “Now it is time to allow the amazing team we have built to continue on that legacy. I look forward to my next chapter filled with my wife, family, faith and health.”
16
Accolades for Barrett
Bonnie Barrett, director of Yamaha Artist Services Inc., has been named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of 2018. The sixth-annual list recognizes the most innovative and accomplished individuals in the music industry. “What always strikes me about this group of individuals is their passion, creativity and dedication to making the arts thrive, even — perhaps especially — in times of adversity,” said Susan Elliott, editor, Musical America Special Reports. “These are the folks who make our industry tick, who get the artists on stage, who help build the audiences and train the artists of tomorrow.” “It’s an honor for me to be acknowledged by Musical America,” added Barrett. “I am grateful for the extraordinary commitment by Yamaha on the corporate level to recognize and support our initiatives with artists, not only by creating exceptional instruments, but also by providing a state-of-the-art, world-class facility in which artists can fully explore their crafts and develop their artistic voices. The scope of our activities requires marshaling a terrific team — each with their own area of expertise — and I am proud of how we all work seamlessly together to help our artists realize their goals.”
Talking About My Generation
The Avedis Zildjian Co. named Cady Zildjian MacPherson to its board of directors. Her addition continues the tradition of Zildjian-family leadership of the company, extending 15 generations. “Debbie and I are excited to welcome Cady to the board,” said Craigie Zildjian, CEO of the Zildjian Co. “This continues the 400-year-old tradition of leadership in the business.” Cady is the daughter of Debbie Zildjian, and granddaughter of Armand Zildjian.
Manhasset’s Roberts Has Special Honor Ellenburg, Wash.-based Central Washington University selected Dan Roberts, president and general manager of Manhasset Specialty Co., for an advisory board position in its College of Arts and Humanities. “Central Washington University is one of the fastest-growing universities in the state,” said Roberts. “Todd Shiver, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, outlines the mission of his department as, ‘preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century by developing the critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving skills, communication skills, leadership skills, cross-cultural sensitivity and global awareness that a liberal arts education provides.’ And CWU does a tremendous job in developing new kindergarten-12 educators; 18 percent of Washington state K-12 educators are CWU graduates, more than any other college in the state.” Roberts added: “All of us at Manhasset greatly admire the impressive Music Department at CWU, which made our company’s selection to the advisory board of the College of Arts and Humanities even more rewarding.”
JANUARY 2019
PRODUCT
z z u B
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
A Book Is Born
Never De-Throned
Without Further Delay
For the first time in more than 50 years, Mary Poppins returned to the Banks home on Cherry Tree Lane in the new Disney movie musical, “Mary Poppins Returns.” Hal Leonard launched a new lineup of songbooks accompanying the all-new soundtrack for the sequel to the 1964 Disney classic. The “Mary Poppins Returns” songbooks feature 10 new songs from the film’s soundtrack: “(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky,” “A Conversation, Can You Imagine That?,” “The Royal Doulton Music Hall,” “A Cover Is Not the Book,” “The Place Where Lost Things Go,” “Turning Turtle,” “Trip a Little Light Fantastic,” “Trip a Little Light Fantastic (Reprise)” and “Nowhere to Go but Up.” The books also feature several pages of color photos from the film. MSRP: $17.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Hal Leonard, halleonard.com
On-Stage, a division of The Music People, released the MDT2 Drum Throne. The MDT2 features an internal nylon sleeve around a height-adjustable shaft and a spider-shaped insert at the base which holds the two shafts securely in place, eliminating any wiggling of the seat and offering players a sturdy solution, stated the company. Furthering the throne’s stability are its solid-steel, double-braced legs and non-slip rubber feet. The MDT2 boasts an improved design and features a larger and thicker seat diameter stuffed with a high-density foam to provide maximum comfortability and support, especially for drummers playing a long gig, added the manufacturer. The height of the drum throne can be adjusted from 19.5 to 24.4 inches with five locking pin locations. The base spread is 18.11 inches, while the foam cushion, covered in a durable leather-textured material, features a 2.5inch seat thickness. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: On-Stage, on-stage.com
18
Alfred Music released music from the original motion picture soundtrack of the hit movie “A Star Is Born.” The piano/vocal/guitar songbook features the soundtrack to the box-office hit starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Original, full-color photography and movie artwork within this portfolio help provide a glimpse into the music and visual aesthetic of a Hollywood classic’s third remake. Titles include “Black Eyes,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Maybe It’s Time,” “Alibi,” “Shallow,” “Music to My Eyes,” “Diggin’ My Grave” and “Always Remember Us This Way.” Also, “Shallow,” the first single from “A Star Is Born,” has been arranged for piano/vocal/guitar. MSRP: Piano/vocal/guitar songbook: $24.99; “Shallow” (Sheet): $3.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Alfred, alfred.com
EMMA Electronic introduced the ND-1 Navigator Hybrid Delay pedal, which offers practical, usable delay functions in a configuration that can generate classic delay tones, as well as many unique new sounds, stated the company. The Navigator’s most unique feature is a separate Level control for the beat-split delay repeats. This option allows the user to emphasize the second delay voice, or to turn the main delay off entirely to create interesting new rhythmic delay effects. It also features tap-tempo, modulation, beat-splits, trails, wet/dry outputs and more. Street Price: $279 Ship Date: Now Contact: EMMA Electronic, godlyke.com
JANUARY 2019
Nearly four decades of
AME IN RSI C PA I RNI NI N G NTO RVAT U S TI O N A M E REI A CA RNIN MG A NLU OYA FA C LT TY URING
On to the Nextone
BOSS launched the Nextone-Artist and Nextone-Stage, two gig-ready combo guitar amplifiers designed with the advanced Tube Logic approach. Combining classic tube sound and feel with next-generation tonal diversity, each Nextone amp offers multiple channels and instant re-voicing via four Class AB analog power-amp types selectable from the panel. Nextone amps also include convenient modern features such as built-in effects, a dynamically responsive power control, and personalized sound customization using the Nextone Editor software for Mac and Windows. Nextone amps also include built-in delay, reverb and tremolo effects, bringing even more versatility and convenience to gigging guitarists. And with the integrated power control, players can experience authentic cranked-amp tone while matching the volume to any situation, be it home, studio or stage. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Now Contact: BOSS, boss.info
Mucho Grande
Manhasset Stands introduced its model #5450 Grande music stand. The #5450 Grande model joins the music stand lineup for conductors and directors, along with the #5401 Regal music stand. It was designed with an all-purpose shelf, rather than a storage area in the back of the stand (as featured on the Regal model). Other features of the #5450 Grande music stand are its durable powder-coat finish and the two Manhasset Symphony shafts with Magic Finger Clutch. It is made in the USA and backed by a lifetime warranty. MSRP: $199.95 Ship Date: Now Contact: Manhasset Specialty Co., manhasset-specialty.com
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
Audix hasthan been35 earning loyalty of sound engineers For more years, the Audix has been conducting reand musicians both aspiring and renowned around search, design, — fabrication, machining, assembly,—and final the world than 35 years. Up and comers know testing at for ourmore headquarters near Portland, Oregon. It’s they canway be confi dent of in to their investment, estabthe best we know ensure inspired while engineering, lished greats like Tower of superb Power and Crosby, Stills, expert craftsmanship, and sound for any typeand of Nash know they can on Audix to accurately capture voice, instrument, orcount application. the full range of their trademark sounds.
NAMM ‘19 ACC North Hall, Booth 18301 4th Annual Drummer Signing on Saturday Musical performances all week
PRODUCT
z z u B
Strokes of Genius
Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Albert Hammond Jr. Stratocaster as part of a collaboration with singer, songwriter and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. The model is a reproduction of Hammond Jr.’s prized 1985 reissue of a ‘72 Strat with personal touches, celebrating his unique playing style and desire to inspire new musical journeys for guitar players everywhere. The Stratocaster offers a six-saddle synchronized tremolo bridge and ‘70s-style headstock and customized pickup switching. Additionally, the tremolo arm is also not included, reflecting Hammond Jr.’s performance setup and playing preference. Hammond Jr. is known for his work with The Strokes, as well as his solo career. MSRP: $874.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Fender, fender.com
Tour de Force
D’Addario Accessories launched the Professional Tour-Grade Power Base, designed for touring musicians in constant transition between the stage and the road. The Power Base offers five standardspaced outlets and three transformer-spaced outlets. Unlike most power strips that easily tip over, the Power Base features a low, wide footprint in a sturdy metal housing that remains anchored in place, no matter how many devices are plugged in, stated the company. The Power Base also features an integrated cable-management system that allows end users to wrap the cord around the base for convenience while traveling. No tangling with other cords or gear. No unraveling when thrown in the van. Just an organized power source that’s ready to use, from the studio to the stage and back. MSRP: $59 Ship Date: Now Contact: D’Addario, daddario.com
QRS-Connect
h Boot M M NA 8005
Hardware, Software & Sensors to Capture, Track and Archive
QRS-Connect.com - Cloud Ecosystem for Analytics, Sharing, Archiving & More
QRS Widgets - Application Specific Functions That Utilize the I/O - Programmable & Assignable
QRS-Connect is to the music industry What activity trackers are to the sports & health industry Come see it in action Booth 8005
QRS Music Technologies, Inc.
qrsmusic.com/qrs-connect.asp
adqrsc/010119
Nearly four decades of
INSPIRING TRUST E A R N I N G L OYA LT Y
Get into the Groove
GrooveTech released the Acoustic Guitar Tech Kit. Acoustic guitars are especially sensitive to temperature and environmental changes, which can result in neck relief that’s out of specification and affects one’s performance. Fortunately, most acoustic guitars have an adjustable truss rod, but access can be a problem, especially through the sound hole, stated the company. The new GrooveTech Acoustic Guitar Tech Kit was developed specifically for this application. Central to the kit is a locking bit driver that allows quick interchange of tool bits. Two bits were designed for sound hole truss rod adjustment, with extended blades and a special profile ball-end tip to help find and seat an unseen truss rod nut. Headstock truss rod nuts are also covered with two socket bits. Street Price: $59.95 Ship Date: Now Contact: GrooveTech Tools, groovetechtools.com
Add Some Snazz and Pizazz
Snazzy FX and Erica Synths teamed up as Snazzy LV to introduce Wow and Flutter, The Mini-Ark and Tracer City. The Mini-Ark is a monophonic tracking device. It was designed with four goals in mind: to work with as many different signals as possible, to track quickly, to allow for subtle as well as ridiculous sounds, and to allow basic control over an external VCO and ADSR/VCA when using a bass or guitar using. The Wow and Flutter is a versatile delay device. End users can run stems or mixes through it to add an out-of-this-world quality, stated the company. The Tracer City is in many ways similar to what end users might find on an old (or new) analog synthesizer. The main synthesizer components it has are filters, an oscillator (which can also be used as an LFO) and a Psuedo-Random LFO with lag. It also has an envelope follower (with up or down response) with lag, which works well with drums, loops and anything else that is very percussive. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Now Contact: Snazzy FX, snazzyfx.com
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
Audix has been earning the loyalty of sound engineers and musicians — both aspiring and renowned — around the world for more than 35 years. Up and comers know they can be confident in their investment, while established greats like Tower of Power and Crosby, Stills, and Nash know they can count on Audix to accurately capture the full range of their trademark sounds.
NAMM ‘19 ACC North Hall, Booth 18301 4th Annual Drummer Signing on Saturday Musical performances all week
PRODUCT
z z u B
The Buzz About Fuzz
The Flatiron Fuzz is a classic op-amp powered fuzz/distortion. With its late-‘70s-style circuit and symmetrical hard clipping, it is EHX’s take on the RAT2 pedal. The Flatiron Fuzz is extremely versatile, stated the company. At lower-drive settings, it remains fairly clean and adds a pleasing, mild distortion. As the drive is turned up, it transports users to a world of arena rock and produces spectacular, thick, meaty tones. The Flatiron Fuzz features three controls: Volume, Drive and Filter. Volume sets the output level, while Drive adjusts the amount of sustain and distortion. The unique Filter control is actually a low-pass filter with a movable cutoff frequency. Street Price: $72.70 Ship Date: Now Contact: Electro-Harmonix, ehx.com
Fly Like an Eagle
Historically, Paul’s Guitar has been a realization of Paul Reed Smith’s latest discoveries surrounding tone. This revamped Paul’s Guitar model represents Smith’s vision not only as a guitar maker, but as a guitar player who needs versatile stageand studio-ready gear that can achieve all the right tones. Smith’s personal design choices include mahogany bodies with maple tops, Honduran rosewood fretboards, Nitrocellulose finishes, “Brushstroke” bird inlays and narrow pickup bobbins. The Paul’s Guitar model also includes PRS’s TCI (Tuned Capacitance and Inductance) treble and bass pickups with two mini-toggle switches that allow players to put either or both pickups in either humbucking or true single-coil mode. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: PRS, prsguitars.com
All Hail the King
Gibson Brands, in coordination with its announcement that it named B.B. King as a Gibson Legacy Artist, has launched an Alpine White Limited Edition “Lucille” ES. Highlights include a custom B.B. King signature-engraved bridge pickup cover, brass Lucille engraved truss rod cover and crown Mother of Pearl headstock inlay. Staying true to B.B. King’s original specs and tone, players will find a Stereo Varitone paired to Gibson 490R and 490T Humbucking pickups. It also features TP-6 Fine Tune Tailpiece, mother of pearl full-block inlay fingerboard and semi-hollow body design. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Gibson, gibson.com
My Drum Is Stronger Than Oak
Yamaha launched the Live Custom Hybrid Oak series drum sets, providing drummers with a new sonic range, from powerful attack to low fundamental tones. The drum set’s seven-ply shells are constructed with a phenolic ply between the oak plies, giving players more shell life, sustain and dynamic range. To cut unnecessary frequencies and boost low tones, Yamaha developed the Bass Drum Frequency Control weight. This new process introduces dark chrome Absolute lug weights, strategically placed inside the bass drum to provide a stronger low end. Other features include the YES III Tom Mount, to allow the shells to vibrate more freely, durable dark chrome lugs and hoops, and Remo U.S. heads. The Live Custom Hybrid snare drums include high-carbon-steel, 25-strand snare wires in the 14-inch-by-5.5-inch edition. The hybrid shells, designed for this snare, allow for maximum protection and sensitivity, giving that classic cutting tone that comes with oak wood. The series features five new unique uzukuri finishes: UZU Ice Sunburst, UZU Magma Sunburst, UZU Natural, UZU Earth Sunburst and UZU Charcoal Sunburst. MSRP: Yamaha Live Custom Hybrid Oak drum sets: $6,900; Live Custom Hybrid Oak snare drums: $1,140 Ship Date: Spring 2019 (continued on page 90) Contact: Yamaha, usa.yamaha.com
22
JANUARY 2019
a great guitar deserves the best strings.
it’s why we make our own.
At Martin, we are obsessed with making the highest-quality, best-sounding guitars. But a great guitar isn’t complete without a great set of strings. It’s why we created Authentic Acoustic. It’s why we make our own. Learn more — visit martinguitar.com/aa
50 THE NIFTY FIFTY
(continued from cover)
The Nifty
Here, we offer 50 product offerings in one easy-to-read location. Of course, the trade show will have much more. So, for even more products, check out this month’s Latest Buzz section, as well as another product feature in our February issue. Without further ado, here we go:
Take Good Care GHS Strings added the Fingerboard Care Kit to its line of string cleaning products. Guitar maintenance is just as critical to an instrument’s sound and playability as a new set of strings. Clean, smooth frets allow for optimal contact of the strings to your instrument, improving the sustain and tone. The GHS Fingerboard Care Kit makes it easy to maintain your instrument’s frets and fingerboard, and is ideal for all instruments with natural, non-glossy, darker fingerboards, stated the company. It can be used on electric, acoustic and classical guitars, bass guitars, as well as mandolins, banjos, ukuleles and more. Booth 4614
We DO Need This Civil War The Sovtek Deluxe Big Muff Pi combines the Civil War and Green Russian Big Muff signature tones with the advanced soundshaping power of the Deluxe Big Muff in a single, integrated pedal. It’s equipped with a foot-switchable Mids EQ section, Noise Gate, Blend control for the dry and distorted signals, a Wicker switch that opens up high-frequency bandwidth and an EXP pedal input, so the player can sweep the Mids EQ to create wah wah and cocked wah effects. Booth 5249
Flying V Gibraltar released the GSSVR Stealth Side V Rack and the SC-78ASE, SC-1 ASE Accessory Shaft Extender to offer drummers more freedom with their setups. The GSSVR Stealth Side V Rack, within the company’s Stealth series, is equipped with a 33-inch V-shape bar and 14.5-inch vertical legs, and can be used as a companion to the GSVMS-KIT or as a right- and left-side side rack. End users can cut down on the amount of stands and increase the mounting capability in a setup without widening its footprint. This V-shaped side rack presents the audience with an artistic aesthetic, while keeping a setup low to the ground and multifunctional. Booth 8910
24
JANUARY 2019
50 The Nifty
Songs for Vets Alfred Music and Guitars for Vets jointly present “Guitars for Vets: Official Songbook (Healing Through Music with 31 Easy Guitar Songs).” With a mission to give veterans the healing power of music by offering free guitar instruction, instruments and accessories, the nonprofit organization Guitars for Vets has joined with Alfred Music to present this special collection of 31 classic songs. Arranged for easy guitar playing, the collection contains classic tunes from the 1960s to the present by legendary artists, including the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Johnny Cash and many others. A portion of sales will go directly to the Guitars for Vets organization to further support its cause. Booth 11402
Mr. Big Phil Jones Bass introduced the Bighead Pro (Model HA-2), a highperformance, multi-function headphone amplifier/digital audio interface. The HA-2 is a high-resolution USB audio interface that supports PCM playback with up to 384kHz sample rate/24-bit resolution. On DSD playback, sample rates of 2.822mHz and 5.644mHz are supported, making it the ideal choice for musicians and engineers that desire high performance and the purest sound quality, stated the company. It is a rechargeable lithium ion dynamo for use in practice or recording situations. It also functions as a headphone booster amp as well as a preamp to drive powered amplifiers. The HA-2 has both passive and active instrument inputs with a two-band EQ for guitar and bass, yet it is versatile enough for use with other instruments. Booth 5329
Don’t ‘Let It Go’ The 7th edition of “The Illustrated Treasury of Disney Songs” from Hal Leonard provides a tour through many legendary years of Disney music and has been updated to include music from “Up,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled,” “Brave,” “Frozen,” “Lava,” “Moana,” and “Coco.” The book begins with a detailed musical history of Disney’s greatest songs, discussing the work of famed Disney composers Frank Churchill, Larry Morey, Richard and Robert Sherman, Alan Menken, and more, and detailing the historical development of the music and movies through the years. More than 100 full-color illustrations accompany the text and music, making this a keepsake to treasure for years to come, stated the company. The book features over 70 Disney classics for piano/vocal/ guitar, from classic Disney animated features like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Cinderella.” Booth 8910
26
JANUARY 2019
50 The Nifty
Greatest In-Fluence Fishman’s Fluence bass pickups, based on the company's Fluence Core technology, are designed to bring multi-voice performance, dynamic range, and articulation to four-string and five-string bassists. The initial Fluence Bass offering is the Soapbar, available packaged as individual pickups or in sets of two for four-string and five-string basses. Like all Fishman Fluence pickups, the Soapbar is Multi-Voice with Classic, Funk and Modern voices, and can be powered by a standard 9V battery or an optional Fluence rechargeable battery pack. Booth 4810
Sublime and Divine The Crush Drums Sublime ST boasts three configurations in three finishes with a complete line of add-on drums. It allows end users to construct a dream kit of their own, stated the company. The Sublime ST was designed from the ground up with American maple shells. It features well-thought-out and engineered shell hardware to ensure the drums can resonate properly and stand up to the test of time, the manufacturer added. Booth 8802
Work of ART G7th’s Performance 3 Capo incorporates its Adaptive Radius Technology (ART). The ART active string pad infinitely adapts to match the radius over the strings on any guitar perfectly, delivering unrivalled tuning stability by applying even pressure across all the strings, stated the company. The Performance 3 capos will be available in a Silver finish, Satin Black and 18kt Gold Plate. The product will be ready for distributors to order at the NAMM Show via Davitt & Hanser, with an official launch date of March 1. Booth 5215
28
JANUARY 2019
8287-2018
Every successful career begins with the very first gig. Welcome to the journey.
CP SERIES COMPACT POWERED LOUDSPEAKERS
qsc.com/cp
©2018 QSC, LLC. All rights reserved. QSC and the QSC logo are registered trademarks of QSC, LLC in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries.
50 The Nifty
Flock of Seagulls Edmonton, Alberta-based Flock Audio will be showcasing the Flock Audio PATCH System. According to the company, the product is the world’s most advanced digitally controlled, 100-percent analog audio routing system for recording studios and professional audio users. Booth 16128
Catch the Waveform Tracktion Corp. released Waveform 10, which the company calls “another major leap forward in the popular, multi-award-winning DAW’s rapidly evolving capabilities.” Both the UI/UX and Audio editing have had a major overhaul, improving access, removing clutter that is not relevant to workflow, allowing users to track editors in separate windows and edit during playback. In addition, Tracktion has launched an open-source developer tool “PluginVal” to assist third-party developers to test compatibility in a developer environment. Booth 14201
Award Winning Brands World-Class Service We are dedicated to Music Retailers We are St. Louis Music T: F: E: W:
800-727-4512 314-727-4710 sales@stlouismusic.com www.stlouismusic.com
SLM Marketplace Everything in Accessories
260 Brands 13,000 Products 30
JANUARY 2019
From A to Zinc JW Winco is offering its GN 303/GN 303.1 Zinc Die Cast Adjustable Levers with Push Button and WN 303/WN 303.1 nylon plastic adjustable levers with push button. The adjustable hand levers have proven to be ideal for any application where frequent clamping or adjustments are made in a confined space or in a particular lever position, stated the company. JW Winco adjustable levers are offered with either steel or stainless-steel components in inch or metric sizes. Booth 12141
You Know the Why, We Are the How. Authors
Our authors are experts in their field, with extensive years of teaching, performing, and composing experience.
No Parlor Game
Leader
Alfred Music is a leader in music education, providing methods, resources, and literature for students and teachers for nearly a century.
Yamaha unveiled the CSF-TA TransAcoustic parlor guitar, taking the affordability, portability, and premium sound and construction of the Yamaha CSF line of parlor guitars and adding the company’s TransAcoustic technology. The CSF-TA is among the newest additions to the Yamaha Hybrid Guitar category, joining the CG-TA, LL-TA, FG-TA and SILENT Guitars. The CSF-TA incorporates an actuator (or small switch) installed on the inner surface of the guitar back. When the instrument’s strings are played, they cause the actuator to vibrate, which is then conveyed to the guitar body and the air in and around the guitar. This unique technology gives a player’s music a spacious, concert-hall feel in any practice or performance space, stated the company. The CSF-TA has a solid Sitka spruce top mated to laminated mahogany back and sides, nato neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, abalone rosette, and the Yamaha SYSTEM70 TransAcoustic + SRT Piezo pickup system. The guitar is available in a gloss natural finish. Booths 100, 17819, Elite 3, OCB1
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
Flexible
Sound Innovations allows you to adjust the pacing to address the unique needs within the classroom utilizing the free materials online.
Reliable
Teachers have relied on the solid pedagogy of Alfred Music string methods for decades to teach millions of students.
Expert Instruction
Our string methods provide teachers with sound pedagogy backed up by online content, live workshops, availability in SmartMusic, and more.
Dedicated
Alfred Music is dedicated to helping the world experience the joy of making music.
alfred.com/dealer
50 The Nifty
Now Hear This Akoustyx introduced the R1 Series and R2 Series Studio Reference In-Ear Monitors. Features include studio-reference-tuned acoustics; proprietary, tuned, balanced armature drivers by Knowles; detachable cable with goldplated MMCX (Micro Miniature Coaxial) connectors; lightweight polycarbonate IEM casing; multi-braided, monocrystalline-grade, oxygen-free copper cable; and three-button in-line mic (works with IOS and Android). Additional features include non-allergic in-ear gels (small, medium, large and two-flap); Comply T-100 premium earphone tips; and a Neoprene padded storage/carry case. Booth 2044
Not for the Rats RHC introduced the RAT Tail distortion cable. Built using the same clipping diodes that drive Vintage RAT pedals’ signature distortion tones, it offers guitarists and bassists an alternative solution for achieving audio effects. Musicians can shift between settings with the connector’s accessible dial and built-in, directly selectable distortion circuitry. The RAT Tail distortion cable comes equipped with three settings, including true bypass, distortion overdrive with unity gain and distortion overdrive (+3dB gain). Booth 11510
Don’t Lose Focus ADJ’s Focus Spot 4Z sits at the top of range of the Focus Series moving heads from ADJ Lighting. The Focus Spot 4Z is powered by a 200W LED engine and is equipped with motorized focus and zoom (11 ~ 22-degree zoom). It is designed for temporary live events and fixed installations in nightclubs, stages or churches. It is professionally fit with one GOBO wheel with six rotating/replaceable GOBOS, eight vibrant colors plus white and two prism wheels. It has locking powerCON in and out connectors to daisychain the power, plus three-pin DMX in/out. Booth 11438
32
JANUARY 2019
At a Premium
A PR SK A O AB N M O D O U SP T T O EC IO U IA NS R LS
Kirlin introduced the newest addition to its Premium Plus instrument cable line, the IPW-201WG. This cable has specs similar to Kirlin’s IWB series (20-gauge Oxygen-Free-Copper [OFC] conductor, OFC-braided shielding with 95-percent coverage) topped off with metal connectors, gold-plated contact and classy, white barrels. Kirlin will be offering this cable in three colors unique to the premium plus line: soft light blue, light red and lime green. The IPW-201WG offers its users a bright and appealing aesthetic, fitting in with the lights, sounds and colors of today’s music scene, according to the company. Booth 4130
Proud to Be an American Fender Music Instrument Corp.’s American Performer Series blends traditional Fender design with new elements for modern tone and performance, including newly designed Yosemite pickups; patented double-tap humbucker pickup; ClassicGear vintage-modern tuner; enhanced electronics including Push-Pull Pot; and six new colors, including two satin finishes. Fender’s American Performer Series guitars and basses are already being used across multiple musical genres by top artists such as punkindie artist Fidlar, R&B artist Tom Misch, soul artist Catious Clay and indie-rock band La Luz. Booths 300E, 304A, 304BCD
VERSATILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE. INTRODUCING FLUENCE PICKUPS FOR BASS. Original and totally re-imagined, Fluence Multi-Voice pickups for electric bass are free from the hum, noise and frustrating inductance issues that plague even the most coveted wire-wound pickups, revealing pure, uncorrupted, and musical bass tone. Stop by our NAMM booth #4810 to learn about our exciting new products and NAMM specials, or contact Fishman sales at 800.FISHMAN
The Fluence Soapbar bass pickup brings revolutionary Fluence Multi-Voice performance, dynamic range, and articulation to 4 and 5-string bassists.
Inspired Performance TechnologyTM MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
50 The Nifty
Dante’s Inferno Entertainment@Amphenol announced its Amphe-Dante 2.0 product line extension of its Amphe-Dante audio adapter line. Options include the “analog onramp” analog input to the Dante digital network in both one- and two-channel versions, as well as the bi-directional, AES3/EBU-compliant configuration having one output channel and one input channel both in one unit, and the USB version that provides two input/two output channels (stereo record or playback) through the USB connection. These four new configurations all retain the tamperproof, overmolded design like the original two-output versions. Booth 11834
Glowing with Pride First-time exhibitor Quimper Electronic Systems is launching the Glow Series at NAMM. The Retrofier Roadtripper Glow Series analog-tube-amp-simulating pedals offer a no-nonsense, built-to-last solution for running direct while maintaining authentic tube amp tone and dynamics, stated the company. The Glow Series will never clip like a simple diode based distortion or overdrive pedal, but instead use an engineered overload technique only found in QES Solid-Tube-Technology (STT)-based products, the manufacturer added. The Glow series includes the Warm Glow (electric), the AcoustaGlow (acoustic) and the Bass Glow (bass), each voiced for its particular instrument. Booth 2148
BALANCED AND ACCURATE TUNING ON EVERY STRING Open Back
Closed Back
RATIO: A FAST, PRECISE AND INTUITIVE TUNING EXPERIENCE Since tuning began, machine heads have had the same gear ratio for every string–but each string reacts differently to tuning or tension adjustments (think Low E vs the G string on a bass ). With a Ratio equipped bass, each string position has its own, unique gear ratio. Result? Every string feels and tunes the same! Learn how one string feels and reacts to any tuning adjustment and you will know them all.
E 48:1
A 36:1 D 25:1 G 23:1
Available in open-back and closed-back, and for 4, 5 and 6 string basses.
Learn more at www.GraphTech.com/MSR
The Mercury Is Rising The BluGuitar AMP1 Mercury Edition delivers a diverse tonal palette in a professional and portable package. The power and character of classic tube amplifiers is delivered via four detailed and responsive, fully modifiable channels. For the new AMP1 Mercury Edition, all four channels were revised, making the amp even more versatile, and allowing users to dial in an individual signature tone with greater precision and Nanotube technology, stated the company. Booth 3939
Going Grand Ibanez’s Artwood series features a Grand Concert body shape, along with a solid Sitka spruce top, intended to deliver player comfort along with an enormous frequency range for shimmering highs along with tight mids and a full-bodied low end, stated the company. The guitar’s full sound is the result of using a solid spruce top with Okoume as a back-and-side material. The elbow contour of the body provides increased playing comfort. The Ibanez T-bar under-the-saddle pickup equalizes the volume from each string and delivers a well-balanced signal, while the Ibanez AEQ-TP2 preamp provides the extra punch of an on-board EQ. Artwood models also boast a digital tuner located on the upper bout. The bone nut and saddle were chosen for their ability to transfer string vibration naturally. Ibanez chrome, opengear tuners ensure smooth and stable tuning, stated the company. Booth 4620
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
50 The Nifty
Special K … SA On-Stage, a division of The Music People, has released the KSA8500 Deluxe Keyboard Tier, featuring two sets of fully and independently adjustable arms for the “ultimate” in second-tier — or even secondand third-tier — customization, stated the company. Compatible with any one-inch square or 30mm round-tubed stand, as well as OnStage X stands, each of the KSA8500’s support arms feature an independent 10-degree increment posi-lok adjustment for height, angle, depth and width, providing 43 1/2 inches of total width distributed over a second- or third-tier configuration. The two sets of support arms can hold a second keyboard, or a combination of laptops and other DJ equipment. Booth 10713
Man of Steel
Dual Speaker Drivers! DualSpeaker Sound Coils! Dual Drivers!
Dual Speaker Drivers! Frequency Circuit Divider Board!
Dual Speaker Drivers!
Dual Sound Coils! Noise Isolating Technology! Dual Sound Coils!
Dual Sound Coils!
Frequency Circuit Divider FR-52 Board! “3D” HEADPHONES Frequency Circuit Divider Board! Frequency Circuit Board! Imagine Sound That Travels AroundDivider Your Noise Isolating Technology! Head and Not Just In Your Ears. Noise Isolating Technology! Noise Isolating Technology!
At Floyd Rose, We Have Created A New Patented “3D” Sound Technology “CHANGING THE That Enhances the Human Ear And WAY WE LISTEN Imagine Sound That Travels Around Your Imagine Sound That Travels Around Your Gives The Listener Sound That Imagine Sound That Travels Around Your TO MUSIC” Head and Not Just In Your Ears. Has Neverand BeenNot Heard Before Head Just In Your Ears.
FR-52 “3D” HEADPHONES HEADPHONES FR-“3D” FR-52 FR-52“3D” “3D”HEADPHONES HEADPHONES
Head and Not Just In Your Ears.
At
FLOYD ROSE AUDIO/SECA GROUP LLC Now With Broader Range, Floyd Rose, We Have Created A 464 Kings Hwy - 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11223 At Floyd Rose, We Have Created ANew New Perfect Highs, Mids And Lows... At Floyd Rose, We Have Created A New
* info@seca-group.com * www.floydroseaudio.com Patented “3D” Sound Technology Patented “3D” Sound Technology Patented “3D” Sound Technology PH: 718-226-0214 HANGING THE “CHANGING THE “CHANGING THE That Enhances thethe Human Ear That Enhances Human EarAnd And That Enhances the Human Ear And Y WE LISTEN WAY WE LISTEN WAY WE LISTEN Gives The Listener Sound That Gives The Listener Sound That Gives The Listener Sound That MUSIC” TO MUSIC” TO MUSIC”
HasHas Never Been Heard Before Never Been Heard Before Has Never Been Heard Before
FLOYD ROSE AUDIO/SECAGROUP GROUPLLC LLC Now With Broader Range, FLOYD FLOYD ROSE AUDIO/SECA GROUP Now With Broader Range, ROSE AUDIO/SECA LLC Now With Broader Range, 464 Kings Hwy - 2nd Floor, Brooklyn,NY NY11223 11223 464 Kings Hwy 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, 464 Kings Hwy 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, 11223 Perfect Highs, Mids And Lows... Perfect Highs, Mids And Lows... Perfect Highs, Mids And Lows...
NAMM Booth # 5629 in Hall D 36
* info@seca-group.com** www.floydroseaudio.com *www.floydroseaudio.com www.floydroseaudio.com info@seca-group.com * *info@seca-group.com PH: 718-226-0214 PH: 718-226-0214 PH: 718-226-0214
Godin Guitars added the Godin Multiac Steel to its Multiac line. This steel-string guitar was developed to bring authentic acoustic sounds straight to the stage with zero feedback issues at any volume. The Multiac Steel is based off the design of the Multiac Doyle Dykes Signature and contains many of the same features found on that iconic guitar. The guitar is equipped with a custom-voiced LR Baggs Electronic system, which offers the possibility of blending an LB6 undersaddle transducer with a Lyric internal microphone. In addition, a Seymour Duncan Lipstick pickup can also be introduced to the sound palette with volume and tone knobs for the pickup placed conveniently on the body. This new model comes with a solid Spruce top on a dual-chambered mahogany body, mahogany neck, a Richlite fingerboard and white binding on a natural finish. Booth 211AB
JANUARY 2019
Out of This World Crane Song released its Interstellar Stereo ADC, utilizing the company’s Quantum sub-picosecond clocking technology. Included in Interstellar is DSP emulation for Triode and Pentode tubes, tape emulation, dithering to 16 bits and World Clock outputs, which allow Interstellar to function as a master clock. When used as a USB interface, the SPDIF output can be used to connect to a DAC, making Interstellar a USB bidirectional interface. In the USB mode, the computer will set the sample rate and thus the sample rate of the Word Clock outputs. When the USB connection is not in use, the clock rate is set by the front-panel controls. Booth 15821
Welcome to Inner Circle
Amplify your D’Addario experience. Hot New Technology Blue introduced Ember, a cardioid XLR condenser microphone designed for pristine capture of vocals and instruments. Ember is ideal for multitrack recording and capturing professional sound for YouTube video production and live-streaming, stated the company. It features a proprietary, hand-tuned custom condenser capsule, intended to deliver clear, open and detailed performance for recording or streaming a variety of voices and instruments. A tight cardioid pickup pattern focuses on the sound source and minimizes room noise for a clean, upfront sound with excellent isolation. Ember’s streamlined form factor and compact side-address design is ideal for placement in tight spaces or in situations with limited on-screen real estate. Booth 17510 With predictive data insights into top-sellers, proven add-ons, and reorder timing, Inner Circle tailors the D’Addario buying experience to fit your personalized needs. It even puts RA request capability right in your hands. You can also access the latest product content and demo videos to bring the D’Addario portfolio to life. Visit us at our NAMM booth for a hands-on look at the industry’s most complete B2B E-commerce experience.
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
innercircle.daddario.com
50 The Nifty
Sing Us a Song You’re the Harmonica Man HOHNER released a Billy Joel Signature Harmonica. To commemorate one of the world’s most influential songwriters of all time, the Billy Joel Signature Harmonica was designed in close collaboration with the legend himself and features custom-engraved stainlesssteel cover plates mounted on a Doussie wood comb and original Hohner Brass reed plates. It is in the key of C Major. For fans, collectors and players alike, the harmonica is packaged in a beautiful display case, which also holds the score of the famous harmonica intro to “Piano Man,” stated the company. Booth 7820
Heavy Metal The Avedis Zildjian Co. introduced what it states are the first-ever metallic-painted drumsticks on the market, the Zildjian Chroma Series drumsticks. This new series builds on the success of Zildjian’s color-dipped stick options and responds to the drummer’s need for sticks that are reliable and command attention. The new Zildjian Chroma Series drumsticks are finished with a pearlescent paint that interacts with light sources for a one-of-a-kind dazzling look. The sticks will be launching with four metallic finishes: Chroma Blue, Chroma Pink, Chroma Silver and Chroma Gold. The Chroma Series is available in Zildjian’s recently redesigned 5A profile, is 16 inches in length and .560 inches in diameter, and is an American hickory stick with an oval, wood tip. Booth 7222
Ruby Soho Celestion unveiled the Celestion Ruby, a 12-inch-diameter alnico magnet guitar speaker with a 35W power rating. Purpose-built to create vintage tones that are authentically Celestion, the Ruby has a familiar alnico vibe featuring a laid-back attack, together with a smooth, sophisticated midrange and mellow highs blended together to provide a richly musical vintage warmth, stated the company. Featuring an eight-hole steel frame, the Ruby delivers an output sensitivity of 100dB and is available in eight or 16 ohms. The classic alnico speaker shape and lush, deep red color ensures Ruby looks the part. Booth 7602
WE PUT THE “LEI” IN UKULELE. Say aloha to our new Hawaiian-themed ukulele Quick-Change® capos. www.kysermusical.com
38
JANUARY 2019
Digital Dynamo The Roland FP-10 Digital Piano is an entry-level instrument featuring premium sound and playability, stated the company. The FP-10 features Roland’s well-known piano sound and an expressive 88-note weighted-action keyboard, delivering top-tier performance that was previously unavailable in its price class, the manufacturer added. The instrument’s portable design makes it easy to move, while built-in stereo speakers and support for headphones allow users to play anytime and anywhere. Providing an authentic piano experience at an affordable price, the FP-10 is intended for both serious piano students and advanced players who need a portable instrument for gigging, teaching and playing at home. Booth 10702
VISIT US @
NAMM Show Booth #11514
Good Vibes Amptweaker introduced the SwirlPool Jr Tremolo/Vibe pedal, the latest version of its popular SwirlPool, and has most of the same features shrunk down into a junior-sized pedal platform. It uses the same all-analog circuitry, which is reminiscent of the synchronized Tremolo and Vibrato circuits common in some vintage 60’s amplifiers, and it can duplicate may other modulation tones as well as inventing some new ones. Booth 2939
go play
forever
MAUI 5 GO ®
Play your music wherever you like, for as long as you like. Thanks to its high-capacity Li-Ion battery the MAUI 5 GO delivers up to 20 hours of outstanding sound quality.
ULTRA-PORTABLE
But there´s no stopping you there: With its patented quick-swap technology you can effortlessly replace the depleted battery with a fully charged one. And it only takes
BATTERY-POWERED
seconds (additional battery packs optional). So party on until the break of dawn, or even all
COLUMN PA SYSTEM
the way in to paradise – GO play forever!
DESIGNED & ENGINEERED
IN GERMANY MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
LD Systems® is a brand of
SOUND TECHNOLOGY
LIGHT
TECHNOLOGY
STAGE EQUIPMENT
GO PLAY FOREVER AT:
LD-SYSTEMS.COM/MAUI5GO
HARDWARE FOR FLIGHTCASES
share the experience at
adamhall.com
50 The Nifty
Sound of Music Evans Drumheads, a division of D’Addario, introduced SoundOff Drumheads, a new line of products featuring a low-volume setup for acoustic drums. These drumheads are made using a single ply of black-mesh material, dramatically reducing the volume of everyday drumming, stated the company. They are available for tom, snare and bass applications in 8-inch to 24-inch sizes. All Evans drumheads are made in the USA and feature Level 360 Technology. Booth 7002
Bridge to Success AP International introduced the Ray Ross Bass Bridge, a retrofitting bridge. Rather than utilizing a traditional saddle for string break, the Ray Ross features a tone pin that keeps the string completely straight from the bridge to the nut, providing increased vibrational energy throughout the strings and the body of the instrument. The unique design applies nearly 100 percent of the string tension downward, allowing the string to resonate freely, giving the cleanest possible path from the fingertips to the ears. With all of the string tension directed downward, the Ray Ross allows maximum transference to the instrument, making the most of the bass itself. Made of solid brass, the residual tone from the bridge is articulate, resonant and full-bodied. Booth 5629
40
JANUARY 2019
Fusion Project Audiofusion is a new software-based wireless monitoring system that allows musicians to control their own sound on phones they already have. It allows broadcasts up to 16 channels of stereo to as many as 16 musicians over Wi-Fi with no noticeable latency at 1/10 the cost of what most bands pay for a hardware-based wireless monitoring setup, stated the company. Musicians can hear exactly what they need while having direct control of their own mix. Sound technicians get streamlined and simplified setups so they can be ready to go in as little as 10 minutes, stated the company. Booth 10727
The Capo Company
For karaoke singers and musicians seeking an all-in-one powered speaker with professional DJ light show, VocoPro released its Thunder-1500. Billed as a total-entertainment solution, Vocopro’s Thunder-1500 combines a powered speaker with professional DJ lights, adding vivid light shows effortlessly to any club or home setting. The audience will feel the music when the 15-inch woofer pumps out 1,000W of peak power. The built-in LED derby light flashes out professional light shows that dance to the sound of the music. All Thunder series models are battery powered and have both guitar and microphone inputs. Thunder speakers can also be linked wirelessly via built-in Bluetooth or an RCA signal cable, or via a wireless speaker transmitter/receiver. VocoPro also offers a 12-inch speaker model in this series called the Thunder-1200. Booth 11923
The future of capos
www.G7th.com
Thunderstruck
The creative minds at G7th have been busy ... Come and see what we’ve made. You won’t be disappointed!
Visit us at
5215 Booth & Hanser) (Davitt
For US dealer enquiries: MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
Davitt & Hanser. A Division of JAM Industries USA, LLC Tel: 866-817-3822 E: info@davitthanser.com
KMC Music. A Division of JAM Industries USA, LLC 41 Tel: 855-417-8677 E: sales@kmcmusic.com
50 The Nifty
Dual Threat Sonata Marketing’s GR Bass Amplifiers are designed to allow the pure sound of bass (woods, pickups, construction) to pass through the amplifier. Via its new Dual Series amplifiers, one bass can be switched between channels with unique gain, master and EQ settings, stated the company. Features of the product include onboard tuner, four-band tone circuit (switchable mid-band), headphone circuit, effects loop, foot-switchable overdrive and EQ, 9V ACC, and USB charger. Booth 3636
Speak Up Electro-Voice has introduced three new additions to its EVID family, the C4.2LP, C6.2, and P6.2, which includes acoustically and aesthetically matched ceiling-mount, flush-mount, pendant-mount and surfacemount models suitable for installation in spaces of every shape and size, indoors or outdoors. The C4.2LP is a two-way full-range ceiling speaker with a four-inch woofer and a 0.75-inch HF driver. The P6.2 is a two-way full-range pendant speaker with 6.5-inch woofer and one-inch HF driver. And the P6.2 includes a 30W transformer with an eight-ohm bypass option, and is UL1480A and CSA 22.2 No. 205 certified for indoor and outdoor use. Booths 18724, 18824, 200C
Just Enough Kick sE Electronics introduced the V KICK, V BEAT and V CLAMP. The V KICK is an ultra-compact, ultra-flexible kick/bass drum microphone with a customized capsule specially tuned for low-frequency capture, plus two switchable voicings and two HF/transient shaping modes to achieve any desired kick-drum sound. The V BEAT delivers uncompromising sonic performance and flexibility on any snare or tom, with a truly minimalist footprint. Coupled with the new flexible, rugged and compact V CLAMP, the V BEAT makes perfect mic positioning instant and effortless, stated the company. Booth 15116
JANUARY 2019
The Soloist Pirastro GmbH added the Soloist A&D and Edition set to its Perpetual cello string line. Now with five distinct variations, the Perpetual line is a virtual toolbox of tones for cellists, stated the company. Soloist A&D strings provide a player with the ideal combination of brilliant fundamentals and soloist directness, while the Edition set provides powerpacked strings, providing musicians with every tonal color from a focused bright sound to a room filling warmth, the manufacturer noted. Booth 9514
CEDAR TOP ACACIA TENOR KA-ATP-CTG
Out on the Old Town Farida Guitar & Ukulele is expanding its Old Town Series of acoustic guitars with the 10 Series, a line of single-0-size instruments. These guitars are built with the same level of fit and finish as the 20 Series (00-size) and 60 Series (dreadnoughtsize) instruments, but they offer a more intimate playing experience, stated the company. These guitars feature a solid Sitka spruce top with a gloss sunburst finish, as well as vintage-inspired appointments like a tortoise plastic pickguard, ivoroid ABS binding and three-on-a-plate open-gear “arrowhead� tuners. They are built using CITES-free materials, making them ideal for international travel. The 10 Series guitars will be unveiled at The NAMM Show and will be available to dealers in early 2019. Booth 1306
CEDAR TOP ACACIA + SONOMA COAST COLLECTION Made of beautiful tone wood nothing beats the strong resonant tone of the Kala Solid Cedar Top Acacia. Pair it with one of our NEW Sonoma Coast Cases and Straps in: Russian River Red, Bodega Blue, Vista Point Purple & Goat Rock Gray.
KALABRAND.COM
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
50 The Nifty
X Marks the Spot Chauvet’s Intimidator Spot 360 is a 100W LED packed with mobile eventlighting power. Dual rotating prisms are on board to split the beam and cover a larger area with Intimidator Spot 360’s impressive visuals. Users throw light even farther by decreasing the beam angle 5 degrees using the manual zoom. Motorized focus gives end users the ability to create sharp gobo patterns from almost any distance, and Totem mode lets users keep the beams forward. Intimidator Spot 360 lets end users set, save and recall one scene manually, directly from the full-color LCD display, stated the company. Intimidator Spot 360 uses powerCON-compatible power input/ output connections for power linking. This light is suitable for every event with either black or white housing. Booth 11138
Can I Have a Sample? IK Multimedia’s SampleTank 4 is the next generation of the company’s sound-and-groove workstation that offers professional-quality sounds, an intuitive interface, powerful editing, and effects for musicians and producers. A massively expanded sample library (up to 250GB, 8,000 instrument presets and over 120,000 samples) and a redesigned, scalable interface are complemented by a new engine with efficient hard-disk streaming for quicker loading/browsing and advanced sound design/editing. Four new groove players, Arpeggiator, Strummer, Phraser pattern player and Loop Manager, quickly turn presets into performances. Also included are 13 new effects for a total of 70 studio-quality effects, a new Mix window and integration with IK’s iRig Keys I/O controllers. Booths 17201, 17202, 17203
John Packer Musical Instruments www.jpmusicalinstruments.com
44
JANUARY 2019
Light as a Feather Casio unveiled the PX-S 1000, the company’s next-generation model of its Privia series. The digital piano is 43 percent smaller than the existing Privia and weighs in at 24 pounds. It features a black-polished look, with each key individually weighted. In addition to the product itself being portable, so are the three pedals. The PX-S 1000 can also work on batteries, to make it more friendly for those on the go. Casio also introduced its PX-S 3000, which offers the ability to tap into 700 different instruments, as well as an LCD screen, in addition to the features on the PX-S 1000. Booth 9502
YVN is A-OK Yamaha’s YVN Model 3 violin is different than competitor products, as it is a highly affordable instrument aimed at developing players, academic music programs and the rental market, yet it is constructed with the tight tolerances normally associated with much more expensive, luthier-built models, stated the company. Yamaha also designed the YVN Model 3 to be easier to service than traditional stringed instruments, making it both faster and more cost-effective to keep the violin at peak performance. At the same reducing material waste and improving manufacturing efficiency to improve the company’s carbon footprint. Booths 100, 17819, Elite 3, OCB1
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
45
50 The Nifty
Get in Gear Graph Tech’s Ratio for Ukulele machine-head tuners use a 6:1 gear ratio, which was specifically designed to accommodate the unique physical properties of ukulele strings. This gear ratio creates a predictable, smooth and responsive tuning experience, which has largely been lacking in standard ukulele machine heads until now, stated the company. The weight of four Ratio for Ukulele machine heads is less than a single conventional machine head, which also adds to the player’s comfort, the manufacturer added. Booth 3520
What’s Up, Dock? Many studio workflows tuck the computer out of sight, which makes port access difficult. Other World Computing’s OWC 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock upgrades a workstation with 14 ports of connectivity, 85W of charging power, plus a dedicated 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, keeping the Thunderbolt 3 port available for other devices. It features both a microSD slot for smaller devices and an SD card slot for larger, longer-format recording devices, both fully compatible with SD Express (PCIe/NVMe) cards, stated the company. Booth 11802
Be Tru to Yourself
Join us to learn about new profit opportunities at the
2019 NAMM SHOW Booth 8933
SAXOPHONES
BRASS
The Tru Tuner FX Series allows end users to instantly transform any drummer's sound by adding interchangeable, lightweight sound accessories on to any stick, bass-drum beater, drum heads and/or cymbals. These lightweight attachments add texture instantly, without sacrificing playability, according to the company. The attachments can be removed in less than a second. The first two attachments debuting at The NAMM Show are a tambourine and shaker. Booth 7229
New Dealer Packages Available www.saxdakota.com | pjlabiz2@aol.com | www.phaetontrumpets.com
46
JANUARY 2019
Lap of Luxury Rhythm Tech added two new Cajons and a new Djembe, all featuring the Palma Snare system with an on/off mechanism. The Lap Top Cajon features the Selvato finish on the drums shell. This Cajon has the addition of the Enhanced Bass Port design and includes a shoulder strap for playing while standing. The Bongo Box Cajon also features the Selvato finish and shoulder strap for easy playing while standing. And the new 12-inch Djembe, complete with a shoulder strap, brings the convenience of topside tuning with drum lug and drum key design to the international world of Djembe artists. Booth 6814
Just Wing It Wingtastic is a new tool to adjust wing nuts. According to the company, it was designed by a drummer who was tired of wearing out his hands setting up his drum kit. Wingtastic was patented as a universal wing nut tool that allows users to adjust any wing nut, making it easy for users to tighten or loosen wing nuts without using their fingers, stated the company. Booth 6338
Going Pro Bose Professional is exhibiting its S1 Pro multi-position PA system, an all-in-one PA, floor monitor, practice amplifier and primary music system. The S1 Pro, with its full complement of accessories and enhancements, including the new S1 Pro play-through cover, is set to be available to the public in May in multiple colors. Additionally, each S1 Pro comes with a preinstalled rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and compatibility with the Bose Connect App for streaming Bluetooth audio to as many as two S1 units. Other optional accessories include the S1 Pro Backpack and S1 Slip Cover. Booth 18610
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
47
GUITAR CENTER’S GRAND RENAISSANCE
(continued from cover)
A look at some of the many guitars on display in the Hollywood store. A number of guitars are plugged in and ready for customers to play.
‘This is not a business like grocery, where you go in every week because you need eggs, bread and milk. This is an industry where we may see a customer twice a year for a purchase, but they are on our website a lot, and they are in our stores a lot. We need to think about every touchpoint with the customers and ensure we give them the best experience possible.’ —Jeannine D’Addario 48
“We are no longer a company tr ying to find its way. We are a growth company,” Japinga told the Music & Sound Retailer. “Three and a half to four years ago, we began the process of making the hard decisions to set up the company so it would be financially stable, and we did that,” he added. “We have continued to spend on the business. We’ve been opening up to eight stores a year. We’ve invested in technology to make sure we are relevant, and we’ve invested in Music & Arts, which opened 37 stores in the last year. We also refinanced the business a year ago. Lessons are also now in all of our stores. We’ve continued to invest in the business aggressively, and we’ve done it all within our financial means. We are very happy where we are financially. We will continue to invest as we move forward and as we see fit. … We believe we can double the size of the Music & Arts business in the next three to five years. We believe we can double our business solutions business even more during the same time frame.” Strategic moves include Guitar Center opening stores in Hawaii and Alaska early this year. “Also, something we did in [our] Hollywood [flagship grand reopening] was some experimental displays,” noted the CEO. “Now that we’re seeing the results of those, we will be expanding those that resonated with consumers the best into other stores. The rapid expansion of our business-to-business offerings and Music & Arts we expect to continue for the foreseeable future.” These considerable investments — particularly regarding brick-and-mortar stores — are all the more impressive, considering the threats the internet has imposed upon physical locations. D’Addario confirmed however that retail is not dying. It is changing. “What consumers are looking for today are quality experiences, brands that understand their needs and great service. Retailers that will be successful — which we believe we are one of — are those that figure out how to be the experiential retailer in the space.” Experiences go beyond just selling instruments and include rentals, repairs and lessons, the latter of which Guitar Center will continue to expand, confirmed D’Addario. “We are adding new students daily to our lessons program,” she said. “We have an opportunity to not only add students in areas like guitars, pianos, drum and vocals. We can explore other curriculum opportunities like DJ, sound recording and songwriting.” This lessons expansion provides two opportunities for Guitar Center to grow, she added. “One [opportunity] is we bring more people into learning to play music, which sustains the business for the long term. It also diversifies our business, because people coming in for lessons could be [demographics] that were underserved before. We see seniors coming in for lessons. More women are taking lessons. More diverse students are JANUARY 2019
The percussion section of Guitar Center's flagship store in Hollywood.
taking lessons and looking for opportunities in music. We think the more people we can get to play music, the better it is for the industry overall. And all of the other benefits that playing music provides are great for our consumers.”
How It Got Here
To rewind a bit, how specifically did Guitar Center get from what consumer music magazines and mainstream media claimed was a difficult financial position to a point where it’s exhibiting robust growth? Japinga noted it’s been about two and a half years since he was named CEO of Guitar Center. “One of the first things we did at the time was to refocus the company and its associates on the customer. We weren’t as focused on the customer as much as we should have been beforehand. We also focused on our associates and made sure we took care of them the right way,” he said. Guitar Center zeroed in on its customers by continuing to open stores, remodel stores where appropriate, and spend a lot of time and energy making sure the customer has a great experience when they walk into its stores, said Japinga. This included associates possessing the skill sets, including all necessary product knowledge, that customers need, but also means much more. “If you go to a Guitar Center store now, you will see what we call entertainment sections, or stations in a store,” the CEO noted. “So, guitars are plugged in to an amp with picks next to them. Keyboards are ready to operate. Drum sets are set up with sticks on top of them. So, customers can come in and enjoy a much more fun and exciting experience. “What we’re here to do is allow the customer to interact with the brand any way they want to,” he continued. “One of the best things we have in our stores is the great sales associates we have. Talent and expertise we have in the stores helps consumers purchase the right product, use the product in the way they are trying to do, support the product through lessons, repairs or rentals. We take a holistic approach to ensure we support the customer.” This is only one of six initiatives Guitar Center put forth. Another initiative was the retailer’s digital experience. “We have reinvested in technologies to ensure our omnichannel experience, which is GC.com,” noted Japinga. “We wanted to make sure a customer could buy from a store, have it delivered to their house, buy online and have it delivered to their house, or buy online and deliver it to the store. Any combination a consumer would want to interact with the brand and be serviced, we are able to do that.” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
49
The 15-foot wall of effects pedals in the Hollywood store. Guitar Center plans to add interactive displays like this one to many of its locations going forward.
‘We are using our supply chain/logistics brands that we carry to be able to do installs in studios, restaurants and bars, and high-end consumers’ homes.’ —Ron Japinga
50
D’Addario shares Guitar Center’s goal to make the customer’s experience as good as it possibly can be. “We talk more overtly now about what does the customer need? What is the experience they want? What tools do we need? What assortment do they need? What content do we need to share? Looking at everything from a consumer’s perspective is a major lesson we’ve learned here,” she explained. “We continue to ramp that up. We’ve done a lot of work looking at our consumer data, have developed a better understanding of when to engage with the customer, the frequency to engage with the consumer and what we are looking for. “This is not a business like grocery, where you go in every week because you need eggs, bread and milk. This is an industry where we may see a customer twice a year for a purchase, but they are on our website a lot, and they are in our stores a lot,” she continued. “We need to think about every touchpoint with the customers and ensure we give them the best experience possible. So, that moment a transaction happens, we are right there as a trusted resource. In the end, it’s all about what does the customer want, what do they need and how do we work to satisfy it.” In the digital space, Guitar Center also has Musician’s Friend, which Japinga acknowledged had seen sales decline since it purchased the company in 1999. “We pinpointed exactly what that brand is supposed to be for the consumer,” he said. “We again focused on the customer, repositioned it and turned that business around.” Stepping into a different arena, Guitar Center set forth another goal of entering the aforementioned business solutions business-tobusiness category. In the past year, Guitar Center acquired AVDG and TVTI. “We are using our supply chain/logistics brands that we carry to be able to do installs in studios, restaurants and bars, and highend consumers’ homes. That is also a significant part of our growth strategy.” The path to becoming the retailer Guitar Center wants to be is certainly not complete. Japinga couldn’t reveal exactly how far along the retailer is toward completing all of its goals, but he did say it will continue on its current journey, citing a baseball reference. “I kind of hesitate to give you an ‘inning,’ [regarding how far along we are toward reaching our goals],” he said. “But we are no longer in the first couple of innings of the game. “We are very confident our strategies are the right strategies,” JANUARY 2019
Guitar Center president and CEO Ron Japinga and senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer Jeannine D’Addario.
he added. “We are very happy with our performance. We have had five positive comp quarters in a row. We believe these strategies will continue to be successful over the next three to five years, and we will continue to move our initiatives forward.”
Hooray for Hollywood
Those who still feel Guitar Center’s renaissance is not taking place in full force need only to look at Guitar Center’s redesigned flagship Hollywood store location, which encompasses 30,000 square feet on Sunset Boulevard. This store was backed by an investment of over $5 million. The remodeled store features a large assortment of musical instruments, a 15-foot-long interactive pedal display, a 24-foot-wide snare drum wall, interactive brand displays from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibson, and the retailer’s largest standalone vintage guitar room featuring exclusive and rare vintage instruments. Music memorabilia is showcased throughout the store, including Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” Fender Stratocaster and other influential artists’ gear from BB King, Slash, Johnny Cash, Eddie Van Halen and St. Vincent. The flagship store is significant for several reasons, stated D’Addario. “It’s a statement that we absolutely believe brick and mortar is critical in this space. It’s a testament to all of our associates that we have this flagship store getting a lot of attention. The excitement and enthusiasm is permeating throughout all of our stores.” That’s not the only statement being made. “It has all of the makings of telling the Guitar Center story,” D’Addario said. “The work that went into remodeling the store was profound. The store is unusual in that it is a bunch of buildings that have been cobbled together over time. As the store was remodeled, there were surprises found along the way. But more importantly, it was a moment in time for us to tell the branded Guitar Center story. It is a location for customers to come in and interact, see more product than they can see anywhere [else], and engage with products across a wide spectrum. The level of activity that’s in that store is mind-blowing. There are interactive microphone displays, interactive headphone displays and a 15-foot, fully operational pedal wall. There is a line of people waiting to get to that pedal wall, where they can plug into any pedal and try them out.” When you walk into the flagship store, the wide assortment of products takes your breath away, D’Addario added. But the location does not simply serve as a “candy store” for musicians. Lessons, rentals and repairs, all areas of growth for MI retailers, are widely available as well. “We are adding services the customer can’t get (continued on page 92)
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
The Space to Create. The Capacity to Dream. OWC, providing innovative solutions for over 30 years to keep you creating, composing, producing and more…
OWC External Storage
OWC Docks Thunderbolt 3 Dock
ThunderBlade
ThunderBay 6
Envoy Pro EX
Express 4M2
USB-C Dock
USB-C Travel Dock
OWC SSDs
Mercury Extreme Pro 6G
Mercury Electra 6G
Aura Pro X
Visit us at NAMM — Booth 11802 www.owc.com
proposed size: 2X6 51
(Courtesy of NAMM)
NAMM University Schedule The 2019 NAMM Show WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. Retail Innovation Summit Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, California C–D Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor
Get to The 2019 NAMM Show a day early for this brand-new, future-forward NAMM U education experience. The Retail Innovation Summit is an all-day workshop to immerse attendees in the latest trends, innovations and strategies to transform their music retail business and amplify their success. It’s also designed to get everyone in an organization thinking bigger and more strategically. The Retail Innovation Summit will be presented by world-renowned retail expert Bob Phibbs, aka The Retail Doctor. This event is free to NAMM members, but you must register first at namm.org.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 NAMM U Breakfast Session 8 – 8:30 a.m. Free breakfast — first come, first served 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Session Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, Pacific Ballrooms Breakfast of Champions
Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO, and Guests How do the most original thinkers, visionaries and non-conformists approach the business of musical products? How have their unconventional mindsets driven their uncommon success? And not least of all, what can we learn from them — and take back to our own companies? Find out at “Breakfast of Champions,” the ultimate NAMM Show kick-off and celebration of the music products business. In a series of one-onone interviews, NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond will explore the concept of originality with a think tank of the most original minds in the industry, along with special guests. They’ll deliver the insight, perspective and inspiration you need to not only stay ahead of the curve but to continue to rethink your business for the years ahead.
NAMM IDEA CENTER LEVEL 1 LOBBY (BETWEEN HALLS B AND C) OPEN 10:30 A.M.–5:30 P.M. SESSIONS START EVERY 30 MINUTES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
10:30 a.m. Music Lessons: Essential Strategies for Growth and Retention Melissa Loggins, Music Authority
In the last decade, Melissa Loggins of Music Authority has seen retention rates surge in her lesson program. In this session, she’ll share her proven strategies for building a program people wouldn’t ever think to quit — even when they’re overscheduled with other activities. Discover how these simple but effective ideas can help you create a lesson operation that’s designed for growth, community involvement and retail sales. Get on a fast track to student and parent loyalty.
11 a.m. Effective Video Strategies for YouTube, Instagram and Facebook (Double Session)
Tim Spicer, Spicer’s Music (Moderator), and Panel Video is critical to marketing your business, but every social media platform calls for a different strategy. Whether it’s YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, you’ll want to know about the ins and outs, do’s and don’ts, and latest updates on video for each platform. Join moderator Tim Spicer of Spicer’s Music and the Music & Sound Retailer columnist for this special video-marketing double session. He’ll be joined by a panel of rock-star marketers in the music business to reveal their video success secrets for YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. They’ll cover how they use different social platforms for video, why they might abstain from a particular platform, and examples and best practices from each. Refresh your video strategy for the new year! A must-attend session for anyone who wants to use video to market his or her business.
52
NAMM University is proud to offer the ever-popular free Breakfast Sessions each morning of the show at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel. Come listen to top industry insiders share opportunities and challenges facing our business today. Once the show opens, NAMM has focused sessions every 30 minutes in the NAMM Idea Center to help you maximize your time on the show floor. Each session is loaded with great information and is free to all attendees.
12 p.m. How to Launch a Podcast for Your Music Business
Chris Bates and Tyler Marolf, TeacherZone.com and Los Rios Rock School In the United States alone, an estimated 48 million people listen to podcasts every week. This presents new opportunities for music businesses to connect and engage with customers and potential customers on their own terms. In this session, Chris Bates and Tyler Marolf of TeacherZone.com and Los Rios Rock School will walk you through how to get started hosting a podcast for your own business. As the hosts of The Teacher Zone podcast, they’ll share best practices on everything from required gear to ideas for successful content to distribution. Get started with your podcast today!
12:30 p.m. Social Media 2019 Update
Ben Blakesley, Online and Social Marketing Expert What social media platforms are in, and what platforms are on the way out? What new Facebook, Instagram or Twitter features are available and important to marketing your music business? Which social platforms do you want to be using? Get all this and more at this essential social media update for the new year, hosted by online marketing expert Ben Blakesley. He’ll help you navigate the 2019 social media landscape, so you can spend more time on what works and less on what doesn’t.
1 p.m. 4 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Motivate and Empower Your Team Will Mason, Mason Music
Do you ever feel as if there’s a bottleneck at your store? Your staff is constantly coming to you with questions, complaints and concerns, and you start to develop “decision fatigue.” (It’s a real thing — look it up.) This is one of the biggest reasons businesses fail to grow. Don’t be the lid on your organization! In this presentation, Will Mason of Mason Music and the Music & Sound Retailer columnist will cover four basic but incredibly effective techniques that will help you better train and empower your team to run the business for you. Mason leads a team of 60 people at four different locations, and he attributes his company’s growth to developing this team to lead. Discover how to step out of the daily grind and focus on the big picture, creating opportunity for long-term planning, goal setting and business growth. (This session is a repeat of Mason’s Summer NAMM session, by popular demand.)
1:30 p.m. How to Host a Successful Rock Camp (From Start to Finish) Cindy Cook, The Candyman Strings & Things
By hosting passion-producing, confidence-building summer rock camps for community youth, The Candyman Strings & Things has enjoyed loyal and long-term customers, increased retail sales and a solution to the summer lessons lull. Not to mention, the company’s rock camps sell out almost immediately. What’s the secret? Cindy Cook of The Candyman Strings & Things, NAMM’s 2014 Dealer of the Year, will share her roadmap for this wildly successful program. She’ll reveal the best practices she’s picked up from nine years of experience, research, and trial and error. This comprehensive session will be full of tips, hints and examples for everyone, whether you’re starting a rock camp from scratch or looking to improve your existing camp. At no charge, Cook will also provide a link to her e-book on hosting rock camps.
2 p.m. Inventory Buying Rules You Should Never Break
Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe, Friedman, Kannenberg & Co. Look around your store, and what do you see? Probably too many guitars and amps, too few accessories, unrented band instruments, obsolete pro audio gear and aging pianos racking up flooring costs. This inventory impacts you in more ways than you realize. How does this epidemic happen? In an updated session, financial experts Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe of Friedman, Kannenberg & Co. will lay out fool-proof best practices to help you make enlightened purchasing decisions and bolster your bottom line. Join them for this valuable and insightful presentation — and expect more than a few accounting jokes.
JANUARY 2019
2:30 p.m. Fixing the Buying Mistakes You Just Made
5 p.m. Effective Tips for Employee Productivity and Retention
You’ve come to The NAMM Show with a list of products your customers want. You’ve talked with vendors to get the best prices and payment terms. You’ve implemented a great commission plan to motivate your sales team. But cash is still tight, vendor invoices are aging and we all know why: You have too much inventory! And even if you guess right most of the time, you’ll still guess wrong some of the time. How do you fix these buying blunders, so they don’t tie up much-needed cash to buy the products you need? In a follow-up to their earlier NAMM Idea Center session, financial experts Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe of Friedman, Kannenberg & Co. will show you how to fix your buying mistakes and manage your inventory into profitability. They’ll even share their secret sauce for managing any store’s entire inventory.
You’ve hired the right people, but how do you motivate them to perform at their highest level? How do you create a culture of accountability? And most of all, how do you keep your best staff engaged, so they stay with you for the long-term? Find out at this high-energy session with Joel Bertrand of Bertrand’s Music. He’ll cover everything from proven training techniques to new tools that will keep employees productive, engaged and in it for the long haul. Get powerful tips to create your dream team today.
Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe, Friedman, Kannenberg & Co.
3 p.m. The Biggest Secrets of Social Media Marketing Ben Blakesley, Online and Social Marketing Expert
The biggest brands in the world are sinking millions of dollars into social media marketing every day. But why? What do they know that you don’t? Find out at this eye-opening presentation, hosted by online and social marketing expert Ben Blakesley, who’s been working with these big brands for years. He’ll explore the most powerful aspects of social media that these brands know about and are taking advantage of, but you may be missing. Hint: It’s about more than just posting on Facebook.
3:30 p.m. Strategies to Engage and Keep Your Best Employees Jaimie Blackman, Jaimie Blackman & Co.
Want to keep the rock-star “A” players on your team? Unsure how to motivate your “C” players? Bottom line: It’s not always about money. Join Jaimie Blackman, CEO of Jaimie Blackman & Co., and find out how to engage and retain your best employees while motivating the others to do better. He’ll offer three powerful strategies to help you immediately turn your team into a lean, mean, high-performance machine. As a bonus, he’ll also introduce you to new online tools. Get your employees at their peak performance today.
Joel Bertrand, Bertrand’s Music
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25 NAMM U Breakfast Session 8–8:30 a.m. Free breakfast — first come, first served 8:30–9:30 a.m. Session Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, Pacific Ballrooms Transforming the Music Industry: Trends, Game-Changers and Opportunities Daniel Burrus, Leading Futurist and Innovation Expert
Whether you’re a music retailer, manufacturer or artist, disruptive technologies represent a threat and an opportunity. Are you prepared to make them work for you? In this eye-opening NAMM U Breakfast Session, leading futurist, innovation expert and guitarist Daniel Burrus will reveal the current and future trends guaranteed to shape the music products industry. He’ll look at how to use these trends to innovate with low risk, elevate your planning and accelerate your profitability. Most of all, he’ll leave you with actionable ideas to get started. You’ll discover how to pre-solve problems before you have them, identify disruptions before they disrupt and seize game-changing opportunities that organizations of any size can use to thrive in the years ahead.
NAMM IDEA CENTER LEVEL 1 LOBBY (BETWEEN HALLS B AND C) OPEN 10:30 A.M.–5:30 P.M. SESSIONS START EVERY 30 MINUTES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
4 p.m. The 10 Reasons People Don’t Shop in Your Store Anymore Tim Pratt, Dietze Music
For brick-and-mortar retailers in 2019, foot traffic is everything. But buying habits have changed, and the same reasons people used to come in your store could now be working against you. What’s obvious to your customers may not be as clear to you and your staff. Find out how to see the forest through the trees in this eye-opening session with industry veteran Tim Pratt of Dietze Music. He’ll dive into simple and long-term fixes to improve and update the shopping experience for your savviest customers. Pratt will also look at ways to reset your team’s mindset for this new era of retail. Best of all, many of these ideas will be no- or low-cost. Discover how to keep the customers you have and make your store attractive to the next generation of shoppers.
4:30 p.m. How to Host Offsite Events That Grow Your Business
Shawna Wingerberg, Antonio Violins, and Brandon Voorhees, Buddy Roger’s Music Want to expand your customer base and sales? Then get outside the four walls of your store. In this presentation, Shawna Wingerberg of Antonio Violins and Brandon Voorhees of Buddy Roger’s Music will reveal how to host offsite events that can grow your business and standing in the community. They’ll share proven ideas and examples for events at non-traditional venues with non-traditional partners — events that tap into new markets and customers. Discover how to become the community hero. Go where your new customers are!
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
53
10:30 a.m. New Instagram Marketing Tips for the Music Industry
2 p.m. Innovative Store Display Ideas
Jenn Herman, Social Media and Online Marketing Strategist
Gayle Beacock, Beacock Music
How can you use Instagram to increase sales, get new customers and connect with fans? Join leading Instagram blogger Jenn Herman and find out! Herman, author of “Instagram For Business For Dummies,” will reveal new ideas to make the most of your Instagram profile and action buttons to create immediate conversions. She’ll also look at how to generate traffic and leads regularly to your website. And, of course, you’ll find out how to maximize various features, including Instagram Stories, direct messages and IGTV, to reach more people. Don’t miss this opportunity to get an Instagram update from a leading authority.
Few things produce in-store excitement and product sell-through as instantly as engaging displays. And in this fast-moving half-hour, you’ll hear from one of the most creative and innovative merchandisers in the music retail industry: Gayle Beacock of Beacock Music. She’ll show how she’s created her most effective and innovative displays, walking you through examples you can use. She’ll also look at innovative display concepts from other businesses that apply to your music store. Best of all, many of these come at little to no cost, just a bit of ingenuity. Discover simple ways to upgrade the look and feel of your store — and increase sales.
11 a.m. Decoding Google: Advanced Strategies for Music Businesses (Double Session)
2:30 p.m. How You’re Killing Your Lesson Program — and What to Do About It
Larry Bailin, Best-Selling Marketing Author and Premier Google Partner
Pete Gamber, Music Lessons Expert
Businesses that leverage the power and reach of Google grow six times faster than those on the sidelines. Google can now predict when your customers are ready to buy, oftentimes before they even know it themselves. Discover how to take advantage of the full power and reach of Google to grow your music business. Join digital marketing pioneer Larry Bailin, CEO of global marketing agency Single Throw Marketing (a Google Premier Partner), for this special digital marketing double session. Bailin returns to NAMM to share real-life examples of advanced marketing opportunities that create unprecedented sales activity. You’ll find out how to gain a true return on your marketing dollars using Google techniques to get ahead of the competition and connect with more potential customers in ways you’ve never been able to before. A not-to-miss NAMM Idea Center presentation.
Most music lesson studios make inadvertent mistakes that slowly chip away at their lessons business. These can stunt growth and even kill a program. Don’t let this happen to your lesson operation! In this eye-opening presentation, music lessons authority and Music Inc. magazine columnist Pete Gamber will reveal the most insidious problems that affect lesson programs and show you how to spot them at your own business. He’ll also offer proven solutions to these problems, so you can not only fix them but also prevent them from happening in the first place.
12 p.m. Ultimate YouTube Hacks for Music Retailers
Mitch Joel, Digital Marketing Visionary and Founder of Six Pixels Group What do the most successful music retailers do to build their YouTube channels? We’ve asked them, and they answered! After his standing-room-only NAMM U Breakfast Session last year, digital marketing guru Mitch Joel returns to host this visionary NAMM Idea Center session. He’ll reveal his original research on the best tactics and strategies that music retailers, musicians and even the world’s biggest brands have used to grow and engage their YouTube channels. Video plays a critical role in showing your store, team members and products to customers. So, what’s the secret sauce to successful YouTube marketing? Join him and find out!
12:30 p.m. How I Grew My Lesson Program to 1,000+ Students Noel Wentworth, Wentworth Music
In the last two years, Wentworth Music increased the student count in its lesson program by 25 percent. Here, NAMM Top 100 finalist Noel Wentworth will show how he did it — and built a program with more than 1,000 students weekly. In this powerful half-hour, he’ll share new, low-cost strategies he’s successfully used to improve student retention, SEO, and the customer and student experience. This includes ideas for making the most of YouTube, student concert photos, videos and customer testimonials. He’ll also look at the importance of the store walk-through with new prospects. A not-to-miss session for anyone looking to grow a lesson program in the new year.
1 p.m. New Facebook Success Strategies for 2019 (Double Session) Jenn Herman, Social Media and Online Marketing Strategist
Facebook marketing is a moving target, with the social media platform regularly changing its algorithm. In this powerful double session, you’ll discover how to catapult your Facebook page ahead of your competitors — and get more sales! Join online marketing authority Jenn Herman, leading Instagram blogger and head of Jenn’s Trends. She’ll cover four essential strategies to succeed with Facebook in 2019. Discover how to craft Facebook captions that get more reach and make the most of Facebook Events to reach exponentially more customers, potential customers and fans. Also, find out how to capitalize on Facebook Groups for community building and use Live videos effectively, even if you hate being on camera. A must-attend NAMM Idea Center session for anyone looking to take their marketing to the next level.
54
3 p.m. How to Build an Online Marketing Strategy
Frank Cowell, Digital Marketing Veteran and CEO of Elevator Is your online marketing getting lackluster results? Or, do you simply want to take your marketing to the next level and convert more potential buyers into customers and fans of your business? Then join Frank Cowell, digital marketing veteran and CEO of Elevator, as he shares the simple one-page online content marketing strategy that he’s developed over the course of a 20-year career. He’ll cover five philosophies to dramatically improve your company’s results, one big clarifying question that helps create relevance with potential buyers at every stage and the big lie being told by marketing “gurus.” Don’t miss this high-energy session — and an opportunity to create a strategy for long-term success.
3:30 p.m. The 5 Most Important Questions to Ask a Prospective Hire Brian Douglas, Cream City Music
Hiring the right people is one of the single most important decisions you’ll ever make. And in a rapidly evolving labor market, where prospective hires can access tons of information about your company and the gear you sell, almost anyone can seem like the right fit. Here, Cream City Music CEO and co-owner Brian Douglas will share his proven character-based hiring model and the five most important questions to ask during an interview. These questions will peel back the practiced boilerplate interview responses and reveal core aspects of who that person is and how they align with your company’s values. Discover how to improve your hiring — and your team — in 30 minutes!
4 p.m. NAMM YP Presents Joel Menchey of Menchey Music Service (Double Session) Joel Menchey, Menchey Music Service
At this special session, NAMM Young Professionals (NAMM YP) welcomes guest presenter Joel Menchey, president and owner of Menchey Music Service, an eightlocation school music and keyboard retailer headquartered in Hanover, Pa. Menchey has served in leadership roles in numerous industry associations, including RPMDA, NASMD and, most recently, NAMM’s Executive Committee. Join NAMM YP to hear from Menchey about his career path — and his advice for you. After the session, head to the NAMM Member Center (also in the Anaheim Convention Center lobby) for a networking reception with NAMM YP. This session and reception are open to all industry professionals and NAMM attendees.
JANUARY 2019
5 p.m. Groove — The No Treble Podcast Live Recording With Special Guest Mitch Joel, Digital Marketing Visionary and Founder of Six Pixels Group, and Guest
In the past few years, Groove — The No Treble Podcast has become one of the biggest audio shows for bass players and is building one of the largest oral histories of the bass in the world. Past guests have included Victor Wooten, Jeff Berlin, Tony Levin, Jerry Jemmott, Michael Manring, John Patitucci, Robert Trujillo and many more. In this session, Groove goes live at NAMM! Last year, Billy Sheehan showed up to chat, so you can just imagine who will be joining host Mitch Joel this year. This is an event you won’t want to miss.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 NAMM U Breakfast Session 8 – 8:30 a.m. Free breakfast — first come, first served 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Session Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, Pacific Ballrooms How to Win in the Age of Disruption
Scott Stratten, President of UnMarketing and Best-Selling Business Author We’re living in an age of disruption. Every week, it seems there’s a new strategy, technology or social media that’s a “must use” or game-changer for your music retail business or brand. But in this endless quest for the next big bright, shiny business object, it’s easy to forget that while everything has changed, nothing is different. Trust, connection, consistency and service will always trump the next app to hit the market. In this inspiring and paradigm-shifting Breakfast Session, The NAMM Show welcomes Scott Stratten, marketing rebel and sales, branding and relationship expert, who has transformed companies ranging from Microsoft to Pepsi with his radical insights on customer engagement. He’ll share strategies and stories from the eye of the disruption hurricane, drawing from not only his retail experience but also from what made him who he is today: a guy in the music business who got his start managing bands — and survived to tell the tale.
11:30 a.m. 5 Things You’re Doing Wrong on Social Media Mallory Nees, Reverb
Why don’t more people comment on your Facebook posts? How do you get more followers on Instagram? Are these social media accounts even driving traffic to your website? If you’ve asked yourself any of these questions, you’re probably making one of the five big mistakes on social media. In this session, Mallory Nees, social media manager of music gear marketplace Reverb, will walk you through several mistakes you might be making on social media and how to fix them. Most of all, she’ll show you how to make your social media marketing more effective today.
12 p.m. How to Create Custom Promotions to Rock Your Bottom Line Leslie Faltin, Instrumental Music Center
In this super-charged half-hour, Leslie Faltin of Instrumental Music Center will share her most successful, profitable and sales-generating promotions — and how they can separate you from the pack. She’ll also reveal her process for creating these promotions, so you can build your own for your market. Plus, Faltin will come armed with new examples she hasn’t discussed before and touch upon commonly missed opportunities. Get inspired to create your own successful promotions now!
12:30 p.m. Cost-Effective Ideas to Grow Your Lesson Operation Richard Berkman, Big Music
Big Music runs one of the hippest and most successful music lesson programs in the world. Recently, the company boosted student sign-ups by 15 percent, from 700 to more than 800 students — and did so without breaking the bank. In this session, Richard Berkman of Big Music will discuss the cost-effective strategies behind his lesson program’s growth, and what they mean to your own lesson operation. He’ll cover how to host successful holiday music camps, increase your student-to-teacher ratio, reduce admin costs with effective online self-service options and more. Find out how to grow your lesson program today.
NAMM IDEA CENTER LEVEL 1 LOBBY (BETWEEN HALLS B AND C) OPEN 10:30 A.M.–5:30 P.M. SESSIONS START EVERY 30 MINUTES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
10:30 a.m. 5 Online Marketing Trends to Help You Increase Sales Peter Malick and Kevin Moore, Inbound AV
The future is here, and there’s never been a better time for music businesses to harness the power of online marketing. You can now make use of cutting-edge technology that, until recently, only the largest businesses could afford. Join Peter Malick, musician and CEO of Inbound AV, a marketing firm that specializes in the musical instrument, pro audio and software markets. He and marketing automation specialist Kevin Moore will reveal how to increase your sales and customer engagement by taking advantage of five cutting-edge online marketing trends. Discover new ways to leverage online technology to build your business, whether you’re a music retailer or manufacturer.
11 a.m. Unlock Your Lesson Program’s Full Potential by Abandoning Industry Norms Michael Cathrea, Resonate Music School & Studio
Resonate Music School & Studio is one of the fastest-growing lesson operations in North America, hosting 1,000 music lessons per week and operating a 24-hour-a-day recording studio. Here, Michael Cathrea, co-founder and president of Resonate, will offer unique insight into how he and his team built the business to that size in just six years. He’ll offer practical takeaways you can apply to your own lesson business, covering operations, differentiating your program, and the importance of letting go of industry norms and getting creative. Whether you have an established program or are just getting started, he’ll get you thinking differently about how to improve your lesson business.
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
55
1 p.m. 5 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Working: Change It Now! Madison Revell, Inbound AV
Have you invested time and resources into your website and online presence, only to see lackluster results? As it turns out, your solution could be hiding in plain sight. Join Madison Revell, lead designer for marketing firm Inbound AV, and discover how incorporating simple web design fundamentals can help your website generate more traffic and engage prospective customers, all while increasing your brand’s overall online success. This session will appeal to everyone from full-on e-commerce businesses to retailers with simple lead-generating websites.
1:30 p.m. How to Make the Most of the Ukulele Explosion
Myrna Sislen, Middle C Music, and Grammy Award-Winning Artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer For many music retailers, the ukulele has become a sure-fire income generator, and for Middle C Music, it’s now essential for creating new sales, foot traffic and excitement. Are you making the most of this opportunity? Here, Middle C Music’s Myrna Sislen will be joined by two-time Grammy Award-winning artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer. Together, they’ll give you a play-by-play on creative ideas and best practices for stocking and selling more ukuleles. Discover how to take advantage of what Sislen calls a “no-fail income stream” and attract more customers to your business!
2 p.m. Strategies to Improve and Personalize the Customer Experience Tom Hemphill, Yamaha Corp. of America
Understanding your music retail and lesson customers and creating a customized experience for them is now critical if you want to build your business. To find out how, join Yamaha Marketing Manager Tom Hemphill, who has successfully marketed both music retail and lessons for the biggest brands in the industry. He’ll share how mapping the customer journey leads to greater customer and student satisfaction, as well as marketing return. Don’t miss this opportunity to take your business to the next level in 2019.
2:30 p.m. 5 Events to Create Lifelong Customers Tim Paul, Piano Trends Music & Band and Raue Center for the Arts Hosting events not only helps drive sales but also sets the stage for long-term business growth and customer loyalty. And if you’re looking for new ideas for successful events, Tim Paul of Piano Trends Music & Band will be your guide. Paul, who also serves as board president for Raue Center for the Arts, has won over his community, and grown his business, by creating events that have promoted music, music making and his store to local (and not-so-local) customers. Here, he’ll walk you through how to host exciting and effective events built around festivals, holidays, and just about any excuse to associate customers with music and your store. Note: None of his examples will be sales events, but all of them have resulted in more business. Find out how they can grow your business, too.
3 p.m. Music Lessons: 5 Tips for Hiring Great Teachers Eileen Tan, 7 Notes Yamaha Music School
More than any one factor, your teachers will make or break your lesson program. And in this powerful half-hour, Eileen Tan of 7 Notes Yamaha Music School will reveal her proven method for hiring the right music teachers and keeping them once they’re on-board. She’s developed these best practices through years of running her studio operation — and discovering some tough lessons learned along the way. She’ll cover everything from what she looks for in prospective teachers to managing expectations once they’re hired. Don’t let your lesson program languish. Get the right teachers on your team now.
3:30 p.m. Why Your Reverb Listings Aren’t Selling Faster Brian Reardon, Monster Music
Why aren’t your Reverb listings selling as quickly as you’d like — or at all? How can you increase sell-through on the platform? Let Brian Reardon of Monster Music be your guide. In the last three years, Reardon has quadrupled his company’s Reverb business to more than $400,000 annually. Here, he’ll give you his best tips, secrets
56
and hacks for making the most of the online platform, including updates you’ll want to know about. Whether you’re new to Reverb or a veteran seller, you’ll want to be at this high-powered session.
4 p.m. Careers in Music Summit, Featuring J. Dash (Special Session) Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO (Moderator), and Guests
What does it take to have a successful career in the music industry? Find out firsthand at this special session, hosted by NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond. In a series of up-close interviews, Lamond will speak with a diverse lineup of music industry professionals, including artist J. Dash; Randy Shayler, owner and CEO of Zeswitz Music; and Heather Farr Edwards, PR and communications manager of Reverb. They’ll discuss their career trajectories and share practical insights for long-term success. Walk away with new ideas and inspiration to take your career to the next level. This event is dedicated to SUNY Potsdam alumnus and longtime music industry icon Sandy Feldstein.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27 NAMM U Breakfast Session 8 – 8:30 a.m. Free breakfast — first come, first served 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Session Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, Pacific Ballrooms Best in Show
Frank Alkyer, Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily Magazines, and Panel Don’t miss out on your next best-seller! “Best in Show” closes out NAMM with a fast-moving roundup of the biggest products, services and technologies on the exhibit floor. And with more than 7,000 brands at The NAMM Show, you’ll want to find out what you might have overlooked. Join moderator Frank Alkyer, publisher of Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily magazines, as he leads a panel of music retail gear experts, who’ve scoured the far corners of the show floor to bring you their favorites. They’ll present 24-plus picks that are sure to be a big deal in 2019, and beyond. And exhibitors, make sure you’re there, too. You might just be a “Best in Show” winner.
NAMM IDEA CENTER LEVEL 1 LOBBY (BETWEEN HALLS B AND C) OPEN 10:30 A.M.–4 P.M. SESSIONS START EVERY 30 MINUTES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
10:30 a.m. Music Publishing: The Essentials, What You Need to Know Ron Bienstock, Scarinci | Hollenbeck
Publishing is the most confusing area of the music and recording business. It can be daunting to navigate, and misinformation runs rampant. If you’re like most musicians and songwriters, you want straight talk and “the real deal.” In this session, veteran music business attorney Ron Bienstock of Scarinci | Hollenbeck will reveal what you must know about music publishing. Bienstock has represented such artists as Billy Joel, Living Colour, Goo Goo Dolls, Simple Plan, Dream Theater, Barrett Strong, Porcupine Tree, Leslie West/Mountain and Beth Hart, among many others. He’ll give you the straight talk on music publishing and answers to your most pressing questions.
11 a.m. Marketing and Branding Secrets for the New Music Industry (Double Session)
Ari Herstand, Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter, Author and Music Industry Blogger (Moderator); Hunter Scott of Lafamos PR & Branding; and Andrew Leib of Red Light Management As an artist, your promotional options are endless — with more blogs, social media platforms, streaming playlists and potential fans than ever before. So how do you focus your time and efforts strategically to build your brand and make a living writing and performing? This panel, moderated by music industry thought leader Ari Herstand and featuring panelists Hunter Scott of Lafamos PR & Branding and Andrew Leib of Red Light Management, will explore how to create a compelling story and get media attention to have your music reviewed and featured. They’ll also look at new ways to
JANUARY 2019
build an effective release strategy, along with bases you’ll want to cover to ensure a lasting career. Herstand is an acclaimed singer-songwriter, music industry blogger, actor and the author of “How to Make It in the New Music Business.” This is a mustattend session for all artists looking to take their careers to new heights.
12 p.m. New (and Secret) Changes to Facebook and Instagram — and How to Get Results (Double Session) Dan Shinder, Drum Talk TV
New changes to Facebook are and have been impacting your audience reach and engagement, yet there’s no instruction manual to help you navigate these waters. Find out how to make the most of your Facebook presence in this session with Dan Shinder, founder and CEO of Drum Talk TV. Shinder has grown Drum Talk TV’s Facebook page to more than 1 million active followers organically, with no paid or boosted ads. Here, he’ll share his best tips to get maximum reach and engagement, even — and especially — in lieu of these changes. He’ll also explore changes to Instagram and how to get better results on the platform. Whether you’re an artist, brand or music retailer, you’ll walk away new ideas to improve your Facebook and Instagram marketing.
1 p.m. Success Secrets for Independent Songwriters and Artists (Double Session)
Thornton Cline, Award-Winning Songwriter (Moderator), and Panel You don’t have to wait years for commercial success as a songwriter or artist. You can create amazing opportunities for yourself by using non-traditional, unconventional avenues. Here, award-winning songwriter Thornton Cline will lead a panel of acclaimed songwriters, artists and producers. They’ll reveal how they’ve created their own successes through bypassing traditional channels. Get their insider tips, wisdom and big ideas.
2 p.m. Beyond YouTube: Marketing With Video (Double Session) Laura B. Whitmore, Producer for BackStory Events and She Rocks Awards (Moderator), and Panel
There’s no way around it: Video is critical to marketing your music, business or brand. In this session, Laura B. Whitmore, producer for BackStory Events and the She Rocks Awards, will lead a panel of expert music-business professionals and artists, who will share the best methods to create a video and get it seen by the right viewers on the right platforms. You’ll get practical, real-world tips to make the most of the time and resources you spend on video marketing, whether it’s for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or your website. A not-to-miss session for anyone looking to improve their video marketing and visibility.
It’s a different world today for piano and keyboard retailers. It doesn’t matter if it’s an acoustic or digital — piano customers are out there, but we have to go after them. This panel discussion, moderated by Music Trades Magazine columnist Bob Popyk, includes piano retailers Bob Gallagher from Ohio, Tim Paul from Illinois, Britt Cawthon from Texas, Angela Harmon from Washington and Nicholas Estrada from California. They’ll share new ideas to promote the benefits of learning to play, working with teachers, creating an effective internet presence, hosting outside promotions, holding concerts and clinics, having class lessons, going after the senior market and much more.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Special 2019 Financial Update: Don’t Let Ignorance Kill Your Business! Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 2, California B Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe, Friedman, Kannenberg & Co.
Internet sales tax collection, new labor laws, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act … what do they have to do with your music business? Everything, in fact. And in 2019, they’re likely to impact you — big time. These new federal and state laws can be complicated and confusing, and ignorance and non-compliance could put your music store in financial peril. Fortunately, these potentially disruptive events can be prevented with a little proactive financial management. Join music retail financial gurus Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe of Friedman, Kannenberg & Co. for this exclusive financial training, and discover how to withstand the new rigors of 2019. The always-entertaining Friedman and Jobe will give you the rundown on these new laws and critical information to protect yourself.
3–4 p.m. Today’s Secrets for Selling Pianos Online Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 4, A9 Tom Folenta, Website Wizard, and Bob Popyk, Music Trades Magazine Columnist Is your website generating customers and sales the way it should? In this one-on-one discussion with Music Trades Magazine columnist Bob Popyk, website wizard Tom Folenta will share unique ideas for creating piano customers and piano sales (both acoustic and digital) online. You’ll find out what’s working today and take home interesting ways to make your website more effective. Folenta will answer questions and spend time after the session for specific individual interaction.
3 p.m. How to Monetize Your Music in TV and Film (Double Session)
Chandra Lynn, Glow Marketing (Host), and Art Ford and Jesse James Felice, The World Song Network Want to get your songs and music placed in movies and TV? Then check out this powerful session with industry insiders and find out how to get exposure to the leading executives responsible for song placements. Music industry veteran Chandra Lynn of Glow Marketing will host Art Ford and Jesse James Felice of The World Song Network for a deep dive into independent music licensing, synchronization and procurement of major and indie artist music in feature films, television shows, video games and advertising. Just a few of The World Song Network’s most recent placements include Girls Trip, Christopher Robin and Equalizer 2. This is a must-see for artists and songwriters who want to open up new revenue streams.
ADDITIONAL NAMM U SESSIONS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 3–4 p.m. Creative Ways to Find New Piano Customers Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Level 4, A9
Bob Popyk, Music Trades Magazine Columnist (Moderator), and Panel
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
57
T I P S FROM THE TE ACHER
DEVELOPING RAPPORT WITH STUDENTS By Kimberly Deverell
In a world full of instant gratification and overscheduled with activities, teaching and retaining students can be problematic. Based on my 22 years of teaching experience at San Diego Music Studio, here are a few strategies for success I have picked up along the way. First and foremost, a good rapport between the student and teacher is essential. Like any other relationship, it must be nurtured. At the beginning, it is important to win them over. Once they trust you and you’ve got them hooked, they will listen and work hard for you. Keep it positive! Try not to use the P-word (practice) in a nagging way. We all recognize the saying “Practice makes perfect.” It is common sense that to improve at something you must practice. Continually using the P-word in a negative way can turn students and parents away from attending lessons. A missed lesson is a wasted opportunity to concentrate on other valuable musical skills. Instead of saying “practice,” try using the word “play.” Both words encourage the same behavior, but “play” has a positive connotation. Communication is key. This seems obvious, but it is too often overlooked. Communicate with students and parents every lesson, not just verbally but in writing. Write in the books! Have an organized system in place to clearly assign a piece of music and a way to show when it is complete. Put the date on the assigned pieces every time you listen along with a concise notation of what to work on. Notating in students’ books provides a written record of the lesson. This approach not only helps the student know what to work on, but it also protects the teacher. If a parent questions why their student has not passed off an assignment, you can pull the books out and show proof that you have been doing your job. 58
Plan Your Lessons. Make sure to include time for sight reading and theory. This requires structure and time management. A common mistake teachers make is to focus the entire lesson on previously assigned repertoire and leave no time for sight reading and theory. These aspects are equally as important to creating a well-rounded musician. Try to start the lesson by grading and assigning new theory while the student is warming up on technique. Doing this at the beginning of the lesson will prevent you from running out of time for it at the end. By regularly integrating sight-reading and theory into each lesson, it encourages more practice at home and maintains continued forward progress.
Motivation. One short-term and effective way to encourage students is to implement a reward system. At San Diego Music Studio, we offer a ticket for each piece that is completed. Students can exchange tickets for prizes such as popcorn (two tickets), candy (five tickets) and movie passes (300 tickets). For more long-term inspiration, set goals. Whether it is a recital, competition, audition, master class or other performance opportunity, having a goal to work toward is motivating. Find what works for you and your students and do it!
Books and Supplies. It is your responsibility as a teacher to ensure your students have the proper tools to be successful at their instrument. This includes recommending new music books and supplies as needed. Exposing students to new music is vital to
their growth and development as musicians! Encourage students to purchase music. Do not photocopy sheet music for students. It is relatively inexpensive, and it is something that will last a lifetime. Sheet music and songbooks are an investment in the students’ future. Not to mention, new music is always a great way to stimulate a student that is otherwise feeling uninspired.
Student Appreciation. Don’t forget to say “thank you.” Every month at San Diego Music Studio, we recognize a Student of the Month. The student’s picture and bio are posted on our Wall of Fame at the front of the store for a year, and they receive a $10 gift card. Additionally, our teachers regularly write thankyou cards and mail them to our students. For a special touch, we like to include a few extra tickets in the thank-you cards. Students love getting letters in the mail, and parents are appreciative of the gesture. When students feel valued, they are more likely to stick around! It’s all about perspective. Every human being deserves the right to a music education. Teaching is not about creating a perfect musician; it’s about the process. It’s about inspiring people. It’s about developing a lifelong love and appreciation for music. It’s about the valuable life skills that are learned along the way. It’s about creating better humans. It’s about making a difference. Kimberly Deverell is studio manager at San Diego Music Studio in San Marcos, Calif. Look for her to pen more columns for the Music & Sound Retailer throughout the year. JANUARY 2019
RAVI ON T HE R ECOR D
SAYING FAREWELL TO CONNECTICUT MUSIC’S MIKE RABUAZZO By Ravi Hutheesing
Farewell, old friend. It has been more than a decade since my regular column in the Music & Sound Retailer ended, but I am back with a heavy heart to honor the retailer who inspired me to advocate for independent music stores. Michael Rabuazzo (known to most as Mike Roberts) of Connecticut Music in Stamford, Conn., passed away unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve. The youngest son of Joe Rabuazzo Sr., who opened the store in 1945, Michael was driving home from work when chest pains caused him to pull over, call his wife and wait for help after calling 911. Mike died of a heart attack before help arrived. He was only 58. Along with brothers Joe Jr. and Peter, Mike worked in the family store for most of his life (a fourth brother, Sandy, had a separate career). They later purchased the store from their father in 1984 as he prepared to retire, though Joe Sr. still came to the store daily until he passed away in 2013. I called Joe Jr. on New Year’s Day as soon as I heard the news. He told me that Mike thought of me as a son, always taking pride in my accomplishments and caring deeply about my personal well-being. While he was only 10 years older than me, the Rabuazzos were like parents in ways that I had not previously contemplated. They gave birth to my musical journey. On my 11th birthday, my mother took me to Connecticut Music to buy my first guitar. Mike immediately recognized and greeted her by name because he had previously worked at a store that she frequented. Despite being only 21 at the time, he was a passionate salesman in the finest sense of the word. Mike prioritized relationships and integrity over sales and profits. Joe Jr. placed a Stratocaster-style Cort guitar in my hands while Mike retrieved a cable and plugged it into an amp. Their father was tending to other customers but smiled proudly as he watched his sons help me embark on a dream. It was one of the most memorable days of my life. Connecticut Music became my “second home” for the next 36 years. I was closest to Mike but could count on any one of them, whether I needed a set of strings or just a compassionate ear to work out a personal problem. MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
The Rabuazzo family in front of their store. L-R: Joe Jr., Mike, Joe Sr. and Peter.
They worked hard, often spending Sundays and holidays in the back office catching up on paperwork and guitar repairs. Even when the store was closed, they welcomed me if I needed something urgently. There was never a quick purchase or brief hello. Conversations about life and business took over, and fresh coffee was frequently brewed. I know many fellow customers can relate, because Connecticut Music regulars were treated more like family than friends. For at least the past 20 years, Mike said “goodbye” to me each time with a fatherly embrace and heartfelt, “I love you.” We talked many times during our 36-year friendship about striking a balance between personal and professional lives. As many music retailers know, one is basically married to the business. Mike often commented that he would never meet a girl or get married because the store demanded his complete attention. He did not complain but was somewhat resigned to his fate in musical instrument retail. However, that changed when he met the love of his life, Regine. She entered his world with two young children who also captured his heart. Mike instantly became a dedicated husband and proud father, and when they got married, he embraced a lifestyle that he may
not have felt he wanted or needed, but most definitely deserved. He was the happiest that I had ever seen him. Moreover, he continued to take great pride in fostering customers’ dreams and building lasting relationships. I am grateful to have had multiple occasions to tell Mike and Joe how much they meant to me. They know that every column I wrote for this magazine was rooted in their struggles and successes. I defended the independent music retailer because they inspired me to do so. They embodied the values that I believe are the keys to survival in music retail and beyond. Losing Mike has made me realize that the local MI store is much more than a place to hang out and pursue a passion. Connecticut Music is part of my foundation, and that foundation has now been rocked. I somehow thought they would be there forever, but this era has come to a sudden and tragic end. I love you, Mike Rabuazzo, and will always be guided by your energy, humor and perseverance as I continue to fight for what truly matters in this world. Rest in peace my friend. Ravi Hutheesing is a cultural catalyst and global keynote speaker, and the former guitarist of 1997’s pop phenomenon, Hanson. He welcomes comments and questions at ravi@raviunites.com. 59
Retailers Revitalize with Reverb By Evan Holmes Rock N Roll Vintage and Fanny’s House of Music have used Reverb.com to great advantage, significantly boosting their respective profits. Since its launch in 2013, Reverb.com has become an integral and nearly ubiquitous tool for independent music shops working to expand their reach from a local to a national (and increasingly international) level. An intuitive interface, unmatched customer engagement for both buyers and sellers, and a constantly expanding global audience has secured the marketplace website a crucial role in the success stories of hundreds of independent music stores. Within the last few years, the team at Chicago-based Reverb has actively made its web design toolkit more available to its sellers, including seamless embedded listings for existing shop websites and the recent rollout of Reverb Sites, an impressive Squarespace-esque customizable website builder that instantly displays a seller’s full Reverb inventory, completely categorized and searchable through Reverb’s familiar filters. While a growing group of up-and-coming independent shops have adopted Reverb Sites as their main web presence, Rock N Roll Vintage is particularly notable. The well-known Chicago-based retailer is a nationally recognized vintage gear dealer and staple of the Midwest music scene. Launched in late 2018, the radically redesigned rocknrollvintage.com is a stunning example of a world-class collection made freshly accessible through the Reverb Sites engine. What might work best about this marriage of two Chicago-based gear authorities is the sheer amount of shop personality able to shine through the Reverb Sites template. A faux Tolex header and wood panel photo backgrounds give a tactile sense of the physical shop, with relatable descriptions that clearly appreciate the history, design and personality of each used or vintage piece. In other words, the crew at Rock N Roll Vintage has supplied human and professional content. It’s a website that genuinely feels like walking into its 4727 N. Damen Ave. storefront, with just a little less old guitar smell. In fact, the new rocknrollvintage.com is so naturally customized that it’s easy to forget this collection is powered by the most comprehensive gear-filtering platform in the world. Under the hood, Reverb’s predictive search bar, simple price and year sliders, and brand options make an imposing collection of unique gear a breeze to navigate. With just a few touches, I’ve whittled a collection of thousands of instruments down to exactly the ‘60s Gibson hollow bodies I’ve come to drool over. It’s as easy as, well, shopping on Reverb. While we’re on the topic of accessibility, another independent innovator using Reverb to bolster its shop website is Nashville’s Fanny’s House of Music, a proudly female-owned and -operated music store that continues to make waves through inspired lessons programs and an acclaimed inventory of smaller-bodied instruments geared toward women and kids in the regional music scene. In a nod to the inviting environment of the shop itself, fannyshouseofmusic.com is vibrant and artfully composed, with a bold color palette and striking image-based links that would defy most template sites. A panoramic photo of the shop’s outdoor mural homage to musical pioneers like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joni Mitchell, Loretta Lynn and Bonnie Raitt welcomes visitors into a vital songwriting lineage. 60
Chicago-based Rock N Roll Vintage is well known as a vintage guitar dealer.
A screenshot of electric guitars for sale at Rock N Roll Vintage.
Fanny's House of Music continues to make waves in Nashville.
Nestled perfectly in the culture of this site are the store’s soughtafter used and vintage Reverb listings, a carefully curated selection of stage and studio-ready instruments at reliably accessible price points. Clicking any of these embedded listings takes an interested buyer directly to that instrument’s listing on Reverb.com, where offers and questions can also be relayed to the shop. These embedded listings feel completely cohesive and adhere to even the minutiae of the site design, right down to a matching fuschia sans-serif font. (continued on page 92)
JANUARY 2019
ARTIST:
MADE TO PERFORM INSP ECTO R:
MOD EL:
COLO R:
PICK UPS:
TUNE RS:
NECK :
SERIE S:
FRETS :
INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN PERFORMER SERIES TM FEATURING ALL-NEW YOSEMITETM PICKUPS, HANDCRAFTED IN CORONA, CALIFORNIA
©2019 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. FENDER, FENDER in script, TELE, TELECASTER and the distinctive headstock commonly found on Fender guitars and basses are registered trademarks of FMIC. Yosemite is a trademark of FMIC.
FI V E M INUTE S W ITH
TOM SUMNER
President, Yamaha Corp. of America By Brian Berk This is The NAMM Show issue, where we tend to bring out our “heavy hitters.” Few are bigger than Tom Sumner, president of Yamaha Corp. of America (YCA). Sumner took over this role on April 1, and we ask how things have gone during this nine-month period. We also broach plenty of other topics, of course, including how Sumner was offered this job. Enjoy.
The Music & Sound Retailer: You became president of Yamaha Corp. of America on April 1, the first American to take on this role. Tell us about the significance of taking on this role and how you first found out you had earned the title? Tom Sumner: There was a process to earning the role, so I knew there was a possibility they would offer me the job. My current boss from Yamaha Japan flew to Los Angeles International Airport for one evening and met with me and my boss at the time — Hitoshi Fukutome — to offer me the job. We met at the LAX Marriott, and it was a bit surreal, as there was a fantasy-creature convention going on — kind of like Comic-Con — at the hotel that weekend, and we were about the only people there not dressed like a troll or a pixie. Having an American in the role has been an energizer for our team in the United States. Part of the significance of my appointment is for me to remain in the role, which actually gives me a longer time horizon to plan and implement than my predecessors had. The Retailer: What advice did your predecessor, Hitoshi Fukutome, give you? Sumner: Hitoshi didn’t leave me with specific advice, though he taught me plenty in the five years we worked together. I think the two most important things he taught me were patience and how to collaborate and gain consensus across multiple groups. Maybe it’s because I’m American, but I tend to want to see results pretty quickly. Hitoshi really demonstrated showing patience and pacing the organization to achieve the best results. He also worked really well across multiple
62
groups — multiple teams at Yamaha Corp. of America and multiple teams at Yamaha Japan — to gain consensus and drive outcomes that everyone could support.
The Retailer: Please tell us about what you’ve seen in your nine months as president. Anything you didn’t expect? Any surprises? Please explain. Sumner: Since I have been working in the U.S. market from the beginning, I didn’t have to “learn” the market, though it definitely changes every day. One of the big challenges over my tenure so far has been hiring the best people for our team. We have many long-term employees at YCA, which is a testament to our company being a great place to work. But that also means when folks retire or leave the company, they walk out the door with 20 to 30 years’ experience. That is hard to replace. We also have a rigorous hiring process. We take time to try to be certain that the people we hire are a good cultural fit. The challenge of finding and hiring the right people for our team has been my biggest surprise. The Retailer: Take us through your typical day as president. What responsibilities do you handle? Sumner: There isn’t a typical day. I travel a fair amount of the time — sometimes to visit our dealers, sometimes to meet with dealers and customers at trade shows, and sometimes to Japan to connect with our leadership, product and marketing teams. I usually fly about 150,000 miles each year to try to stay connected with folks. Of course, I’m responsible for YCA overall, and for me, jobs one and two are making
JANUARY 2019
certain our customers and our team members are taken care of. If there is an employee or customer issue, I take care of that first. I don’t get many customer issues, as our team takes care of that really well. A typical day in the office would involve one or more meetings with my direct reports. I have a weekly scheduled meeting with each direct report. Then there are meetings about specific projects or initiatives we are working on to build our future. I often stop by team members’ offices if they have been traveling or if something interesting is happening in their channel. The day may finish off with a Skype meeting, email or phone calls with colleagues from Yamaha Japan.
The Retailer: Tell us about your overall philosophy and how you have implemented it at Yamaha. Is it dif ferent than past presidents? Sumner: I try to be really direct and honest with our team members and encourage them to be so as well. Part of our corporate culture is to treat everyone with respect, but you can be truthful and show respect at the same time. Each YCA president to some extent has been able to hold people accountable while at the same time treat them fairly and value their contribution. I think I am a bit more direct than past presidents. The Retailer: Yamaha always has a fantastic presence at The NAMM Show. Tell us about what retailers can see from Yamaha in terms of events that will make the show special? Sumner: Yamaha has a team that puts everything they’ve got into creating a great NAMM Show for our guests. Our first production meeting this year was right after Summer NAMM, and we are preparing right up to the final minutes before we open the doors on Thursday morning, the first day of the show. For all retailers, we have two blockbuster music events, including our 10th annual Night of Worship event on Thursday (Jan. 24) featuring Matt Redman, Steve Malcolm and Ellis Hall. And we are presenting our second Yamaha All-Star Concert on the Grand on Friday night (Jan. 25), a big musical
hug for the industry right out on the grand plaza between the Marriott and the Hilton. Both of these will be really special evenings. For the show, we are launching more than 50 new products. But our big reveal — which I can’t let out of the bag just yet — is a new campaign that you will see everywhere at The NAMM Show this year.
The Retailer: Any more information about the 50 product launches? Sumner: Most of the products we are launching are embargoed until the first day of the show, but we have some new categories as well as products that expand some areas that are really resonating with customers and doing really well for us. TransAcoustic technology — where guitarists can get studio-quality reverb and chorus effects from an acoustic instrument without any external amplification or device — is one area that we continue to expand to reach more customers. The Retailer: What segments (types of instruments) are showing the most strength for Yamaha recently and why? Sumner: We are actually showing strength in most categories. Two I would point out are pianos and school music. Acoustic piano is a category that has literally been down trending since 1909, but we are growing this category by reaching customers directly and driving them to a local dealer. In 2017, our team developed a campaign that targeted key potential piano customers. People thought we were nuts to run TV advertising for acoustic pianos, but Yamaha is growing the category. School music is a category that is strong overall and particularly robust for us. Our strength in this category is driven by longer-term investments and not just a single campaign. It’s a combination of continuously working to improve the quality of our instruments and working with the high-service-level dealers that support educators so well. A couple of years ago, we launched a specific dealer program — which we call Shokunin — to provide an even higher-level retail experience in dealer stores to complement the high service level they already provide. Shokunin translates to “craftsman” or “artisan.” The Retailer: Explain your philosophy when it comes to MI retailers. How do you ensure it’s a great relationship for both you and them? Sumner: In some categories, the retail channel is just a way to get products to consumers. That’s not the case with MI retail. What differentiates MI retail is the fact that most of our products are tactile and that MI retailers help build their local market. Having a place where customers can actually get their hands on a keyboard, guitar or mixer is crucial. It makes a big difference and expands the market. MI retailers also develop communities and help create more connected musicians in their markets. For Yamaha, hiring the right people with the right mindset is a big part of what we do to keep a great relationship thriving. We try to hire the right district manager (DM) and the right customer service associates to help dealers. We also keep open communication between our DMs and management team, so any issues are raised quickly. (continued on page 92)
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
63
M I SPY
LOOKING FOR KEYBOARDS IN THE KEYSTONE STATE
I sat outside the Chief’s office and sighed. Secret agent work is full of risk, suspense and life-threatening danger, and I was about to face the most intense experience of all: an annual performance review with my boss. MI Spying isn’t just fancy cocktails in exotic places, at which I excel. It’s also about the nuances of spycraft, like gadget proficiency and tying your own bow-tie. My daydream about clip-ons was interrupted by the buzz of the intercom on the receptionist’s desk. “Send him/her in.” I stood, smoothing my lapels as the receptionist gave me a pitying look. I subconsciously ran my tongue over the loose molar where I keep my cyanide capsule. Fully prepared, I stepped into the office. Many “satisfactories” later (plus an “exceeds expectations” in fancy cocktails, of course), the review was almost over, and I felt confident in another year of being employed in jet-setting and espionage. “There is one more thing, agent.” The Chief cleared his throat. It sounded like a gun cocking. “You received a “below average” in quips.” “Quips?” “One-liners. For example, if you throw a man off a train you say something like, ‘He should have kept track of the situation.’” “That’s not very funny,” I said. “It’s a little ghoulish.” “Well, it’s spy tradition, and I expect you to do better. You are no Sean Connery, Roger Moore or Daniel Craig. You’re not even Pierce Brosnan. Now, I have your next mission. I want you to snoop around the Philadelphia area. See what you can find in the way of keyboards for a beginner. And if you come back with the intel and a good quip, I’ll adjust your performance review. But it better be good. This is The NAMM Show issue. What do you say?” “You can count on Philadel-ME-a?” “Get out of my office.”
64
JANUARY 2019
Sam Ash Music Stores 1887 Franklin Mills Circle, Philadelphia, PA 19154 215.612.1339 I pulled up to the Sam Ash and discovered it was an anchor store in an outlet mall outside the city of Philadelphia. Sam Ash has its own entrance in the parking lot, but I decided to stretch my legs before starting my mission. I drove down a ways and entered the mall proper. Philadelphia Mills is a bit unique in its architecture; very long with a slight zig-zag shape. It’s only one floor with a peaked roof, and most of the storefronts don’t reach all the way to the ceiling. It’s almost as if the stores were built inside a series of airplane hangars. The Sam Ash was more impressive than its neighbors, with an angular entrance that protruded into the mall and was made more interesting with a few basic architectural flourishes. As I stepped through these pointed arches, I braced myself for a standard retail greeting. Surprisingly, there was no one nearby. Since the store does have an external entrance, I felt a little like I was sneaking in through the back. Stock in trade for a spy. The store is shaped like a little mall itself, with a long display hallway connecting the two exits with the different types of instruments each in their own smaller “shops” on either side. I wandered the main hall briefly, doing my best “wandering customer” impression, all while keeping on alert for an approaching salesperson. Once again, my razor instincts went unused as I bent over to read price tags several times without any interference. I made my way into the keyboard showroom hoping that there might be an employee inside eagerly awaiting my arrival, but there was only another customer or
two wandering through. Tired of playing coy, I moved back into the main area and started toward the exit to the parking lot where I could see a few employees standing by the doors. Before I could actually say anything, I was intercepted by an employee with a shaggy suggestion of a mohawk. He asked if he could help me, and I launched into my cover story: My brother was interested in learning the keyboard, and my parents and I were going to buy him one as a gift. Being a dutiful child, I was out doing some research to save my folks the effort. The man took me back into the keyboard showroom to show me a few basic models from a pretty wide selection. His two picks were a Yamaha, which was on sale for $449.99, and a Roland marked down to $699.99. As he played a simple melody on each, he explained I’d have to choose between weighted and semiweighted keys. The weighted keys make it feel more like playing a real piano, he said, which some people prefer. The Yamaha was mounted on a stand that looked like furniture legs instead of the traditional X-shaped keyboard stand. I asked if that was included and he said no, it costs an extra $100, but it looks nicer in a living room. Having satisfied my questions, he shook my hand and gave me his personal card. With phase one of my mission completed, I swung my spy car onto Interstate 95 south. Just ahead, I could see downtown Philadelphia rising up through the fog, just behind a surprising number of billboards for personal injury lawyers.
BridgeSet Sound 710 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 267.507.4350 Driving into the city of Philadelphia, I was amazed at its blend of history with modern day. You can turn off an ordinary city street and find yourself bouncing along cobblestones in front of old-fashioned brick buildings. Then, just as suddenly, the flashback ends and you’re passing a modern office building and a PNC bank. The route to my next location took me right down North 6th Street, past the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, and I’ll admit it was hard not to be distracted by the sights. Nevertheless, I’m a spy first and a tourist second, and minutes later I was squeezing into a parking spot just around the corner from BridgeSet Sound. It’s a charming store, even from a few doors down. A circular sign hangs above the sidewalk emblazoned with the store’s logo: two notes connected by a stylized bridge instead of a standard beam. The parts of the storefront that aren’t the glass door or huge display window are built from diagonal wooden slats, and there’s a shingled roof facade above the large sign with the store’s name on it. It’s all a very dark brown, which sets it apart from some of its more colorful South Street neighbors without appearing somber or serious. Inside, the store continues to be charming in a much more human way. The cash register is right near the door, and I was immediately greeted by the person behind the counter. I was also greeted by a man standing in the showroom holding a didgeridoo. There were a few more people in the store, and they all seemed to know each other. I couldn’t tell if they were friends, coworkers or some combination of the two. The place was well stocked with gear: BridgeSet Sound had plenty of guitars, but also miscellaneous supplies like strings and MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
drumsticks and some fun pop culture bric-a-brac as well. I saw a hint of black-and-white keys in the corner and headed toward them. My arrival must have interrupted a conversation about the didgeridoo the man was holding because he soon turned back to the clerk and continued talking about the pitch of the instrument, punctuated by bursts of that very particular droning. I had only been standing in front of the keyboard display for a minute or two before the matter was settled and the man put down his didgeridoo and walked over to see if I needed help. It wasn’t hard to guess which keyboards he would recommend, as BridgeSet only had two keyboards on display, both mid-$100-range Casios. He noodled around a bit on both, as he pointed out a few of their different features and told me either would be good for a beginner. However, the Casios weren’t the only keyboards on display. “How about these little ones?” I asked. “Are they keyboards too?” “Those are MIDI controllers,” he explained kindly. He then gave me a rundown on the uses and functions of a MIDI controller and how it differs from a keyboard. He made it interesting by engaging with me and using analogies to make sure I understood. I thanked him for his time and left, but before I got too far, I realized I’d forgotten to take note of the prices and had to do some embarrassing “rerecon.” I was greeted kindly again, and this time I was interrupting a conversation about the state of modern animation — specifically, how the backdrops for the old SpongeBob cartoons used to be beautifully done oil paintings. I say again, without irony, it’s a charming store. 65
South Street Sounds 1531 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19146 215.732.8259 My next stop after BridgeSet was South Street Sounds, which is, surprise, also on South Street. I’d been in the car quite a while already and had plenty of time on the parking meter, so I decided I’d walk. This was a mistake. South Street is famous in Philadelphia. Boys II Men filmed a music video there, and it was the subject of The Orlons’ top-40 hit in 1963. It’s the place to go for music, art and shopping. There are plenty of cafés and restaurants, thrift stores and vintage shops, old-fashioned head shops and cutting-edge vape retailers. There are galleries if you want art, tattoo shops if you want ink and tile mosaics on many of the walls if you just want something to see. South Street is truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately, I missed almost everything because after I’d walked only a few blocks, it started raining so hard I thought the world was ending. The walk was a little more than a mile, and I arrived at South Street Sounds with a visceral appreciation for the term “soaked to the skin.” The rain turned into a drizzle as I got close, so I was able to see store’s name glowing in neon across the street. I hurried in, feeling a bit sheepish, and hoped I wouldn’t drip too much. BridgeSet was a little crowded with merchandise. South Street Sounds was packed to the ceiling. It was a small store, and the walls bristled with guitars and shelves of instruments. A display stretched up from the center of the room decked with more guitars, drums and a xylophone so rustic it almost looked handmade. I barely had time to take any of
it in before I was greeted enthusiastically by a small woman behind a counter flanked by more merchandise. Almost immediately, she was making jokes about the rain, my height (your humble spy is “vertically gifted”) and the state of the store. She immediately established such a rapport that it felt like we were new friends meeting at a party instead of a proprietor talking to her very damp customer. We got around to keyboards, but I could tell by looking around that she didn’t have any. The only keys that caught my eye were on a small accordion. She said keyboards were tough for them to stock because you need a lot of space to set them up and, as she pointed out, they had no space. Still, she did have one on order, a Casio she thought would be “about $65” and should arrive a few days. She gave me her card so I could call back if I was interested. We talked for quite a bit longer about the store, which belonged to her and her husband. We discussed the display taking up so much of her floor space; she was considering clearing it out, and I thought the chaos really gave the store a great personality. There was a younger man quietly sitting on the other side of the display who agreed with me. I had assumed he was an employee without much to do, but by his response, I decided he was another browser who didn’t know the proprietor much better than I did. After a few more laughs, I thanked the woman for her time and left, praying that the rain wouldn’t pick back up as I returned to my car.
Guitar Center 2100 NJ 38, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 856.755.9511 I don’t know if it was a trick of geography or a GPS glitch, but my last stop was just over the state line in New Jersey. Philadelphia has plenty of music stores, but most seem to cater to guitarists and lacked the ivory keys that would unlock my improved performance review. I struck out for the ‘burbs and found the Guitar Center in a big shopping complex right next to another Sam Ash. It was a damp Friday afternoon, and the place was a little busy. I did my customer meander toward and around the keyboard section. I looked at some keyboards, then circled out toward some DJ equipment (and some more MIDI controllers that I now knew all about) before returning to look more meaningfully at the keyboards. I could see a few black-shirted employees a little ways off, but neither of them made a move to help me until I went over and asked directly. The man I snagged took me back to the keyboard display and suggested two Yamahas out of one of the displays. One was $20 more
than the other, and he told me the only difference between them was that the more expensive model had 76 keys while the cheaper only had 61. He said I might want to consider the smaller model if floor space was going to be an issue. I appreciated that he considered my needs instead of just trying to upsell me for the extra $20. Continuing his trend of consideration, he asked if my brother specifically wanted a keyboard or if he was interested in learning to play piano. He pointed out their smaller display room of digital pianos and explained that they would be a good choice for an aspiring piano player since they felt more like the real deal. I thought it was an insightful question since it drilled deep enough into my story that I almost blew my cover. Before I left, the salesman did let me know that if I decided to go with a Yamaha, it would require a power supply which was one of the things included in a $35 “survival kit” it offered. I thanked him and began the trip back to headquarters.
The Sale The next day, I was back in the Chief’s office for my debriefing. He shuffled through my performance review for a moment and then raised his eyebrows at me. “What have you got for me?” he asked. “It’s a tough call, Chief,” I began. “If I’d been on a mission for guitars, I think I’d be going to one of the stores on South Street for sure. I know if I was a local musician, I’d be spending a lot of time and money in at least one of them. They felt like part of the community. Both were warm and welcoming. If I wasn’t afraid of blowing my cover, I might have spent the afternoon hanging out to browse and chat with the employees. Plus, if I was a local, I wouldn’t want to take the trip all the way out to Cherry Hill or Philadelphia Mills to shop music.” “But you weren’t on a mission for guitars.” “No. So they’re out. BridgeSet’s selection for keyboards was limited. South Street Sounds had no selection until an order came in. Narrow66
ing down between Sam Ash and Guitar Center is tough. I felt like I had to make an effort to elevate myself from “browser” to “customer” in both, but they were a little more proactive in Sam Ash. I appreciated that, in Guitar Center, the salesperson asked about certain needs that I hadn’t mentioned. How much free space does my brother have for a keyboard? I hadn’t even considered that. In the end, though, I’d take a trip to Philadelphia Mills and go back to Sam Ash. The fact that the salesperson intercepted me right before I could ask for help, and then made it personal by giving me his business card, carried them over the finish line.” The chief made a note and then tapped his pen against my review. “And your quip?” “Mall’s well that ends well?” “Seriously? That’s your quip?” Oh well. There’s always next year. JANUARY 2019
FRO NT AND CE NTER
MIRIAM RISKO Co-Owner of Mike Risko Music Store
By Brianne Marks Editor’s Note: “Front and Center” is brought to you by the Women’s International Music Network (The WiMN). The interviews showcase accomplished women who work in the music and audio industries, spotlighting successful female performers, manufacturers, retailers, educators, managers, publicists and others. Visit thewimn.com to view the weekly interviews and to learn more about how to be featured. Take a trip back in time. Can you remember a pivotal moment in your childhood, or as a young adult, that stirred up a conviction in you that music — in some way, shape or form — would play a key role in your life? For Miriam Risko, that moment came at the tender age of five, as she experienced seeing her first musical, and she’s never looked back. From there, she studied piano and voice, and as an adult, she went on to sing in bands and co-found Mike Risko Music Store in Ossining, N.Y., with her husband. Together, the Riskos have built an awardwinning business that’s a staple of their community. As a thank you to the community that’s supported them over the years, Risko heads several charitable and fun initiatives for local customers and volunteers her time to further music education. The Women’s International Music Network: You’ve had a lifelong passion for music that influenced your career and philanthropic endeavors. Can you recall an early childhood experience that sparked your love of music? Miriam Risko: Music has been part of my whole life. I come from a family of musicians. I started studying piano at the age of five and took voice lessons a few years later. It was at that same age my parents took me to see a local production of “Godspell.” The moment the curtain rose, I was mesmerized and knew I 68
JANUARY 2019
wanted to become a singer. From that point on, it’s all I wanted to do. I’ve always loved singing, and I took every opportunity I could to sing. My first-grade teacher had a piano in her classroom and would teach us songs. She worked hard to integrate music into the classroom, even though she wasn’t a music teacher. In fourth grade, there was a talent show in which I sang. It was my first time performing solo in front of a large audience, and I loved it. From then on, I participated in all kinds of shows, wrote music and studied instruments. By sixth grade, I was involved in local professional theater. Between attending performing arts camps in the summer and being a contestant in the Miss N.Y. National Teenager pageant, I realized how much I loved performing. I continued my musical studies throughout high school and college, worked as a singer in a local band and performed with community theaters.
The WiMN: Your musical pursuits expanded as an adult, when you and your husband, Mike, met. What are some of the things you worked on together? Risko: When Mike and I met, he had a small teaching practice and taught guitar lessons. I joined him in 1997, after a brief career in sales and marketing, and started teaching piano and voice there. I still loved marketing and was excited to use those skills to help generate awareness for the music school. I had this vision of what the school could grow to become, and because it was a pre-socialmedia world, I started creating newsletters, bulletin boards and ads to develop awareness. Mike and I would hang signs all over town to generate buzz. Eventually, we rented more space and added teachers and lesson rooms. We even rented an additional floor (and we got married in that space in 2000). I was still teaching and singing in a band with Mike, and had started to create more programs, classes and brochures. Mike and I are fortunate that we’ve always worked as a team. MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
We love creating ideas together that’ll inspire others to embrace music. I typically create the programs, and Mike is excellent at implementing them. It’s a balance that’s worked really well for us over the years.
The WiMN: How did you and Mike decide to open Mike Risko Music Store, and what unique touch do you offer to differentiate it from other music stores? Risko: We built Mike Risko Music School from the ground up, beginning in 1997, and it has evolved greatly over the years. In 2009, we bought a building up the street from where our music school was located and moved our operation there. The building had housed a music store for 30 years, but we were excited to start our own retail store and make a fresh start. Because retail was a new focus for us, we faced our share of challenges, but we were excited about everything there was to learn. What’s been really important for Mike and me over the years is the relationship with our customers. We try to create an experience for them the moment they walk in the door, even if they’re coming for a regularly scheduled lesson. Our goal is to get to know our customers and to connect with them so that we can offer the best possible service. We’ve even delivered instruments to customers in the local gym parking lot, at the town pool or at the supermarket! We stay open late to accommodate customers, FaceTime with them to explain lesson assignments and try to be as available as possible. I think our customers have come to expect that level of attention, and we are thrilled to be able to provide it, even as the store has grown. The WiMN: What are some of the things you love best about owning a music store? Risko: Without a doubt, it’s building relationships. The people who come in and out of our store and school are the reason our business is so vibrant. We want to learn what’s driving them to learn an instrument so that we can offer
them the best service. It excites us to hear their stories, and our job is to help them find success. We don’t just sell gear. Being musicians enables us to share our music with anyone who needs it on some level. Whether we’re playing music for an event, or the local farmer’s market, or just trying to create and excite more budding musicians, our business gives us a platform to make a difference, and that’s the reason we’re here. We’re proud to be recognized by NAMM as one of the top 100 music stores in the world for the past five consecutive years. We’ve also been recognized locally by Westchester Magazine as the best music store and best music school, among other categories. Our customers have helped make some of these accolades possible, and we are so grateful.
The WiMN: And now, as a well-established business in your community, you’ve been giving back. Can you share some of your charitable activities? Risko: We strongly believe in giving back to the community. We are here because of the commu-
nity’s support, and we are grateful for it. We support community events and [give back] through our program, Risko Music Gives Back. Community groups and local schools can request live music or a musical program for their events. We’re involved in hundreds of these events, free of charge, because it allows us to bring music to our community without any funding concerns by the groups. And in many cases, we’ve donated our earnings from music events back to local charities, because we believe so strongly in giving back to our community, where we’re raising our own children. Not long ago, I founded the local “Make Music Day” for Ossining. I launched it in 2015 with no expectations because it was the first year, but I was so proud of its success. Eventually, I organized musicians and locations at local stores and parks. By 2018, we had 26 bands at 26 locations around the community. We even added “Make Music Day Winter” to offer even more musical opportunities.
The WiMN: Some women (continued on page 93) 69
C O NFESSI O NS OF A R ETAIL ER
KEEPING YOUR PIPELINE MOVING: Part 3 By Donovan Bankhead In Part 1 of my “Keeping Your Pipeline Moving” series of articles (January 2018, p. 80), we discussed the most important pipeline: your people. In Part 2 (August 2018, p. 42), we discussed the sales pipeline. In this article, we will talk about lessons. First, you’ve got to have teachers. We’ve found great success in finding new teachers from our existing teacher network. If you have created a quality lesson program that is fun for students and demonstrates respect and appreciation for your teachers, they should be happy to make the referral. To help the teachers feel even happier about giving a referral, we use an employee referral program. It works simply. The teacher must make a referral before we receive an application from the future teacher. If the new teacher is hired, the current teacher can earn a total of $150: $75 if the new hire is still with us after three months, and another $75 if they are still on board in six months. We are happy to pay out this bonus, and the teachers are even happier to receive it. In addition to the referral program, we also write a red-hot “Help Wanted” ad. This ad should be written in a way that entices your ideal candidates and dissuades the less desirable ones. To do this, you are going to need to spend some time thinking about your company culture, who your ideal candidate is and what type of teacher has success in your program. WhizBang has a training course that will teach you how to write this type of ad. Go to msr.io/whizbang to download it. Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to miss this. We then use this ad for the text of a Facebook (and other social media, such as Instagram) post, and we combine it with a picture of one of our teachers teaching a student. (We usually use an angle that hides the 70
To download a free WhizBang training manual on how to write a red-hot “Help Wanted” ad, go to msr.io/whizbang.
student’s face, maybe shot from behind the student, to protect the student’s privacy.) You can then boost this post on Facebook. When boosting, use the options to show the ad to people who are in your geographic area (for employees), and use the demographic sorting options to find the instrument teacher you are looking for. Boosting Facebook posts into ads is something that is easy to do, but it is beyond the scope of this article. I’d recommend Googling “Facebook boost options.” Or, feel free to email me directly for more information, using the email address at the end of this article. You should also print out copies of your red-hot “Help Wanted” ad, tape them to your front door and front counter, give them to teachers and employees, and post them to Craigslist, local University message boards, etc. Next, you want to fill the pipeline with students. Here are a few of my favorite tips. First: If you have a retail sales team, consider giving them a “spiff” for each new student they sign up. This can be as simple as a $5 spiff, paid out weekly or monthly (in cash). I like to use a tiered system where they can earn more money by booking more lessons in a period. We do ours monthly, and for the first five students, they earn $5 per student, between six and nine students they earn $10, and for 10 or more they earn $15. This system has been very effective in using our professional sales team to book new students. Second: Take some fun pictures and videos of your students and/or teachers in action, and create boosted Facebook posts promoting your lesson program. Ideally, these posts will include a link to your website where prospective students and their parents can learn more about your program and sign up for lessons directly! Make it easy to do business with you. Third: Offer a discount on the first month if a customer purchases (or rents) an instrument from your store. We offer half off the first month when they get an instrument from us, and this special promotional rate is very effective at getting new students enrolled. We do require that they pay the deposit (the promotional rate) at the time of purchase in order to secure the deal. They can schedule lessons at a later date if they are not able to commit to a date and time and the point of sale. Pro Tip: We will also contact customers who have purchased/rented from us within the last 30 days, and if they haven’t taken advantage of the offer, we give them one more opportunity to do so at the promotional rate. These tips have helped us to create a strong lesson program in all of our stores, but I’d love to read what you are doing to grow your lesson program! Share your ideas with me by emailing me at donovan@musicretailconsulting.com. JANUARY 2019
Billy Joel Harp “I think music in itself is healing. It‘s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture you‘re from, everyone loves music.“
I Exclusive Billy Joel design I I Piano Man Instructions Included I I Collector Case I
e th y a pl
! l a n i g i r O
g et the f ull e xper ie nc e at
w w w. h o h n e r.d e
N OT YOUR AV E R AGE COL UMN
Four Resolutions to Make 2019 By Tim Spicer
YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR YET! It’s that time again. Time to register at your local gym for the umpteenth time, only to stop again in February. Time to finally quit smoking and eat healthier. Time to learn that new language you’ve attempted to learn for the last two years. That’s right. It’s January, and it’s time to set your New Year’s resolutions. This year, why not break the routine of attempting to break routines and try something new that can actually stick? These four manageable steps have the potential to make 2019 your best year yet. 1. BUILD YOUR TEAM. Label 2019 as your team-building year. We know our employees are our most valuable assets, but with so much to focus on each day, it can be easy to lose sight of the importance of a healthy team. Be honest with yourself as you think through your company’s priorities. How much time, effort and resources do you spend on encouraging your staff to be healthy, happy and successful in your business? Try shifting the focus to your employees this year. Plan a staff retreat where you put an emphasis on uniting and nurturing your team as a whole. This is a great time to look at employee pay structure, benefits and work incentives. It’s also a great time to plan for your employees’ futures. Engage your employees in this planning process. Empower your team to find troublesome issues and give them the freedom to search out solutions that are a win for the company and for the staff. You may be surprised by their creativity and commitment. Try setting aside a monthly budget to take employees out for a meal and get their input on things occurring in your business. Be intentional about how you treat your personnel. This can have a direct impact on workflow, office morale and your bottom line. 2. THINK BIG. It’s easy to think small when you are in the daily trenches of work. Emails, meetings, customers and more emails can hold you back from planning. If you are anything like me, you can spend an entire week bouncing from task-at-hand to taskat-hand, tirelessly sprinting to get everything accomplished, only to realize it’s the 72
end of the week and somehow nothing got accomplished. Try taking steps to combat the mundane this year. Set aside time each day, week and month to work on big-picture projects. I suggest you use your daily time to think through the micro tasks of the day ahead. This is the only time to spend thinking small picture. Your weekly planning time can be spent laying out the steps needed to work toward your bigger monthly goals. Use the monthly planning time to think and plan macro tasks. If your business growth has slowed recently, or you simply want to continue your progress, planning the next couple of big company-wide steps can help to propel you forward. 3. ENGAGE. It’s no question that we all seek engagement. Social media has exploded from a desire to connect with those around us. Spend this year focusing on your company’s engagement. What are you doing on a large scale to reach potential new customers? What are your plans to engage with your existing customers? Try focusing on three key areas of engagement: online presence, social media and events. I challenge you to try something new in each of these three areas. Look at other websites in and out of the industry to spark new ideas for your website. If you aren’t regularly posting engaging content on multiple social media platforms, shift some attention to increasing the quantity and quality of your posts. Plan an event that brings attention to your business. This is a great opportunity to get your team involved in planning. Reallocate some of your marketing budget and plan an exciting event that gets your customers talking about your business for years to come. This can be as small as hosting a school field trip or as large as attempting a world record! 4. CHALLENGE YOURSELF. Much of our lives are spent driving to work using the same route, eating dinner at the same restaurants and approaching our businesses the same way. Routines are convenient, but they can become ruts that stifle creativity and joy. Challenge yourself to break routines. Use 2019 as a year of personal growth and expansion. What have you been dreaming of accomplishing but just haven’t been able to muster up the courage to do? Step out of your comfort zone and work toward something new. This could be the year of double-digit growth, but growth takes action. By focusing on building your team, thinking big picture, engaging with your customers and challenging yourself, you can make 2019 your best year yet. It’s time to roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty! I would love to hear your thoughts and strategies for 2019. Shoot me an email at tim@spicersmusic.com and fill me in on how this is going to be your year! JANUARY 2019
DESIGNATED
DRIVER Leading Pro Audio brands choose Celestion
ST E FRA M CA
NG
TE
I
, AGNET
O & FERR
O & FERR
EM
-R FULL
A
L&
NE
NE
IT
IA
EL F RA ME
G ITE M A
TE
HF ET N
&
RR
X COA
N EO FE
E
Innovation, performance and reliability make Celestion the drivers of choice for a growing number of big-name PA brands. So when your customers need superior quality compression drivers or professional loudspeakers, tell them about the speakers the pros use.
S M AGNE T,
celestion.com
RE TAI LING B E TTE R
LET’S GET SOCIAL By Robert Christie
Yes, I know. I do brick and mortar. But hey, it’s 2019, and the reality is that we all need to have a strong online component to what we do. For some of us, that can mean a website and perhaps dipping our toes into selling online. For all of us, it means we’d better have our social media game on point. This month, let’s look at how to dominate our current and potential customers’ feeds.
Identify Your Objectives
Before diving into the social media pool, carefully identify up to three objectives you’d like to accomplish on the platforms you will be using. Too often, businesses just start posting because they are motivated by the fear that, if they don’t get on board, they will be left behind. But like any other brand building or advertising you do, social media has to help you reach your objectives (and your audience), or you’re just wasting time. For business, social media is not just a megaphone from which you broadcast your daily activities; it is a powerful tool that will help spread your message to prospective customers while engaging and increasing sales with the ones you currently have.
74
Create a Calendar
Posting more consistently will get you more consistent results. Plan your posts well ahead of time by creating an implementation timeline to meet your objectives. Start with the big picture, perhaps a six-month plan. Then, further break down each campaign, or type of post, by the quarter, month and, finally, the week. Research the best time for your posts on each platform you use, and build that into your calendar. When planning, be sure to allocate time for creating the content, along with the timing of your posts. This way, you can create a strategy that will net you great results with less time and effort.
Build Your Authority
If you’re like me, you hesitate to call yourself an expert. After all, I learn new things every day. Still, I’ve been at this music store thing well in excess of 20 years. The team at our shop has hundreds of years of combined experience, and our business has been serving our community for more than 50 years. This is a message we should not hesitate to share. Customers place a lot of faith in what they read online. Use your social media presence to fortify the idea that your business can be trusted. Find ways to demonstrate to your audience that your staff has the experience and expertise to provide helpful solutions, advice, and a great shopping and buying experience.
Start a Conversation
Think about driving engagement by asking your audience questions and responding to them. Be mindful that conversation is a two-way communication between people. We strive to make a human connection between our team and those interacting with our social media posts. It’s very important to remember when working with platforms like Facebook, that the algorithms they use are geared to reward posts that have interaction. If your business posts something, but no one responds, then it’s likely Facebook won’t place it in many feeds. After all, these platforms are industries unto themselves. They are in the business of keeping eyes on their website or app, and they can only do that by showing posts and stories that people find interesting. Complicating this is the fact that several platforms have announced their algorithms will be evolving to favor content from friends over companies. By building posts designed to engage folks in conversation, your content may have a better chance of crossing over into personal feeds.
Show Appreciation
So, here’s some truth: Social media is not all about you. It’s a common mistake for a business’ posts to become a monologue where they tell the world about all the awards they’ve received, the great sale prices they are offering, or an explosion of product pictures and reviews. In fact, your social media is the opportunity for you to connect with the people who have helped and supported you in a meaningful way. If you think about the most important people in your business world — your customers, suppliers and staff — social media allows you to recognize and thank them. So, take the time to give recognition to their posts and tweets; like, follow, and share their messages. It’s your way of saying, “We’re in this with you.” More importantly, they will appreciate the gesture, and continue to support you and your business.
JANUARY 2019
Stand Out
The thing to remember about social media is that it’s personal. Always strive to have your posts reflect your personal brand. In this column, we often discuss embracing the “different” that makes you and your business who and what you are. In a world of social media noise, you need to stand out to be remembered. You need to convey your “different” in your content. Get above the din by embracing and sharing your “different.” You can’t fake this. Be honest in identifying the things that make you unique, then shout them out to the Twitter verse.
The Old Tools Are Still Good Tools
Advertising on social media can be lucrative, but like traditional advertising, it will require an investment in both time and money. Not every campaign will be a home run. Accept the learning curve and take the long view. Begin by identifying exactly what you want to accomplish, just as you would with more traditional advertising. Paying too much attention to metrics, such as likes, follows or impressions, is a mistake. When advertising, use tools like Facebook Lead Ads so you can track results. A traditional evaluation that measures the ad spend vs. sales or leads generated is more appropriate than counting likes when evaluating an ad campaign. I do this; so should you.
Weightless Limitless Protected and Priceless. Introducing
Create Short Attention Span Theater
The PROX ZeroG™ Series Bags Fits small to large controllers
In the social media world, three seconds is an eternity. It’s imperative that you use photos or eye-catching video in your posts. Product photos are great, but also be sure to include plenty of photos or video of your staff. Doing so personalizes your content and can mean that even first-time visitors will see a familiar, friendly face when they visit your shop. Instagram is excellent for this type of posting.
Features Reinforced Molded EVA Exterior High Density foam interior Ultra-durability and Lightweight One Year Limited Warranty
Robert Christie
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
75
I N T H E T R ENCHE S
MAP HOLIDAY OR PROFIT VACATION?
By Allen McBroom
MAP pricing. That phrase evokes so many varied emotions throughout the MI industry. Many retailers saw the introduction of MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) pricing, initially, as a gift from above. Most retailers saw it as a panacea for the ills caused by the internet’s race to the bottom, and manufacturers saw it as a way to protect the perceived value of their products and brands. And MAP did, to a great extent, provide just those protections for both sides of the MI commerce world. MAP was the new sheriff’s six-gun in the wild, wild, west of the internet MI market. Savvy manufacturers also realized that MI retailers need a 40-percent margin to stay in business, and they set their MAP numbers as close to that 40 percent as they thought they could. (Low margins at MAP definitely dull a retailer’s interest in those products, especially when a similar product with higher margins is available.) Years past the introduction of MAP pricing, MI retailers thought the MAP process had matured. Most companies had reasonable MAP policies, MAP was reasonably enforced by most manufacturers and MAP violations seemed to be taken seriously by the powers that be. Everyone knows that MAP is unilaterally determined by the manufacturers, and that, as a retailer, if you want to see a contin76
ued flow of a brand’s product, you have to abide by MAP. MAP not only protected the manufacturer, it also protected the retailer, and it helped eliminate the “costplus-10” basement sellers who were wrecking the market. Yep, MAP fixed a lot of problems, but now that MAP is almost out of adolescence, some manufacturers have introduced (inflicted) the concept of a “MAP Holiday” for their products. The usual email announcement by the manufacturers to the MI retailers says something like this: For the holiday season, now through Dec. 31, we are announcing a MAP Holiday. All products in the ABC series will be priced 25-percent off, so our best-selling ABC-1 can now be advertised at $374.99 instead of the usual $499.99. Our retail partners will
be able to buy the best-selling ABC1 during this time period for a lower-than-usual $250! This means our partners can stock up now and make even more margin after the MAP Holiday! Well, wow. That sounds great, doesn’t it? Everyone loves more margin and buying for less! The reality of that announcement’s impact, though, is frequently very different from the rosy scenario it paints. Several of those manufacturer emails arrived in mid- or late November, and they were not received with universal rejoicing in the retail world. Here’s how that “MAP Holiday” announcement affects the real world of many independent retailers. First, retailers began stocking up on products for the holidays back in September or October. We bought deep stock on items we felt comfortable we would sell at around 35-percent gross profit margin. As Black Friday approached, we felt like we were prepared, profits were there to be made, and we were stocked and
ready. Then the “MAP Holiday” email arrived. If we expect to actually sell that product before Dec. 31, we have to tag it at MAP, and MAP is now 25 percent less. Our 35-percent margin is now 10 percent, and even lower when we calculate freight costs and overhead. Sure, the MAP policy states clearly we can sell the product for any price we deem fit, but if we try to get the MAP price we had a few days ago, our customers will look at their instant-price guidebooks (i.e., cell phones) and instantly know we are $125 higher than every place online. The harsh reality is that MAP now means “Maximum Asking Price,” and when it goes down, retailers have to lower prices with it or risk being viewed as the most expensive store in the country, ending up with few or no sales on the MAP-gutted product. JANUARY 2019
The manufacturer’s offer to sell us even more product for less sounds great on the face of it, but again, the reality can be very different. If we’re sitting on 10 units of ABC-1 that we bought in October, we know our best chance to sell it is between now and Dec. 31. If we buy 10 more units at 25 percent off, we now have way more product than we wanted to have on Jan. 1. Right off the bat, that situation creates two problems for the MI retailer. First, many retailers have to pay an inventory tax on their inventory in-hand on Jan. 1. Instead of selling down their inventory in December for a better Jan. 1 tax situation, they’re now paying taxes on a whole bunch of ABC-1 they had to buy to get the lower price. Since the ABC-1 sells best during the holidays, the retailer now has maybe six months’ worth of ABC-1 stock on hand. Second, he is also now faced with having to buy even more to meet the first quarter’s re-up demand from the ABC rep. “Since you bought so many ABC-1 units last year, ABC has now raised your inventory goals by 15 percent. You’re selling so many, this will be an easy goal for you to reach.” Sound familiar? Are retailers the only ones who know that buying product wholesale doesn’t necessarily equate to selling product retail? We had this situation happen with more than one supplier in 2018. I called one supplier who pulled the “MAP Holiday” stunt in November, and asked if there was any price protection, and was told no, but they would make up the loss to me by sending me some free product that would sell for enough to make up the difference. I wasn’t excited, since I still have all of that product they sent me the last time they declared a “MAP Holiday.” (The freebies are not the products they are known for, they are overpriced compared to the market competition, and I’ll probably end up giving that stuff away in 2019 as door prizes.) I’ve been told that talking about a problem without offering a solution serves no purpose, so how do we fix “MAP Holidays” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
so they don’t end up as “Profit Vacations?” My suggestion to the manufacturers would be this: Plan your “MAP Holidays” far in advance, and tell your retail partners 90 days before the “MAP Holiday” that you’ll be gutting MAP in the near future. Give us a chance to plan our stocking orders so we
don’t end up being the ones who take the hit on the MAP reduction. Keep your partners informed of what’s coming down the pike. The more advance notice you can give us on pricing changes, the better. Most manufacturers realize that MI retailers work hard against many adversities just to keep the doors open. To our manufacturer
partners, if you’re going to change MAP, even temporarily, give us enough advance notice that we can use that change to benefit our stores. Make “MAP Holidays” a benefit to your retail partners, or scrap the whole concept of “MAP Holidays.” Your retail partners will thank you. Happy trails.
12 gorgeous delay types, from pristine 24-bit digital delay with available bit crush/sample rate reduction and low pass filtering, to our own Deluxe Memory Man, to a magnetic drum echo that pays homage to a classic Binson Echorec®. 13 presets can be saved and recalled.
More Features to Expand Horizons and Defy Convention! Our most advanced multifunction delay / looper with up to three seconds of delay time. Tails feature selects whether echoes fade naturally or stop immediately when the pedal is switched to bypass mode.
Up to 16 minutes of recording time on the fully featured looper to record all the Grand Canyon’s effects, in stereo. Loop audio remains in the pedal until you erase it, even after powering down.
Tap tempo with 9 tap divide subdivisons.
9 tempo subdivisions for each modulation section – from a whole note to a 16th.
100 storable presets.
MIDI control of parameters and presets.
External foot controller input to access presets.
Each section offers four LFO shapes: rising sawtooth, triangle, falling sawtooth and square wave. MOD section offers choice of Vibrato, Flanger, Chorus or Phaser.
Full stereo input and output. Perfect for guitarists, synthesists, and electronic musicians… MOD, TREM, PAN and FILTER sections can be used independently or simultaneously to create timesynced polyrhythmic tapestries.
Tap Tempo and Tempo Sync to an external device with MIDI Clock or an external pulse clock.
77
NAMM BOOTH 5249
www.ehx.com/fullyloaded
RE TAI LER REBEL
ESTABLISH YOUR IDENTITY By Gabriel O’Brien Going into a new year is always a good time to take stock of where you are and where you’re planning on going. Too many businesses don’t brainstorm strategy ahead of time and, instead, tend to throw things together as the year goes on. This can apply to anything from sales promotions and advertising to inventory planning, but the one area that is most often neglected is identity. Too often, small businesses — especially retail stores — don’t have an overarching message they’re trying to communicate. This message influences everything in your business, from advertising to product selection to your approach to customer service. In movie making, there’s a thing called a log line. It’s a onesentence summary of a movie or TV show meant to catch your interest. The theory is that if you can’t define what it is in a sentence, you don’t know. The idea is to force people to focus their ideas and distill them down into their simplest forms, so further decisions can be weighed against them. When deciding on a plot point, you can ask whether it agrees with the stated summary. This idea can be applied in business also, in the form of a 78
messaging strategy. Composing a brand message is a simple and effective way to start planning your strategy going forward. By deciding what this message is, you set the tone for your store. Another term for this is the elevator pitch. If you had the distance between an elevator traveling two floors to tell someone about your store, what would you say? If you have the world’s greatest customer service, everything can be measured by that yardstick. Every supplier you work with and every decision you make can be weighed by whether or not it’s conveying this underlying philosophy to your staff and subsequently your customers. Your ads in local media, your social posts and your website design can now all be judged by whether or not they convey this idea throughout. Having a core message that’s central to who you are streamlines everything that comes after it because you have a starting point. Once you’ve set that starting point, you can also weigh your existing approach against it and throw out the things that aren’t serving it well. One of the difficult aspects of being an independent music store is that, historically, it’s required an “everything to
everyone” approach to music. It’s extremely difficult to be good at one thing and almost impossible to be good at three. So, if you’re running a large band and orchestra rental program, a large lessons program and a large combo business, one of those things is likely suffering at any given time. Sometimes overseeing that many revenue streams and customer service points becomes like one of those white-noise images I used to see growing up with the hidden images in them. I could never find the hidden image, and it’s not hard for me to imagine the number of things most storeowners and managers have coming at them starting to appear as white noise after a while. Discerning what’s important and what needs to be tended to can be difficult. Having a fixed idea to measure it against is a good way to start. Let’s say your lessons program is struggling. Student retention is down, and you’re seeing a dip in sales because of less students walking through the door each week. You’ve decided to revitalize your lessons program and to advertise it on social media and with local print and radio ads. You can plan those ads around your core idea: You have the world’s greatest customer service. You JANUARY 2019
build your lesson program and your approach to sign-ups, payments, communication and teaching around trying to provide the best customer service ever to everyone who takes lessons there. You educate your staff on best practices for everything from fielding phone calls to sign-ups to selling instruments, books and accessories, with the key guideline that providing the best customer service ever is the one thing they should always approach the situation with. Now that you’ve rebuilt your lessons program, you have to launch it and advertise it to your existing and potential customers. You opt to create a series of tongue-in-cheek social media videos highlighting situations where bad customer service would typically happen, with increasing likelihood. Using an actor or friend to stand in as your “customer,” you show these situations and highlight your staff going out of their way to make sure that experience is an exemplary one. You work with a graphic designer to create a series of graphic images detailing how easy it is to sign up for lessons. You highlight your new website chat function, which allows parents to message to your educational director with a lesson cancellation or question any time, assuring them a reply in a timely fashion. All these things highlight your commitment to customer service. Let’s say your counter is difficult to navigate and you’ve noticed it’s a problem spot. Looking at it solely from a perspective of trying to provide the best customer service ever to the people on the other side of the counter gives you a point by which to analyze whether or not keeping it is effective. You may need to go to an iPad-based system like the Apple store, move the counter or build a new one in its stead. No matter what, you’re looking at it from the perspective of trying to reach customers with your core message. Your MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
decisions are based on making the customer experience the easiest and friendliest one it can be, above all other things. The design, layout, checkout experience, payment options and how you staff the counter are now all
subject to that philosophy. Having a clear and concise core message at the heart of your company is the North Star by which you navigate your decisions. It’s something we don’t think about enough and
don’t utilize enough, even when it has been stated in the form of a slogan. What’s your core message? How does it define who you are? Feel free to write to me at gabriel@upperhandstudios.com.
Ready To Go Light Shows
Create professional light shows in just minutes. No programming, easy setup, for any event!
From small bars to large stages, LightTheme™ is designed to create impressive lighting atmospheres effortlessly. It’s the first lighting system that runs smoothly alongside other lighting set-ups, straight out of the box, with no DMX knowledge required. #GetsYouPlaying
See us at NAMM Booth 7810 Contact: 866-871-5800 Toll Free Phone usa@emdmusic.com
© 2019 EMD Music
79
SHINE A LIGHT
STILL STRONG AT 60-PLUS YEARS By Michelle Loeb
Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center 11151 Veirs Mill Road Wheaton, MD 20902 301.946.8808 www.chucklevins.com Mon., Wed. and Fri. 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Tues., Thurs. and Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Randy White, Senior Buyer — Pro Audio, Lighting, DJ
Having celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018, Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center has put down deep roots in the Washington, D.C. metropolitanarea music community. The business, which began as a small mom-and-pop shop, has survived through changes in market, competition and consumer tastes; times of prosperity and a downturn in the economy; and even times of social unrest, including the Washington, D.C. riots that destroyed the store’s original location following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Today, the store occupies four warehouses and two showroom buildings with a dedicated events space and four onsite repair shops, making it the largest single-location musical instrument store in the Washington, D.C. market and one of largest in the United States. In one building, customers will find sales departments dedicated to Accessories, Band & Orchestral, Drums & Percussion, Guitars and Keyboards, while the other houses the store’s famed Pro Sound, DJ and Lighting department, which includes one of the first PA demo rooms on the East Coast. “On the floor, you can find a $30,000 to $40,000 console that you can actually put your hands on, and we have a selection of powered speakers that is second to none,” said Randy White, who has served as senior buyer since 1999. “We have an elaborate PA department that is unlike what you’ll find in any other MI store.” White has seen the DJ, lighting and pro audio industries evolve at a rapid pace over the years. He has been a DJ for more than 30 years, giving him 80
JANUARY 2019
fied, they will go to Best Buy and buy a laptop, and then that won’t work, and they can get stuck with having to return it,” said White, who estimates this issue affects approximately 10 percent of his clientele. “There is no way to get around that. We don’t want to be in the middle of that. The best
experience in both mobile and nightclub, as well as private events. He first began DJing on tapes while he was in junior high school and watched as the industry transitioned from vinyl to CDs to digital technology. These changes have made it all the more important for White to make sure that his six-person sales staff is trained and kept up to date on everything their customers might need. Having his staff trained in all of the latest technology has become increasingly important as the older generation is less computer savvy and therefore not as quick to adapt to market changes. “You walk a weird line with that older generation who is afraid to go to the computer side of things and the ones who do have continuous problems because it’s not in their wheelhouse,” said White. “They can get frustrated and quit, so a certain amount of customer service is required.” While Washington Music Center dabbled in the selling of MacBooks at one point, the store is not currently in the computer business, which adds another wrinkle for those who are trying to bring together purchases from a variety of locations into one workable setup. “If the customer isn’t qualiMUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
thing is to talk to the customer about their computer before selling them a controller, or help guide them on what to buy. If the salesperson knows enough, they can ask questions and make recommendations. “I find that those who are serious will take the time to put in the
work,” White continued. “Otherwise, you risk spending a lot of money and making a mistake.” White’s department isn’t the only one that has had to change with the times. Washington Music Center as a whole has brought in a dedicated person to help (continued on page 92)
Odyssey Innovative Designs is the worldwide leader in professional mobile accessory solutions for the DJ, musical instruments, and pro audio markets. Founded in 1995, Odyssey designs, manufactures and distributes hundreds of unique and patented products from professional equipment flight cases, to bags, stands and event accessories. Odyssey has established a worldwide reputation for innovation, quality and design becoming the most respected brand in the DJ community, offering the highest quality product in the industry. Experience the world’s best selling DJ accessory brand for yourself, from cases and bags to stands and accessories, and we’ll lead the industry together. Odyssey Innovative Designs 809 W. Santa Anita St, San Gabriel, CA 91776 1-877-5-ODYSSEY sales@odysseygear.com www.OdysseyGear.com
LEADING THROUGH INNOVATION
V E D D AT O R I A L
BENEFITS OF BRICK AND MORTAR
By Dan Vedda
I’ll confess that I was more than a little miffed with local media this holiday season. Throughout the pre-Black Friday, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Cyber Week (Really? That’s a thing too?) reporting, I heard one puff piece after another on the joys, ease and moneysaving benefits of buying online. From overblown dealmonger features to happy talk comments after a remote report (“Boy, I’m glad I wasn’t out in that! I bought everything online!”), it’s obvious a lot of newsreaders have kissed brick and mortar goodbye. Then I read an article in Wired about the future of retailing. (Spoiler alert: even brick and mortar will be algorithm driven, they say.) Now, I really like the magazine, but the rah-rah chamber of commerce boosterism for an artificial-intelligence-centric shopping experience sort of set me off. Put the brakes on, kids. Let’s talk about retail in general and our industr y specifically. First, the gorilla in the browser, Amazon. This fall and through the holidays, I witnessed cracks in the supposedly impenetrable fortress. I had customers come to me frustrated that they had ordered something from Bez-mart and suddenly received an email saying their band book, for example, was out of stock. Others sought me out because they were confused when searching for an item they weren’t familiar with and wanted 82
to be sure they got the right thing. A third stream felt that supporting a local business was important to them, additionally fueled this year by other stores closing in our market. All those issues are percolating. I’ve talked recently about the studies that
convenience and price — although enough people are getting scammed by fraud and counterfeits that at last some are getting leery about “too good to be true” pricing. Also, convenience only exists when the transaction is glitch-free: no backorders, unexpected delays, item
ping. It might seem a big risk for convenient toilet paper deliver y. So, it’s unlikely that purely online sales will replace physical shopping. Want evidence? Amazon itself is considering a launch of as many as 3,000 “cashierless” stores across America, according to the Wall Street
find that the vast majority of consumers still want to shop in a store — if their shopping experience is good. Online shopping also demands a higher level of personal organization. Given the pace of life today and the harried, procrastinating approach that many of us adopt, bird in hand often wins over two-day shipping. I see a steady stream of parents who were told at 7 p.m. that they need a recorder or reeds for school tomorrow, or who buy piano books on the way to the lesson. The number of diving catches I witness is incredible. Sure, if you’re super organized, know exactly what you want and are willing to take the time to research price, online works great. I just question how many people are able to do that with ever ything they buy. Much of the online experience is driven by
substitutions, shipping damage, porch theft or other stumbling blocks. Then there’s the specter of identity theft. Amazon’s recent announcement of a ”small” data breach in November sent a chill through its numbers. What a lot of people don’t realize is that a tremendous number of transactions are supported by AWS: Amazon Web Ser vices. That’s its real profit center, but it’s also a giant hack bullseye, since they do background work for over a million businesses by their own account, including Netflix, Capital One, TicketMaster, Unilever and a host of other sites you probably use. Imagine what could be exposed, or simply thrown into chaos, with a successful hack. People are skittish. A big event could change the public’s perception of the advisability of online shop-
Journal. So much for the death of brick and mortar. Transformative? Absolutely. But still recognizably shopping in a store. But what about our industry? We’ll certainly see some of the transformation that will sweep through the physical store concept, but in my opinion, the music products industry has a layer of insulation. As I’ve pointed out regularly during the years, a large number of our customers come to us not knowing how to use the products we sell. These aren’t clothes, books, dietary staples (or toilet paper). There’s a steady, longterm need for instruction, repair, advice and specialized consumables (think reed brand and strength or guitar string formula and gauge), even after an instrument goes home. The very nature of our stores makes them a “one-stop convenience
shop” for all these services, and having a human you trust to sort through the jungle of choices is a time saver and a comfort. Another aspect that can insulate us — if we embrace it — is the highly emotional relationship most people have with music. No one feels emotionally connected to their toilet paper (with the exception of the Charmin bears). People make music for deep reasons and have a drive to connect with others over music. MIT neuroscience studies have suggested that the music receptors in our brains develop earlier than our speech centers. Making your store a place to share and experience music is a powerful draw. Whoa, hanging out at the music store wanking on guitars is actually a thing. With a little thought, you can come up with many ways to enhance the “musicality,” so to speak, of your store. Don’t assume shoppers want to stay at home instead of shopping. Instead, make your store a place that people — that you — would get off the couch to visit. We’ve all known that this is important. It always has been. But now it’s time to treat it as lifeor-death important. Because it is. If you have a comment, feel free to share it on facebook.com/veddatorial, and as always, post an inquiry if there’s another topic you’d like to see covered here. (Please post to the page rather than PM, so others can see the dialogue.) JANUARY 2019
V I VO
S9
A Renaissance of tone, touch, and technology.
Come See Us at NAMM Show Booth 9902 for a Demo The VIVO S9 is the most enlightened stage piano ever created. Featuring Dexibell’s patented T2L (True to Life) sound engine with robust and expandable onboard sound library. A newly developed, precisely calibrated hammer action keyboard with hybrid wood and ivory-feel keys with after-touch, hands-free assignable motorized draw-faders, and a beautifully designed interface with elegant backlit controls. Step out of the Dark Ages.
BECOME A DEALER TODAY (888) 588-4099 | antonio.ferranti@dexibell.com | dexibell.com 4
DECEMBER 2018
U N DER T H E HOOD
AUDINATE’S DANTE AVIO SERIES By Brian Berk
If you’ve attended any NAMM Show, there’s a good possibility you’ve heard the word “Dante” mentioned somewhere on the show floor. It’s likely to be mentioned at The NAMM Show this month as well. Dante is an innovative technology that allows the transmission of up to 512 channels of uncompressed, high-quality audio over a single Ethernet cable. What makes it groundbreaking is that customers can dramatically reduce the cabling required for their audio gear, while at the same time have tremendous flexibility on where to route the audio since connections are done in software rather than “point-to-point” cabling. At the forefront of Dante is Audinate, which introduced Dante AVIO, a family of cost-effective endpoint adapters that enable audio professionals to easily connect legacy analog and digital audio equipment to Dante networks. The Dante AVIO series features six new adapters, including line-in and line-out analog adapters, a bi-directional AES3/EBU adapter and a bi-directional stereo USB adapter. Each Dante AVIO adapter acts as a completely independent Dante network device, allowing legacy gear to enjoy the benefits of networked audio. These devices can now seamlessly transmit high-quality, uncompressed audio streams over long distances without the noise and ground issues common to analog connections. “The idea behind AVIO was to bring the benefits of Dante networking to the plethora of legacy analog and digital devices in the audio world,” Joshua Rush, senior vice president of marketing and product development for Audinate, told the Music & Sound Retailer. “While it would be great to have customers upgrade their gear just to get Dante functionality, we know that oftentimes that doesn’t happen, at least not right away, and customers needed a bridge in the meantime. The family of AVIO adapters came from looking at the particular types of products that customers were wanting to network, and the types of connectors that were necessary to bring those signals on and off of a Dante network. “The initial family of adapters consists of 1-channel and 2-channel XLR line-level input adapters that could be used to network a wireless microphone base station, DI box or a 2-channel feed from a mixing console,” he continued. “There are also 1- and 2-channel XLR output adapters that allow end points, such as powered loudspeakers and amps to 84
'AVIO brings Dante networking to analog and digital devices in the audio world.' —Joshua Rush also be networked. The portfolio of adapters also includes a bi-directional USB adapter, to easily network computerbased audio, and a bi-directional AES3 adapter for connecting legacy AES3 products.” There are two main pain points that AVIO solves for customers, added Rush. “The first is for those already using Dante networking,” he said. “These adapters provide an easy way for these customers to add more equipment and instruments onto their Dante network, which makes their whole audio setup more powerful and flexible than it was before. The other group consists of customers who haven’t used networking before. Most legacy analog and digital cabling has serious limitations. USB, for example, is not a viable option when you have to run cables longer than 10 feet, or analog XLR cables which can suffer from noise, hum and signal degradation over longer distances. Dante AVIO provides an easy and costeffective way to bring the benefits of audio networking to these audio projects.” Thus far, feedback on the AVIO has been overwhelmingly positive, Rush confirmed. “Probably the single biggest thing that our dealers like is the price. With the adapters starting at $129, they are by far the most cost-effective way to add the benefits of networking to audio products.” Positive feedback certainly makes sense, as Audinate had a customer-centric process when it came to designing the AVIO series, as well as when manufacturing all other products. “Whether we are looking at new features for the core Dante technology or brand-new products, we want to make sure we are truly solving real-world problems and making our customers’ jobs and lives easier. Sometimes, new ideas are a direct result of feedback from customers, and other times ideas come from spending time with customers to understand their pain points, so we can envision solutions that may not have been obvious to them. Either way, the ideas are put through a rigorous product management process that defines the solution and validates the business opportunity. Then we develop, test and launch the product. Customers are involved every step of the way.” Looking ahead, Rush said Audinate is “always incorporating customer feedback in the product development process, and we have certainly heard a lot of ideas for additional adapter types. (continued on page 92) JANUARY 2019
NAMM’s only authorized news broadcast. Brought to you by the Music & Sound Retailer. The NAMM Show just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it’s impossible to see everything on your own. Let ConventionTV@NAMM save you some legwork! • Exclusive interviews with industry leaders and NAMM executives • In-depth coverage of the latest product releases by our team of professional reporters • Breaking news sourced directly from major manufacturers • Watch on TV in your hotel room, on monitors throughout the show floor or online any time on demand!
You can also follow our ongoing NAMM Show coverage on all our social media platforms.
/MSRETAILER And keep up with the latest MI industry news with The Retailer Report monthly newsletter. Sign up at msretailer.com/the-retailer-report.
THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC PRODUC TS RETAILERS
For information about advertising on ConventionTV@NAMM, contact Greg Sutton at gsutton@testa.com. For information about advertising in the Retailer Report, contact Rob Iraggi at riraggi@testa.com or 516.767.2500 ext. 519.
U N DER T H E HOOD
CELESTION’S F12-X200 GUITAR SPEAKER By Amanda Mullen
It’s The NAMM Show time, and one company that always has a significant presence at the show is Celestion. Founded in 1924, Ipswich, UK-based Celestion has been influencing guitar tone with its speakers and amp builders since the early days of rock and roll. Given the amount of time Celestion has spent creating products in this market, the company has gained an understanding of what factors contribute to great tone — taking everything from material types to adhesives to manufacturing processes into account when designing its latest products. According to John Paice, marketing/artist relations at Celestion, this knowledge and understanding allows the company to design speakers with new features that stand out in the industry. “That means we’re not afraid to go back to the beginning, to look again at each element and how they work together to build a guitar speaker from the ground up, something that’s genuinely new, unique and groundbreaking,” Paice said. “We believe we’re the only company that invests in this in-depth level of research and development effort for the production of new guitar speakers, and that’s what sets us apart from our competition.” The company’s research and development efforts have gone into the production of many new products, including Celestion’s recently released F12-X200 Full Range Live Response guitar speaker. The F12-X200 is intended to stand apart from other full-range, flat-response (FRFR) guitar speakers due to its live response, though it maintains many of the benefits of your average FRFR speakers. “For guitar players who are working in the digital domain using modeling and profiling amps to generate their tone, it’s becoming increasingly 86
common to see the use of a ‘full-range, flat-response loudspeaker,’” said Paice. “This is often simply a monitor loudspeaker or a purpose-built cab with a PA speaker (often coaxial) inside. The benefit of the FRFR speaker is that it has a neutral, linear response, so you can dial the tone you want into the profiling amp, confident in the knowledge that you will hear the same thing coming out of the speaker.” The F12-X200 guitar speaker delivers a frequency response anywhere from 60Hz to 20kHz, making it capable of accurately reproducing the complex soundscape of the emulated tone: amp and cab, microphone and room acoustic, and whatever else the user wishes to add. The higher-frequency part of the signal is reproduced using a Celestion HF compression driver, which has been integrated using a crossover circuit. This enables the user to reproduce the entire spectrum of audible frequencies when operating the F12-X200, regardless of what environment or setup the user is emulating. Though the F12-X200 falls into the FRFR category, it has a lighter moving mass and straighter-sided cone, both features that are similar to those of more traditional guitar speakers. These features give the F12-X200 the feel and tactile response of a more conventional speaker, delivering feedback users would normally receive from a conventional guitar rig. Added to the FRFR features, which allow the F12-X200 to produce musical-sounding distortion through thinner cones and sympathetic materials, this enables the F12-X200 to deliver a full-range live response, as opposed to just delivering a full-range flat response. “This speaker is for those players who aren’t fully satisfied with an FRFR speaker, perhaps finding them sterile and lifeless,” Paice continued. “The F12-X200 is designed to feel like playing through a traditional guitar speaker, but as a true full-range speaker, will reproduce accurately and in fine detail every aspect of the tone being modeled by the ampmodeling equipment.” And users can take advantage of the F12-X200’s similarities to more traditional guitar speakers, as they can treat it like a conventional speaker when necessary. “Simply use it when swapping out the speaker from an existing cab, and you have an instant, full-range cabinet, ready to go,” said Paice, who added that the F12-X200 can be used in a backline cab or a wedge monitor, on stage or in the studio. “What makes the F12-X200 cool is that it’s the first of its kind to offer the tactile feel and response of a guitar speaker combined with the full-range capability of a conventional FRFR-type PA speaker,” Paice concluded. “What’s also cool is that you can treat it like a guitar speaker. Simply swap out the existing guitar speaker in a 1x12 cab with an X200, and you have instant, full-range cab. The built-in crossover means there’s no tricky calculations, wiring or soldering to do.” Celestion will prominently display the F12-X200 at its NAMM Show booth this month. Though there are currently no official plans to extend the F12-X200 product series or line, Paice believes that the company could decide to do so depending on customer demand. “Further options could include a version with a 15-inch chassis,” he said. “Or maybe a neodymium magnet for lighter weight.” The MSRP for the current F12-X200 model is $169, and it is currently available for purchase. JANUARY 2019
THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC PRODUC TS RETAILERS
the Music & Sound Retailer You can read our magazine online as soon as it comes out. All it takes is three easy steps:
Read us on issuu
01
JOIN US Becoming a member is completely FREE, and it will grant you access to tons of cool publications—including ours!
02
FIND US After you’ve joined ISSUU, search “the Music & Sound Retailer” or head to www.issuu.com/msretailer.
03
FOLLOW US
Once you’ve found the Retailer on ISSUU, make sure to hit the “Follow”
button so you’ll be kept in the loop about all of our latest updates!
/MSRETAILER
The
Retailer's Mall
For advertising rates and deadlines...
Call Rob Iraggi 516-767-2500 x519 or email at riraggi@testa.com
FOR SALE
Retail Music Business in the NorthWest • Complete Retail Store • Music instruction Academy 250 + students, 10 room, 18 instructor • Full authorized repair service • Instrument rental • 20 + years in business Contact @ 253-677-2306 For complete information packet including price and terms
Your trusted source for fretted instruments Buy • Sell • Trade • Consign appraisals@elderly.com
(888) 473-5810 www.elderly.com
2–Speed Analog Tremolo/Vibe
Booth 2939 TM
NAMM SPECIAL - Just $10.00
See those Churches and Schools you drive past everyday?
The Easy Sell.
Chances are they DON’T have a secureable, easy-to-use, and beautiful HSA Rolltop Desk A/V Workstation. So it’s YOUR chance for an easy sale by helping them organize and secure their Audio, Video & Lighting Control systems. Make your next sale the easy way - call or email HSA today for dealer info and design ideas!
www.hsarolltops.com 574-255-6100
88
The Rolltop People
tm
The
Retailer's Mall
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
For advertising rates and deadlines...
Call Rob Iraggi 516-767-2500 x519 or email at riraggi@testa.com
89
Ad Index
Company
PRODUCT BUZZ
Pg
ADAM HALL...............................39 AUDIX CORPORATION.............19 AUDIX CORPORATION.............21 ALFRED PUBLISHING..............31 AMAHI UKULELES...................45 BOURNS PRO AUDIO................93 C.F. MARTIN & CO.....................23 CASIO...........................................67 CELESTION.................................73 CHAUVET LIGHTING................5 D'ADDARIO.................................37 D'ANGELICO GUITARS........C-III DAKOTA SAXOPHONES...........46 DEXIBELL...................................83 EMD MUSIC................................79 FARIDA GUITAR & UKULELE.....92 FENDER.......................................7 FENDER.......................................61 FISHMAN TRANSDUCERS.......33 FLOYD ROSE..............................36 G7TH, THE CAPO COMPANY.....41 GALAXY AUDIO........................3 GODIN GUITARS........................17 GRAPH TECH..............................34 GROOVETECH TOOLS..............55 HAL LEONARD..........................25 IK MULTIMEDIA........................35 JOHN PACKER............................44 KALA BRAND MUSIC CO........43 KHS AMERICA...........................71 KIRLIN INDUSTRIES.................40 KYSER MUSICAL PRODUCTS...38 LAVA CABLES............................53 MANHASSET SPECIALTY COMPANY................................6 NAMM..................................... 14-15 NEW SENSOR.............................77 ODYSSEY INNOVATIVE DESIGNS...................................81 OMG MUSIC................................57 OWC.............................................51 PRO X...........................................75 QRS MUSIC TECHNOLOGIES....20 QSC AUDIO.................................29 RAIN RETAIL SOFTWARE........10 RAPCO/HORIZON COMPANY....47 RAT...............................................50 RCF...............................................9 SABIAN........................................27 STRING SWING..........................42 SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL.......11 TRUSST........................................49 U.S. BAND & ORCHESTRA SUPPLIES.................................30 VOCOPRO....................................13 WD MUSIC PRODUCTS............8 YAMAHA................................... C-II YORKVILLE.............................. C-IV While every care is taken to ensure that these listings are accurate and complete, The Music & Sound Retailer does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors.
90
(continued from page 22)
Beware of the Gator
Gator Frameworks debuted the GFW-MICMULTIMOUNT. With multiple threaded ends, this system allows an end user to add up to four accessories, such as microphone booms, shelves, accessory trays, mic clips, goosenecks and more. The mount is designed to clamp on to the stand tube and features four 5/8-27 male mic thread adapters. Made from machined aluminum with a black anodized finish, this multi-mount is ready to securely attach to any tubing with a diameter ranging from 15mm to 22mm. The mount allows musicians to set up a wide variety of accessories and equipment without taking up lots of floor space, stated the company. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Gator Frameworks, gatorframeworks.com
Ditch the Switch
Morley released the Mini Classic Switchless Wah. Based off the Morley Classic Wah, this new version has the same Wah tone, but now has a smaller footprint, switchless activation, and will be available at an entry-level price, stated the company. Measuring in at 6.85 inches x 4.5 inches x 2.75 inches (L x W x H) it’s best for pedalboards, gig bags and crowded stages. It is Electro-Optical, so there is no potentiometer to wear out and get scratchy. The switchless design means that an end user simply steps on it to activate and steps off to go to bypass. It uses a custom MQ2 Inductor and True Tone buffer circuit to prevent signal loading or tone suck. It has a bright-red LED to show when it is on or off. It also has a “Quick Clip” battery door and uses standard 9V power. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Morley, morleypedals.com
Light It Up
EMD Music unveiled the Light Theme System. From small bars to large stages, light theme is designed to create impressive lighting atmospheres effortlessly. It runs smoothly alongside other lighting setups, straight out of the box. No DMX knowledge or programming is required, stated the company.
MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: EMD Music, emdmusic.com JANUARY 2019
Proof Is in the Patent
Floyd Rose Audio introduced FR-80BK 3D Bluetooth Foldable Headphones. Each headphone cup has two drivers (one for bass/mids and the other for highs) with dual sound coils and a frequency divider board, a new technology that enhances the human ear and gives the listener 3D stereo sound with broader range and perfect highs, mids and lows, stated the company. Other features include two durable cables, thre foot charging cable, lightweight design, metal and ABS plastic construction, stylish finish, soft-forming earpads and zippered carrying bag. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Floyd Rose, floydroseaudio.com
Marching to a Different Beat
SABIAN launched the AAX line. Adding new Concert Band and Marching Band models, AAX now offers perfect highs, a touch more dark, more complexity in tone and a whole new look, stated the company. Both the Medium-Weight Concert Band and Medium-Heavy Marching Band models speak quickly and provide shimmering sustain, increased articulation and warm spread. Additional hammering with a larger, rounder peen than was traditionally used for AAX also provides a wider range of tone, from dark to bright and increased complexity. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Sabian, sabian.com/AAX
Half of My Heart Is in Havana
Godin Guitars released the Summit Classic A/E Havana Burst. The new guitar kicks off Godin’s latest evolution of modern playability and style for what is to be expected from the company’s 2019 electrics. The Summit A/E provides tonal versatility thanks to a pair of Seymour Duncan humbucker pickups and an L.R. Baggs T-BRIDGE, which enables the chambered guitar to provide acoustic tones at the switch of a button. It is offered in a new Havana Burst High-Gloss finish and adorned with a single F-hole. Other features include a chambered mahogany body, swamp ash top, mahogany neck, Richlite fingerboard and a long 25.5-inch scale length. Street Price: $2,625 Ship Date: Contact Company Contact: godinguitars.com
Vintage style meets modern construction
See us at NAMM: Booth 1306 Hall E
Available now in the USA and Canada Learn more at faridausa.com or call (517) 372-7888
MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
91
GUITAR CENTER’S GRAND RENAISSANCE
(continued from page 51) online,” D’Addario said. “We’ve turned the store into the mecca it needed to be for the industry. For the [Guitar Center] chain, [it] was paramount.” As for the music memorabilia, Guitar Center wanted to pay homage to the many celebrities who have walked through the Hollywood location, as well as Guitar Center stores as a whole. “Slash bought his first guitar in that Guitar Center store,” said D’Addario. The outside of the store features a mural of all-time great Jimi Hendrix, as well as an unknown artist finding her sound. “Why Jimi Hendrix?” asked D’Addario. “It’s not only our love for him as a guitar player. Also, a studio he rehearsed in literally sat on the site of the Guitar Center Hollywood store. And his sister, Janie, is part of Guitar Center Foundation board. We wanted to honor that relationship by putting him on the outside of the building.”
Ripple Effect
Importantly, for the industry, a healthy Guitar Center could mean a healthier MI industry as a whole. Right now, Japinga said when he looks beyond his company, he is optimistic about the
MI industry in general. “I think the industry has done a good job responding to all the challenges it has had,” he responded. “The opportunity is to continue to be innovative and produce new and exciting products for the consumer. I think that was something that wasn’t going well back when the industry was struggling. We’ve seen some improvement there in the past couple of years. We need to see that continue for the industry to continue to grow and be healthy.” Another positive for the industry is a “return to instruments that produce electronic music,” said D’Addario, citing Anderson Paak as a great example of this trend. “I think this bodes well for the industry,” she said. MI is also becoming more diverse, D’Addario concluded. “We saw a study that more women are playing guitars. We are seeing that, too. Our data shows that more women and younger women are picking up guitars and other instruments. We are also seeing opportunities for growth within Latino consumers who are interested in playing music. The more diverse the populace is, the more people playing music. [It] bodes well for the industry overall.”
SHINE A LIGHT: CHUCK LEVIN'S WASHINGTON MUSIC CENTER
(continued from page 81) cultivate and maintain the store’s digital presence, particularly as it relates to social media and video. “With the younger generations, everything is based around the phone and getting the answers you want now. We’ve always been about word of mouth, letting our work and style speak for itself, but word of mouth has changed. It’s happening on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and we need to be there, which is fairly new for us,” White said. The store has also invested more into its ecommerce website, which White feels is not only serving the purpose of allowing customers to find Washington Music Center online, but also fueling a return to brickand-mortar retail. “You can’t really know what a cymbal sounds like from a video. Video gives the customer the ability to get the idea, and then they can decide to either buy 92
online or come in to hear it for themselves,” said White. “The people who are interested in trying something they liked in a video will call to inquire. “We are dealing with a different generation who didn’t grow up going to the music store on a Saturday as a family,” he continued, “but they are learning to buy locally in order to get the support they need.” Despite the fact that the musical products industry is changing more rapidly than ever, White feels confident that Washington Music Center will continue to thrive thanks to its diverse product offerings, as well as the unmatched customer service the store is able to provide to generations of customers. “Our business is successful because of the core of people working for us. Our longestserving employees have been here somewhere around 35
years, and that sends a message to our customers — we’ve been here for 60 years, we’ve seen it all and we aren’t going anywhere,” he said. “The key is to have great
people working for you, who you trust and who have a knowledge and a hunger for the business, not people who see this as just another job.”
UNDER THE HOOD: AUDINATE
(continued from page 84) While we don’t have any more in development right now, we will continue to evaluate these new ideas and their viability in the market.” As for today, Audinate is supporting the sales of AVIO with a comprehensive marketing campaign that includes digital advertising, social media advertising, public relations and reviews. “We have also been working with select dealers on account-specific marketing activities. We will have
the complete family of adapters on display in our booth at NAMM (Booth 18505).” Audinate offers AVIO in six models: 1-Channel Analog XLR Input: MSRP $129; 2-Channel Analog XLR Input: MSRP $169; 1-Channel Analog XLR Output: MSRP $129; 2-Channel Analog XLR Output: MSRP $169; 2-Channel Bi-Directional AES3: MSRP $169; and the 2-Channel Bi-Directional USB: MSRP $129.
THE MUSIC & SOUND INDEPENDENT RETAILER
(continued from page 60) In keeping with Reverb’s track record of streamlining the workload of short-staffed independent shops, embedded listings and Reverb Sites are notably quick to compose and free to implement. Regardless of whether a listing sells through Reverb.com or a shop’s site, the order is processed through the seller’s Reverb dashboard, enjoying discounted shipping rates, Reverb Protection and industry-low selling fees — not to mention creating a handy composite record of a shop’s combined Reverb and website sales in one place. While embedded listings and customizable shop websites aren’t wholly new concepts in the world of MI sales, our industry
has certainly never seen webdesign tools as immediately effective, usable and, to be frank, beautiful as those currently offered by Reverb. With icons and innovators like Rock N Roll Vintage and Fanny’s House of Music now powering their website sales through Reverb’s toolkit, it’s difficult to imagine a clearer path for other independent shops to easily boost their professionalism, their searchability and, most importantly, their bottom line. Opinions expressed here are that of the author and not necessarily the Music & Sound Retailer. Evan Holmes is ecommerce manager for Music Makers in Galesburg, Ill. Get in touch at evan@musicmakersweb.com.
FIVE MINUTES WITH: TOM SUMNER
(continued from page 63) The Retailer: Beyond The NAMM Show, tell us about goals you wish to accomplish in 2019. Sumner: We are focusing the whole YCA team on the customer. We’ve always tried to provide the best service to our dealers, and that won’t stop. But we need to do a better job of “making people love music more” and “creating new music makers,” which are YCA’s two main BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). We, as an industry, are only catering to about 5 to 6 percent of the U.S. population. Almost everyone enjoys music, and most would love to play. Our job is to get more people happily involved in making music on a regular basis. If we can connect more strongly with
the customer, we should be able to provide more customers for all of us in the MI business. We’ve been on this path for several years, but you can see we have been building step-by-step. Several of the big steps were rebuilding our usa.yamaha.com website, building a blog and most recently hiring a vice president of marketing, Matt Searfus, who joined us from Nike.
The Retailer: Anything else you want to add? Sumner: I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at The NAMM Show this year. It will be, as always, a great time to connect and to strengthen our relationships in this wonderful industry. JANUARY 2019
FRONT AND CENTER: MIRIAM RISKO
(continued from page 69) have had an intimidating or discriminator y experience inside a music store. How does your store create an inviting environment for girls and female musicians? Risko: We don’t want anyone to feel intimidated by music, learning an instrument or being part of a musical group. As a female business owner and a mom, I’m very cognizant of how to make the experience comfortable so that females of all ages can come into the store and envision themselves as future musicians.
Learning as much as I can about instruments and gear is important to me, so that I can speak with authority and lend my advice to aspiring female musicians. I take my role seriously as someone who can set an example for young females, and it gives me joy to share my experiences as a singer in a band, and as the only female for many years in the bands I played in. I hope to inspire a younger generation to embrace their love for music, realize they can accomplish anything in the music world, and be part of a growing and changing industry.
I’m excited that my 12-year-old daughter is a drummer, and I enjoy watching her pursue music. Over the years, I’ve met so many amazing women through NAMM who own music stores (like Cindy Cook of Candyman Strings and Things, Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations and the owners of San Diego Music Studio), and I think they’re rock stars in our industry and an inspiration to me and other female music school and store owners.
The WiMN: In closing, what advice would you of fer younger musicians who are starting out? Risko: Learn and practice as much as you can. Listen to lots of music and go see live music whenever you can. Allow yourself to be inspired by other artists and people in the industry and follow your dreams. Everyone has it in them to become the musician they want to be. Follow your heart, keep practicing and strive to be the best! If you work hard, you can achieve anything.
business (label/management side) — a few that have enough stories to give “Behind the Music” a run for its money. They lived inside this industry I was viewing while growing up via MTV, radio, etc., and their experiences are full of lessons.
County. Working in Hollywood, it’s great to be in the action of the city ever y day, but it’s great to have a home base a little outside the action. We have mountains, are close to the beach and it’s a little more laid back. It’s a great place for the family and to recharge.
THE FINAL NOTE: JUSTIN NORVELL
(continued from page 94) Nor vell: Chris Whitley. One of the best singer-songwriters and a great performer. He passed away in 2005. I only got to see him once, and he was mesmerizing. So powerful, just him and a guitar.
TheRetailer: What musician are you hoping to see play in the near future? Nor vell: I just saw Nine Inch Nails two days ago here in Los Angeles. And I have a gig tonight with my CEO (Andy Mooney)! I just love seeing live music. Here in L.A., there are literally dozens of things to see every night. The Retailer: What song was most memorable for you throughout your childhood, and what do you remember about it the most? Nor vell: I remember albums over specific songs. My parents had a great record collection and there was a lot of music. I remember Steely Dan, Neil Young and Led Zeppelin most impactfully. The Retailer: What songs are on your smartphone/ iPod, etc. right now? Nor vell: About 5,000 songs. Favorite recent albums are “Call the Comet” by Johnny Marr, “Beside Myself” by Basement and “Look” by Blake Mills. The Retailer: What’s the most fun thing you saw/did at a NAMM Show? Norvell: One of the great things about NAMM is that anything can happen! I’ve made lifelong friends, seen great artists and products, and had great experiences. Overall, MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
I would say helping design a product that won a NAMM Best in Show award was the best.
The Retailer: If you had to select three people, past or present, to have dinner with, who would they be and what would you ask them? Nor vell: Being in a job where I have met many of my idols and been in some pretty fantastic situations, I would have dinner with my family. I would just ask them about their days. Not an exciting answer, but work/life balance is something I keep super prioritized. The Retailer: Tell us about your most memorable experience with an MI retailer (without naming them). Nor vell: There are a ton from over the years. I view every trip out in the field as a true learning experience. That’s where our products are intersecting with the public, and it’s truly the front line. And it often ends with me finding a piece of gear I need to have.
The Retailer: What technology could change MI down the road? Nor vell: Customer-relationship management at the retail level and interconnectivity on the product side. The Retailer: If you weren’t in the music industr y, what would you be doing and why? Nor vell: Trying to get into the music industry! The Retailer: Tell us about your hometown and why you enjoy living there. Nor vell: I live just over the L.A. County line in Ventura
The Retailer: What are your most prized possession(s)? Nor vell: I have a 1963 Fender Jazzmaster. It’s a great vintage instrument, but also a direct connection to the origins of the brand I have spent a good portion of my life and career obsessing over. The Retailer: What’s your favorite book and why? Nor vell: Everything and anything by Kurt Vonnegut. The way he interweaves the absurd with complex, real issues and a dry sense of humor. He’s been my favorite forever.
The Retailer: What is the best thing about the MI industr y? Nor vell: The people. Almost everyone that’s here is here because they are super passionate about it. It’s a calling rather than a choice. The Retailer: Who do you admire most outside of the music industr y and why? Nor vell: I have several friends with decades [of experience] in the other music
www.bourns.com/proaudio 93
THE FINAL NOTE
JUSTIN NORVELL Executive Vice President, Fender Products
By Brian Berk The Music & Sound Retailer: Who was your greatest influence or mentor and why? Justin Nor vell: Richard McDonald. I worked for him for about 18 years in various capacities. He just retired [from Fender] in fact! As a former NAMM board member and Lifetime Achievement award winner, he was an industry luminary and taught me virtually everything. I was mentored by other greats, like Dan Smith and Donnie Wade, but Richard and I took virtually identical paths, transitioning from working musicians to customer service, then working through sales and into product management. The Retailer: What was the best advice you ever received? Nor vell: Tons of deeper general lessons, but the one that sticks is, “maintain rigid flexibility.” Just be consciously open and adaptable! The Retailer: What was your first experience with a musical instrument? Nor vell: Piano lessons at age seven or so, but I took up the drums at age nine and the guitar at 13. My father played a little guitar, and we had an upright piano in the house, so instruments were around as long as I can remember. The Retailer: What instrument do you most enjoy playing? Nor vell: The electric guitar, still to this day. My wife laughs and is 94
amazed that, after 23 years at Fender, I can still come home from work and pick up the guitar as soon as I get home.
The Retailer: Tell us something about yourself that others do not know or would be surprised to learn. Nor vell: I have never had a guitar or drum lesson. I am completely self-taught by ear. The Retailer: What’s your favorite activity to do when you’re not at work? Nor vell: Hanging out with my family and surfing. We just moved to California three years ago, and I have been getting pretty into surfing. The Retailer: What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? Nor vell: That would be too hard to state, from seeing the Eagles as a young kid, to Nirvana’s last U.S. tour. But probably the craziest or most memorable one is a Foo Fighters show. I was side stage, and the show was outside, and a biblical deluge of rain was unleashed out of nowhere. The band kept playing for 50,000 people the whole way through the set! Hazard of the job! The Retailer: If you could see any musician, alive or deceased, play a concert for one night, who would it be and why? (continued on page 93) JANUARY 2019
