Music & Sound Retailer April 2018, Vol 35 No 4 by Music & Sound Retailer

GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE GUITAR ISSUE THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC PRODUC TS RETAILERS

BE SURE TO WATCH

GUITARS TURN IN SOLID 2017, LED BY ELECTRICS

April 2018 Volume 35, No. 4

It’s Electric! By Brian Berk

Reports of the steep decline of the electric guitar have been greatly exaggerated. In a June story titled “Why My Guitar Gently Weeps,” a Washington Post reporter alleged, “the slow, secret death of the six-string electric” was currently taking place. This story received plenty of attention, and perhaps was the story about electric guitars that everyone has talked about for the past 10 months. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Not only did electric guitars not suffer a decline, but overall guitar sales increased by 2.2 percent during 2017, according to MI Sales Trak data being presented here for the first time. “The guitar market grew by 2.2 percent in 2017. Much of the growth was driven by a resurgence in electric guitars, particularly mid-to-high-end electrics,” said Jim Hirschberg, president, MI Sales Trak. As you will read from the nine manufacturers who answered the question about the state of electric guitars in this story, this doesn’t necessarily mean we are out of the woods. Electric guitar sales are not the greatest they’ve ever been, and we could certainly see declines on a year-over-year basis. However, the “secret” death of the six-string electric will apparently remain a secret. Let’s start with MI manufacturers’ responses to allegations that electric guitars are dying. (continued on page 24)

Print Mania By Brian Berk

The Industry Continues to Thrive Back when I attended graduate school in 2000 seeking a master’s in journalism, the first class I attended featured these words from my professor: “The print industry is changing dramatically with the growth of the internet. Some even think newspapers and magazines won’t exist in 10 years.” Despite some closures of both newspapers and magazines since, print media is still alive and kicking with this magazine a prime example, as well as MI’s ability to sustain three competitor print magazines to the Music & Sound Retailer. The MI print industry is different of course. Instead of presenting news, it provides a wealth of great tools for anyone learning an instrument, learning new songs or advancing their abilities. However, it’s likely some would have predicted years ago that digital would have taken over this industry. After all, it is 2018. Not so fast. We asked two executives to give us the latest regarding the print music industry. (continued on page 58)

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(From left) RCF Group CEO Arturo Vicari, RCF VP of sales and marketing Tarik Solangi, Quest Marketing regional sales manager Matt Pogorelc, and RCF USA president Roni Nevo.

RCF Names Rep of the Year

Quest Marketing, RCF USA’s manufacturer representative for the Southeast region of the United States, was presented with the Arturo Vicari Award of Excellence as Rep of the Year. The award, named on behalf of the Italian-based RCF Group CEO Arturo Vicari, is presented to the rep firm that achieves its sales goals, and for its professional presentation of the company’s products. “Every year, Quest Marketing steps up to the plate and hits a home run,” said Tarik Solangi, RCF vice president of sales and marketing. “They continue to solidify RCF brand recognition and expand RCF presence in their territory.” Quest covers the southeast U.S. market, including Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. John Saviano, Quest Marketing principal, commented, “To be recognized like this is such an honor. Quest Marketing is proud to be associated with RCF. There is not another company in our industry that makes you feel so much like part of the family. Maybe that’s why we’ve been successful.” In addition to Quest being honored with the Arturo Vicari Award of Excellence, Quest sales representative Matt Pogorelc was named RCF Rep of the Year.

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(From left) Hal Leonard VP, MI products Brad Smith; Yamaha marketing communications manager David Jewell; Sabian VP of marketing Stacey Montgomery-Clark; Rick Allen; Zildjian artist relations director Sarah Hagan; and Dustman & Associates president and owner Scott Dustman.

Def Leppard’s Rick Allen Named PMC Spokesperson

The 2018 Percussion Marketing Council (PMC) named Def Leppard’s Rick Allen as its spokesperson for the May 2018 International Drum Month (IDM) campaign. “Music is a gift we’ve all been given, and now we’re able to share it and inspire other people to pick up an instrument. Everyone in this room does their part to pass that on,” Allen said. Born in the United Kingdom, Allen has been Def Leppard’s drummer since he was 15 years old. Surviving a 1984 automobile accident that resulted in losing an arm, he continued all drumming responsibilities on an electronic drum kit, which eventually become a blend of acoustic and electronic drums. At its annual meeting in January, the PMC Board unveiled a lifesize in-store cardboard stand-up of Rick Allen. This stand-up will be provided to the first 150 participating percussion retailers that sign up as official IDM merchants. MI retailers are encouraged to register to participate in the 2018 campaign at playdrums.com. Individuals entering the Roadie for a Day contest can register on the same website from May 1 to May 31.

Hal Leonard Teams with School of Rock

School of Rock entered into a worldwide agreement with Hal Leonard whereby the latter, via its website, sheetmusicdirect.com, will be the preferred supplier of digital sheet music for all of the former’s students and faculty. The program will make customized charts available to School of Rock’s students and teachers for classes taught in their programs and camps. The students will have access to the content in the school, at home, or via mobile devices through subscription and à la carte programs. The two companies are partnering to create customized teaching materials as well. “Our unique performance-based music education program relies on a vast catalog of high-quality sheet music. Our students and instructors will now have unparalleled access through sheetmusicdirect.com, as well as a conduit for our own content distribution,” said Rob Price, CEO of School of Rock. “We are also excited to be a strong voice in support of copyright protections for the composers we so admire. We invite all music educators to stand with us on this effort.” “Our collective goal is to make more music makers by providing accurate, legal print music to their students to help them learn the songs, jam together and then perform!” said Doug Lady, senior vice president of Hal Leonard. The companies plan to launch the program this spring.

MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

VOLUME 35 NO.4

Columns 34 Special to the Retailer 20

Fender has entered the pedal market for the first time, with the products officially launched at a New York City event. We take a closer look at this new product launch.

36 Five Minutes With 34

Features

Reverb is clearly one of the fastest-growing companies in our industry. We learn much more about the company’s approach from CEO David Kalt, who also discusses his keynote speech at the NAMM Young Professionals event earlier this year.

40 MI Spy

ON THE COVER It’s Electric!

MI Spy heads to the Big Easy, The Crescent City, the home of jazz and more, New Orleans. Which of the four retailers he/she visited hit the right note this month?

Last year, tons of headlines were made following a newspaper article alleging electric guitar sales are on the decline. We have the MI Sales Trak data and can tell you how guitars actually fared in 2017. We also have an industry update from nine manufacturers.

44 In the Trenches

Allen McBroom homes in on the counterfeit problem, and the best options to counteract this important issue.

ON THE COVER Print Mania

46 Shine a Light

This month, we head to the hip Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas, to shine a light on Rock n Roll Rentals. Owner Jim Norton first knew he was doing something right 15 years ago, when Willie Nelson drove his bus into his parking lot.

The music print industry continues to enjoy excellent success. We get the latest on the industry, including a look at its future, from Alfred Publishing and Hal Leonard.

48 Retailer Rebel

Gibson has been in the news several times recently. Gabriel O’Brien shares his thoughts.

50 ‘Hire’ Learning

Will Mason follows up on his first column two months ago, providing plenty of tips on how to hire the right people at your store.

52 Veddatorial

Rather than thinking of ourselves as “selling instruments,” retailers need to recast and rebrand themselves as “selling music making,” explains Dan Vedda.

54 Under the Hood

PRS had plenty of new products to get excited about at The NAMM Show this year. Its Mark Tremonti MT 15 amp was definitely one of those products.

62 The Final Note

What’s the greatest advice Gil Soucy, vice president and general manager of U.S. Music Corp., has learned? “If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted,” is one pearl of wisdom. He also received another excellent piece of advice, plus much more.

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18 4

APRIL 2018

EDITORIAL

Alive and Well “It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine.” I certainly don’t want to be morbid. But this month’s cover stories tackle two metaphorical deaths that never took place. The first one is the “death” of the electric guitar. As I alluded to in a prior editorial, I always thought this was a bunch of nonsense. Of course, economic conditions can derail guitar sales, but enthusiasm for electric guitars has not waned to any significant extent. I will stress however that this is what I thought. I didn’t know this was the truth. All I knew were conversations with manufacturers and retailers alike, which mostly debunked talk of the death of the electric guitars. You can see several manufacturer comments about this topic in this issue, in fact. I wanted some statistical evidence to back up my feelings though. That’s why I was eagerly awaiting our guitar update in this issue to see if we can put this talk to bed already. Thanks to MI Sales Trak data, I think we can. If electric guitars are nearing extinction, I can proudly say they wouldn’t have had an excellent year in terms of sales last year. Overall, guitar sales rose by 2.2 percent in 2017, with electric guitars primarily responsible for this increase. Folks, I’m not saying a 2.2-percent increase compared to 2016 is a reason to throw a party. After all, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by approximately 25 percent last year (which was a reason to throw a party). But I can say that not only are electric guitars not dying, they are showing growth. Similarly, prognosticators predicted the end of print products during the height of the internet era and stuck to those posits in subsequent years. Newspapers and magazines were expected to go the way of the dodo bird. But I am happy to report you are reading this magazine right now, so print is not dead. And this definitely holds true for the print music industry, which is very strong right now. “I’m not gonna lie, it amazes me

that print music continues to be strong in 2018,” Alex R. Ordoñez, vice president, marketing, Alfred Music, said in this month’s second cover story. “Although we see an increase in digital year over year, it still has not come close to the sales of physical books. All of this being said, we have been affected by online behavior. Our response has always been to embrace rather than fight, and to integrate into our products as another solution for learning, teaching and playing music.” MI is doing just fine, thank you very much. Sure, some people may not think so, but the data is always right. I hope you can smile, even if just a little bit, when you read this statement. Being a retailer in any industry isn’t easy. And I’m not saying everything will be smooth sailing. You may be dragged in many directions today and need to multitask more than ever before. And our economy appears to be on more shaky ground this year than in the past few. Your competition is getting stronger. But I think the worries about a massive decline in the underlying products you sell can be placed in the rear-view mirror for a while. More evidence of the health of the MI market can be seen via all of the new companies at The NAMM Show in January. A dying marketplace wouldn’t exactly scream, “Let’s become an MI manufacturer.” MI is not dying today, nor tomorrow, nor this year. In the immortal words of Plato: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

April 2018 Volume 35, No. 4

BRIAN BERK Editor bberk@testa.com ANTHONY VARGAS Associate Editor avargas@testa.com MATT VAN DYKE Assistant Editor mvandyke@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 JEFF KYLE JR. ELLEN LEVITT

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’s Vnewsletter • 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

APRIL 2018

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Guitar Center Relaunches Music Foundation, Teams with D’Addario Guitar Center relaunched its nonprofit organization, the Guitar Center Music Foundation. The foundation’s mission will be focused on offering as many individuals as possible the invaluable experience of learning and playing a musical instrument. Since its original founding in 2005, the foundation’s charitable efforts have put instruments in the hands of more than 200,000 persons nationwide, during its rich history of supporting musicians through music education, music therapy programs and other musiccentric nonprofits. Guitar Center CEO Ron Japinga and senior vice president and chief customer officer Jeannine D’Addario will join the Music Foundation board of directors, alongside music industry veterans Phil Quartararo (Former CEO At Virgin Records, Warner Bros Records and EMI), Janie Hendrix (CEO of the Hendrix Experience), Don Lombardi (DW Drum Workshop Founder & Drum Channel CEO) and more to help shape the future of the foundation and its bright road map ahead. “The Guitar Center Music Foundation is an exciting opportunity for us to use our resources to reach musicians of all ages and skill levels who may not have access to musical instruments,” said Japinga. “Guitar Center has always advocated for musicians. We firmly believe that it all starts with fostering strong music education programs, and we’re proud to make that promise to current and future generations of musicians through the Guitar Center Music Foundation. We look forward to identifying new and powerful ways to bring more music into the world and driving positive change within our country’s music education system by giving more people the tools and access they need to find their sound.” The foundation’s first initiative to help expand music education arrived during International Women’s Day on March 8, which included a grant of nearly $10,000 worth of instruments and equipment to music education programs that are specifically designed to provide women and girls the opportunity to learn and make music. “The relaunch of the Guitar Center Music Foundation marks a

new beginning for us and is met with a renewed energy and excitement,” said D’Addario. “We’ve always been about serving all musicians, but we know that in order to truly serve them, we need to look beyond our walls. As a member of the board and the Guitar Center family, as well as a personal advocate for music education, I look forward to helping grow the foundation’s capabilities and reach to serve musicians of all kinds and musician hopefuls in underserved communities and underfunded schools.” Also, The D’Addario Foundation partnered with Guitar Center for International Women’s Day, donating half of every sale to support music education for girls on any D’Addario product purchased at Guitar Center or guitarcenter.com. Proceeds went directly to the Music Education for Girls Initiative, a special fund established within the D’Addario Foundation that provides girls with advanced learning opportunities, scholarships, and transformative musical experiences that foster both personal and professional growth. “Music is a universally powerful tool for self-expression,” said Suzanne D’Addario Brouder, executive director of the D’Addario Foundation. “The D’Addario Foundation hopes to encourage and nurture more female musicians. It is our goal to help promote more music created by women and foster new opportunities that enable more young women to thrive in the music business.”

Smashing Debut

Yamaha Drums signed Jimmy Chamberlin of renowned alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins to its roster of Yamaha Artists. Chamberlin’s kit of choice is the

Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple with Polar White finish, which blend his signature feel, sound and dynamics. This popular line of drums allows him to perform at all levels. His snares of choice include the Yamaha 14"x6.5" Recording Custom Aluminum (RAS1465) snare as well as the 14"x6" Absolute Hybrid Maple snare drum (AMS1460). “Yamaha Drums are the sound on my best-selling records and the accompaniment to my biggest and proudest musical moments,” said Chamberlin. He continued, “These days, the scope of the music that I play is such that I need an instrument that can take me from a small jazz club to an arena to a festival, and Yamaha provides me with that flexibility. I couldn’t be happier to be back!” 8

APRIL 2018

P L AY DEAR BOY

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DIFFERENT THE CALIFORNIA SERIES ™

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©2018 FMIC. FENDER, FENDER in script and the distinctive headstock commonly found on Fender guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. California Series is a trademark of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Yamaha Raises Money for Type 1 Diabetes

For the 10th consecutive year, Yamaha Cares participated in the Southern California Half Marathon and 5K races to raise money for Type 1 juvenile diabetes research at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). With the help of Yamaha Cares, the event raised $32,000, bringing the grand total of overall donations to more than $142,000. (From left) CHOC chief of endocrinology Dr. Mark Daniels; Yamaha marketing communications manager David Jewell; and CHOC senior associate director, special events Winnie Tran.

Let Red Label help shape your music.

“This fundraising effort was our most successful ever,” said David Jewell, marketing communications manager, Yamaha Corp. of America. “It is wonderful to have so much participation from our community, supporting such a worthy cause.” Jewell is personally invested in the cause, as his daughter Katrina was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes when she was 13. He wanted to do something grassroots to raise money for research, so he asked his running pals and some industry people to join him in the race. “That was 10 years ago, and they have been with me ever since.” A concurrent CrowdRise campaign, KatrinaKures, was conducted to encourage online donations, while more than 100 people attended a post-race celebration. All the money raised for CHOC goes directly to research, with no strings attached. CHOC is the largest screening site for the National Institutes of Health-sponsored TrialNet, which seeks to reveal causes of the disease, identify prevention measures and find a cure.

Austin Guitars Unveils New Website

RedLabelStrings.com A portion of sales will benefit Greyhound Rescue

Austin Guitars has unveiled a complete redesign of its website, austingtr.com, highlighting the new models unveiled at The NAMM Show. The site also features a comprehensive dealer locator to make it easy for customers to discover Austin Guitar dealers nearby. “With our all new models, we really wanted a site that showcased them in the best way possible,” said Rich Dumstorff, vice president of SLM Marketplace. “A website is a customer’s first window into the hard work and design that went into our instruments, and we’re excited to have an online space where customers can learn about our guitars and give feedback.” The new Austin Guitars website presents all current models with detailed specs, as well as multiple, multi-angle photographs. An advanced search filter makes it easy for customers to hone in on their ideal instrument. The site also features an extensive dealer locator that can help customers find Austin dealers nearby. APRIL 2018

ORIGINAL DESIGNS. FENDER TONE. A N O R I G I N A L FA M I LY O F E F F E C TS P E D A L S PAC K E D W I T H E P I C TO N E S , O R I G I N A L F E AT U R E S A N D U N I Q U E T W I STS D E S I G N E D F R O M S C R ATC H I N S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A .

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KHS Announces $1K Scholarship Winner

KHS America awards a $1,000 college scholarship to a member of the United States Army All American Marching Band annually, with Elissa Travis from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., named the 2018 winner during the band’s banquet in San Antonio, earlier this year. “It was a surreal moment for me!” said Travis, who plans to attend Arizona State University in the fall. “ … Playing in high-level ensembles and working closely with my band directors influenced my love for performance, but after joining marching band my junior year, I found the missing piece and my love for the marching arts grew quickly.” “Knowing the quality of students who get selected to be a part of U.S. Army All American Marching Band is why we at KHS America are proud to offer a scholarship to a future music educator,” said KHS Education Manager Rick DeJonge. “We need people like Elissa Travis in our schools as a music teacher, and this scholarship is one of the ways we can help.”

KHS America president Tabor Stamper presents a $1,000 scholarship to U.S. Army All American Marching Band member Elissa Travis.

Fender Play Expanded to New Platforms

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. and Fender Digital has expanded Fender Play to additional platforms and devices, including iPad, available now on the App Store, Android and Google Play. The app is designed to change the way beginning players learn how to play guitar via hundreds of easy-to-follow, instructor-guided video lessons utilizing a song-driven, personalized learning path that enables even brand-new players to master chords and riffs in minutes. According to Fender, Fender Play was created to solve an ongoing challenge: 90 percent of players who take up guitar

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will abandon the instrument after one year. The result is a sophisticated guitar learning platform and curriculum created with a panel of educational advisors from prestigious music programs, such as the Thornton School of Music at University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Musicians Institute in Hollywood. Concepts are taught through bite-sized video lessons using songs from popular artists, such as U2, Shawn Mendes, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Carrie Underwood and many more. In addition to the iPad and Android platforms, Fender Play will soon have ukulele and bass lessons, as well as new rhythm and blues and metal genre paths later in 2018. APRIL 2018

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Yamaha Announces Dealer of the Year Winners

Yamaha Corp. of America has recognized Music Exchange and Classic Pianos with the company’s annual Dealer of the Year awards. The awards were presented to the piano retailers at The NAMM Show. Music Exchange was named Yamaha Dealer of the Year, while Classic Pianos was honored as Bösendorfer Dealer of the Year (Yamaha acquired Bösendorfer in 2008). The two dealers, recognized for their outstanding sales and marketing success, were selected from hundreds of retailers throughout the United States. Accepting the awards from Yamaha Keyboard division top management were Music Exchange president and CEO Bill Kloos and general manager Robert Catalano, as well as Classic Pianos CEO Maurice Unis. “Music Exchange and Classic Pianos are both exemplary because they each strive to achieve excellence in sales and marketing, while providing an in-store customer experience that is second to none,” said Bob Heller, national sales director, Yamaha Keyboard division. Music Exchange was founded more than 40 years ago as

D’Addario and Meinl End Distribution Agreement

After four years of successful collaboration, D’Addario UK and Meinl have mutually agreed that D’Addario will no longer represent Meinl Cymbals and Meinl Percussion in the UK, as of April 1. Udo Heubeck, general manager of Meinl Cymbals and Meinl Percussion, stated, “We would like to express our sincere thanks to the entire D’Addario UK team for all of its support and effort in promoting the Meinl brand and products.” UK Meinl dealers should contact their sales representative with any specific questions. All UK Meinl dealers were contacted before April 1 with details on the future arrangements and contacts for Meinl distribution in the UK. MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

a small neighborhood piano store on Main Street in Walnut Creek, Calif. The venture has since grown to seven locations in California: Walnut Creek, San Francisco, San Jose, Dublin, Sacramento, Santa Rosa and San Diego. Founded in 2007, Classic Pianos has locations in Portland, Ore.; Seattle/Bellevue; Denver; Anchorage, Alaska; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Las Vegas. The company is a factory authorized dealer for Bösendorfer, as well as Yamaha Premium, TransAcoustic, Disklavier, Silent, AvantGrand and Clavinova digital pianos.

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ADVERTORIAL • APRIL 2018 • NAMM.ORG

Note From Causby

Lemonade and Fireworks “Growing up in a small town in Oklahoma, summers always started with lemons. My lemonade stand wasn’t elaborate. I simply sold cold lemonade, earning enough money each year to buy fireworks to enjoy with my cousins at our family farm.” More than just a cherished memory, these early summers offered a simple but important lesson in retail that I would later see illustrated over and over again throughout our association’s membership at NAMM—when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and the results can be explosive!

opportunity to learn from one another. Through shared innovation, new approaches and evolving business models, this awards show has truly cultivated a trusted network and supportive retail community.

Already, 293 companies from 44 states and 11 countries have been honored. In fact, 11 stores have been recognized on the Top 100 Dealer list all seven years! If your store is among this impressive list of retailers, congratulations and THANK YOU. Your retail success has fired up an entire industry and illuminated a path for our 2018 nominees. your trade

One such perfect example is Larry Noto of Music Land in Bel Air, Maryland. When his father passed away in 2015, he was faced with the decision to either close down the store or keep his father’s legacy alive. Larry had no industry experience; but he didn’t As let that stop him. He resigned from his current association, job and took over the family business. Shortly after, Larry attended Summer NAMM and soaked up every last piece of advice he could get at the NAMM U Idea Center and Retail Boot Camp. More importantly, he went back home and applied what he learned to his business.

it is NAMM’s honor to bring the retail community together for one night and honor the passion that ignites our industry.

Never in his wildest dreams did Larry anticipate winning “Best Store Turnaround” at the Top 100 Dealer Awards, just 12 months later. Talk about turning a sour situation into a firecracker year! Summer NAMM is just a few months away. As you read this, many NAMM members have finalized their 2018 Top 100 Dealer Awards submissions. Now in its eighth year, the entries continue to get stronger, inspiring greatness in our industry and giving our retail members the

Maybe 2018 is going perfectly for you so far— but if it isn’t, there are ways to increase profits, generate customer loyalty or make a positive, lasting impact in your community that you have yet to tap into. Summer NAMM, and in particular the Top 100 Dealer Awards, will ignite your passion, imagination and knowhow in these areas and more.

I hope to see you at this year’s Top 100 Dealer Awards on Friday, June 29 at 7 pm. As always, there will be some regular standouts and surprise winners. But I promise you, there will be plenty of lemonade on hand and the fireworks will be spectacular. See you in Nashville!

Causby Challacombe, CAE NAMM Director, Membership

“My first week on the job after taking over the business from my father was attending NAMM U. The lessons and classes helped me learn the music retail business. It’s amazing that 12 months later I’d be accepting the award for ‘Best Store Turnaround’ at the Top 100 Dealer Awards!” Larry Noto, Music Land 2016 Best Store Turnaround

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PEOPLE

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Bill McGloine

John Page

Longtime Korg USA employee Bill McGloine was promoted to the new position of vice president of operations. He originally started as the assistant manager of distribution in 1996, working his way to database administrator and then again to director of information technology. McGloine’s new position includes continuing his role within the information technology department, as well as working within the warehouse, repair services and customer support, where he will oversee and aid in Korg USA’s efforts to elevate warehousing operations, as well as enhance the company’s supply chain management with valued vendors. Korg also hired John Page as the district sales manager for the South Central Territory. Page, who has worked in the Texas and Oklahoma regions for more than a decade, will be responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with MI retailers throughout Texas.

Kali Adds Sprinkle

Kali Audio, a startup MI audio company based in southern California, has hired Charles Sprinkle as director of acoustics. In this role, Sprinkle leads the company’s research, product development and engineering efforts. Kali will be focusing on professional loudspeakers and audio accessories, with an emphasis on value engineering and strong relationships with its community of end users. “What attracted me about Kali was the freedom to explore peoples’ pain points with the audio gear they’re currently using, and design products around giving them a better experience,” said Sprinkle. “In the time that I’ve spent in recording studios and at shows, I’ve come to understand that making a better speaker makes it possible for the person using that speaker to make a better product — whether that’s a record, a movie or a live show. It’s exciting to be involved in that creative process, and to give people the tools they need.” Before joining Kali, Sprinkle was a principal systems engineer at JBL Professional, where he was instrumental in the development of many award-winning studio monitors and portable PA products. Sprinkle’s first product with Kali, codenamed “Project Lone Pine,” will be debuting in June. Before the debut, Kali will be hosting private events in Los Angeles for retailers and industry influencers to demonstrate the product and introduce the company.

Say It Is Tso

Chris Tso joined Full Compass Systems as vice president of merchandising. In his new role, he helps develop the strategic merchandising direction of Full Compass across catalog, internet, retail and wholesale distribution channels. In this capacity, Tso is directly responsible for vendor collaboration, trend forecasting and market opportunity identification, new product and brand development, product assortment, planning and pricing, top-line sale growth strategy, and point-of-sale execution. “I am very excited to join Full Compass Systems and put my merchandising experience to use in a company that has carved out a well-respected brand in the professional audio, video and lighting industry. As ecommerce and direct marketing are poised to become an even bigger part of the business, I look forward to being on board, as we delve further into these strategies and use them to accelerate growth in all channels,” said Tso. Tso joins Full Compass with a long career in the e-commerce and direct marketing side of the professional audio and music industry. He previously worked as a consultant for Marshall Electronics as director of e-commerce and creative sales/marketing, after managing Amazon’s Automotive business for Canada. He also has 14 years of experience with Musician’s Friend/Guitar Center as director and then vice president of merchandising in the technology, musical instrument and proprietary product segment.

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APRIL 2018

PEOPLE

Sumner Reaches the Summit

Tom Sumner was named president of Yamaha Corp. of America (YCA), effective April 1. This is the first time that the world’s largest musical instrument manufacturer, Hamamatsu, Japan-based Yamaha Corp., has named an American executive to the top position in the U.S., since YCA was founded in 1960. Sumner succeeds Hitoshi Fukutome, who will return to Yamaha Corp. headquarters in Japan as senior general manager of Asia-Pacific Sales. Fukutome has served as president of YCA since March 2013. Under his leadership, YCA has enjoyed significant growth in sales, operating income and brand awareness. “It has been my deep privilege and honor to lead YCA for the past five years, and I am extremely grateful to our exceptional team for their support and dedication,” said Fukutome. “I am particularly proud of our company’s business performance during my tenure, and I know that Tom will bring continued success to YCA.” In his new role, Sumner will lead Yamaha operations in the U.S. and oversee the Americas. He is a 30-year veteran of YCA and has most recently served as senior vice president of the company since June 2008. For nearly 10 years, he has led or co-led sales and marketing, including the in-house creative agency — the Customer Experience Group — Corporate Marketing, Artist Relations and End-User Support. The Keyboard division, AV division, Professional Audio division and Car Parts division also reported to him.

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“I am so humbled by the opportunity to lead the talented YCA team here in the United States,” said Sumner. “Hitoshi has set a high standard of excellence, and I look forward to building upon his success and strengthening our team and our brand, our dealer base and our focus on, and dedication to, our customers.”

INTRODUCING

D’ADDARIO’S ALL NEW B2B EXPERIENCE

In Memoriam: Bud Ross

Kustom Amps founder Bud Ross passed away on March 10 at the age of 77. Ross was a pioneer in MI, making his first amplifier for his own band in 1958. Within five years, he had established Kustom Amps. The success of the amplifiers allowed Ross to focus on other products for which he was equally innovative, such as radar and car monitors for law enforcement. Ross formed Ross Musical, Road Amps and Birdview among many ventures in and outside of the music industry.

Inner Circle, our new B2B Ecommerce experience, is designed to make your D’Addario buying experience more personalized and efficient than ever. It can process orders in a flash, recommend new and top-selling products to keep you ahead of the competition, and is optimized for all devices to deliver the most convenient ordering experience possible.

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PRODUCT

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Case Closed

Gator Cases’ GC-GSMINI is a deluxe molded case offering protection for a Taylor GS Mini guitar. The GC-GSMINI’s durable, hard outer shell is molded from impact-resistant ABS plastic and features chromeplated, lockable latches to secure an instrument in place. Its outer edges are reinforced with heavy-duty aluminum to keep the closure properly aligned, thus keeping dust and dirt away from a guitar. The case measures 41.5 inches long and weighs five pounds. MSRP: $104.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Gator Cases, gatorcases.com

California Strumming

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. introduced the California Series acoustic guitars, designed to celebrate the lifestyle and culture associated with the region and the brand’s southern California roots. The series features three original Fender body shapes: Malibu, Newporter and Redondo. These exclusive shapes boast refined geometry and unique bracing patterns designed for responsive, articulate tone, the company stated. They are diverse body shapes intended to give any guitarist a comfortable playing experience, from the small and narrowwaisted Malibu, ideal for recording, to the larger Redondo, suited for ensemble playing. Colors include Cosmic Turquoise, Arctic Gold, Aqua Splash, Matte Black (California Special models only), Hot Rod Red Metallic, Candy Apple Red, Champagne, Rustic Copper, Electric Jade, Belmont Blue and Jetty Black. MSRP: California Classic: $799.99, California Special: $699.99, California Player: $399.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Fender, fender.com

A Whole New World

Award-winning pianist, composer and entertainer Jason Lyle Black has been commissioned to arrange a series of medleys in his distinctive style for a new Hal Leonard songbook, Disney Medleys for Piano Solo. It features more than 35 songs from 10 classic Disney films: “Moana,” “The Jungle Book,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cinderella,” “Hercules,” “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Mary Poppins” and “Mulan.” In addition to the 10 medleys featured in the book, arranger notes from Black are also included. MSRP: $16.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: Hal Leonard, halleonard.com

Magic Elixir

Elixir Strings expanded its lineup of electric guitar strings to include nine new sets for extended range guitars. In addition, two new POLYWEB Coated Electric String sets, plus 20 new electric singles, are also available. The nine new sets for extended range guitars are: 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with OPTIWEB Coating, Super Light (.009-.052); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with OPTIWEB Coating, Light (.010-.056); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with OPTIWEB Coating, Light/Heavy (.010-.059); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with OPTIWEB Coating, Medium (.011-.059); 8-String Electric Guitar Strings with OPTIWEB Coating, Light (.010-.074); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with NANOWEB Coating, Super Light (.009-.052); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with NANOWEB Coating, Light/ Heavy (.010-.059); 7-String Electric Guitar Strings with NANOWEB Coating, Medium (.011-.059); and 8-String Electric Guitar Strings with NANOWEB Coating, Light (.010-.074). MSRP: Varies Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Elixir Strings, elixirstrings.com

APRIL 2018

PRODUCT

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Jasmine Money

Jasmine introduced three new acoustic versions of some of its hottest-selling online models that will be sold exclusively through independent retailers. The Jasmine J35 and J34C are in-store versions of the Jasmine S35 and S34C. The J35 is a full-size dreadnought model with a spruce top and rosewood fingerboard, and the J34C is a cutaway orchestra-style model also with a spruce top and rosewood fingerboard. In addition, Jasmine released the SB-J037C, a starburst-colored model of the current JO37CE. It is a cutaway electric-acoustic guitar featuring a solid spruce top, rosewood fingerboard and a Fishman preamp. MSRP: J35: $199.99; J34C: $223.99; JO37CE-SB-U: $419.99 Ship Date: Now Contact: KMC Music, kmcmusic.com

‘I’m the King of the Wireworld’

Wireworld Pro Audio launched the Polaris guitar cable, featuring the patented DNA Helix conductor geometry with a core made of highstrength DuPont Kevlar. This design speeds up transient response for greater definition and dynamic expression, along with excellent flexibility and durability, stated the company. Polaris has two rectangular insulators, each containing four individual conductors in parallel. The conductors are oxygen-free copper with 24AWG per polarity. Polaris cables are available with any combination of straight and angled quarterinch phone plugs, including silent switching plugs. Wireworld offers two levels of plugs, which use the same solid contact design and two plating options. The standard plugs have nickel plating and the upgrade plugs feature an extra thick plating of silver, the most conductive metal. MSRP: $90 (15-foot cable with nickel plugs), $110 (cable with silver plugs) Ship Date: Now Contact: wireworldcable.com, wireworldproaudio.com

Kala Brand Music Co. added the Shark Fin Gray and Sea Urchin Purple Concert Sharks to its Makala Shark Collection. These models complement the Sea Foam Green and Mako Blue Concert Sharks released last year. According to the company, both colorful models, voted on by the company’s followers, are great for beginners and advanced players alike. Features include a mahogany neck, walnut fretboard and bridge, Aquila Super Nylgut string, and a matte finish. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Now Contact: Kala, kalabrand.com, contact@kalabrand.com

Instant Classic

Fishman introduced the Fluence Custom Keith Merrow pickup set. Going forward, all Schechter Keith Merrow guitars (six-, seven- and eight-string models) will feature his Custom Fluence set, which is comprised of a standard Fluence Open Core Classic in the neck position and a slightly modified Classic bridge pickup that emphasizes the passive side of Fluence tone. Available as standard equipment on Merrow’s signature Schechter guitar, the Keith Merrow Custom Fluence set is also available through authorized Fishman dealers along with the Fluence Open Core Classic Humbuckers. MSRP: Fluence Open Core Classic Humbuckers 6-String: $337.99, MAP: $249.95; 7-String & 8-String: $350.99, MAP: $259.95; Fluence Keith Merrow Custom Series Pickup Set 6-String: $364.99, MAP: $269.95; 7-String & 8-String: $377.99, MAP: $279.95 Ship Date: Now Contact: Fishman, fishman.com APRIL 2018

PRODUCT

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Weighted Hammer Time

Korg introduced the D1 digital piano, intended for pianists and keyboardists of any genre. The D1 is focused on providing a slim, compact design. The result is a keyboard that reproduces the playing feel of a grand piano, and yet is highly portable, stated the company. The D1 features a real weighted-hammeraction 3 keybed that reproduces the touch of a grand piano, where the low notes are heavier and the action becomes lighter as you play toward the higher notes. The chassis construction has been rethought with a new structure and design that slims the body to a depth of approximately 26 centimeters (without

the music rest), the minimum depth that still allows enjoyable playing. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Korg USA, korgusa.com

Tune In

On-Stage, the musical accessories division of The Music People, introduced the GTP7000 Mini Pedal Tuner, a new addition to its growing lineup of electronic accessories. Powered by a 9V DC adapter, this chromatic tuner boasts 430-450Hz pitch range and +0.5 cent tuning tolerance. Compact but rugged, the GTP7000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oversized, high-visibility, four-color strobe or half strobe display provides clear note name indication, while true bypass circuitry ensures absolute signal integrity, stated the manufacturer. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Contact company Contact: The Music People, musicpeopleinc.com

MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

RESHAPING CONVENTIONAL The new AEWC 400 & 300 models, feature innovative new cutaways and contouring that increase access to the upper register, while maximizing player comfort.

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PRODUCT

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Uptown Funk

The Avedis Zildjian Co. introduced the 18-inch A Zildjian Uptown Ride, designed to be a visually unique cymbal in a smaller-sized Ride that delivers a controlled dry sound with pronounced stick definition. With its extensive hammering and unlathed top and bottom surface, it creates a tightly defined and colorful sound with minimal overtones and sustain, stated the company. The Uptown Ride, made at the Zildjian USA cymbal factory in Norwell, Mass., also provides a full spectrum of cymbal sounds for modern electronically influenced music, added the manufacturer. MAP: $249.95 Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Avedis Zildjian, Zildjian.com

Revamp the Lamp

Manhasset Stands’ #1020 Manhasset Lamp is available with an LED bulb, as an upgrade to its #1000 Manhasset Lamp. The #1020 Manhasset Lamp offers bulbs that don’t get hot like predecessors, along with the savings that LED technology offers as compared to incandescent bulbs. Other features on the Manhasset lamp include a design that is simple to use and a glare-free, full-width, audience-shielded illumination with ample clearance. The lamp is 110 watts, designed with an eight-foot cord and on-off switch, and features a baked-on durable black finish. MSRP: $59.99 Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Manhasset Specialty Co., manhasset-specialty.com

From Metal

To Magic

Do That Conga

Jesus Christ Superstar at Pembroke Pines Theatre of the Performing Arts - Pembroke Pines, Florida

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Gon Bops debuted the Roberto Quintero signature Fiberglass Congas and Bongo. Crafted from premium fiberglass shells with Gon Bops California Series Contour Hardware and custom Remo Skyndeep heads, the new drums produce deep, resonant bass tones and loud, cutting highs. The sound is balanced to project on the loudest stages while recording beautifully in the studio, stated the company. The Congas are offered in Conga, Tumba and Super Tumba sizes, while the Bongo is a 7-inch and 8.5-inch pairing. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Now Contact: Gon Bops, gonbops.com APRIL 2018

PRODUCT

Get the LED Out

ADJ introduced its MOD Series LED par fixtures. Four fixtures make up the MOD Series: the entry-level MOD QA60, the MOD QW100, the MOD TW100 and the MOD HEX100. Each of the four new models offers a different LED light source, suitable for a wide variety of applications. These pars are “modular” in two different ways. First, the main body moves — pulling the LEDs inside the casing — so that a snoot can be quickly and easily created to eliminate side glare, if required in a particular situation. Second, the black metal outside casing can easily be removed and replaced with a pearl-white housing kit (sold separately). This means that production companies and rental houses can invest in just one set of LED pars but have the flexibility of using them in either white or black depending on the

All That Jazz

Alfred Music introduced Jazzin’ Americana for Two, Books 1–2, a series that takes students on a journey through the jazz genre, honoring the history, the diverse styles and the musicians who made this music great. In Jazzin’ Americana for Two, Book 1, students will become familiar with the names of famous musicians, such as Mary Lou Williams, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington, while learning different jazz styles, from blues and bebop to boogie and rock. In Book 2, intermediate students will continue their journey and be introduced to famous musicians, such as Chet Baker, McCoy Tyner and Sarah Vaughan. MSRP: $7.99 Ship Date: Contact company Contact: Alfred Music, alfred.com

MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

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requirements of each event or project, stated the company. MSRP: Contact company Ship Date: Now Contact: ADJ, adj.com

IT’S ELECTRIC!: GUITARS TURN IN SOLID 2017, LED BY ELECTRICS

(continued from cover) “Fretted-instrument sales, electric, acoustic and ukulele have grown for a number of years. The ‘death of the electric guitar’ makes for a catchy headline, but it’s totally untrue,” noted Fender CEO Andy Mooney. “Consumption of live and recorded music is at an all-time high and growing. More than 125 million subscribed to a music streaming service in 2017. Live Nation reported 2017 concert attendance was up 21 percent to 86 million. There’s never been a better time to be in the fretted-instrument business. The underlying trends are all positive.” “We have all experienced the guitar market evolving with the musical trends,” said Yamaha manager, PM marketing, Dennis Webster. “This is nothing new. It is true, we are in a time where the electric guitar is not as dominant as in the past. Right now, the acousticelectric guitar is the hero of the market, and I believe current music trends coupled with today’s mobile lifestyle drives this demand. Today’s tech-savvy customer is searching for something new and exciting to come along and inspire them. Embracing new technology and integrating it with the way people want to make music today will define the next electricguitar renaissance. It will not be my generation that defines this turnaround, but it will be my generation that recognizes the need for new tech and implements it into the electric

Ryan Kershaw, D’Angelico

guitar. Talk of ‘decline’ misses the point: Electric guitars aren’t fading away; they’re just in transition.” “Where and which electric guitars people are buying may have some decline, but I think there are plenty of people buying electric guitars today,” replied Peavey COO Courtland Gray. “Perhaps it is more an issue of continued strong demand for acoustic guitars that is making people think that electrics have been on the decline. As long as guys and girls want to entertain each other, or themselves, guitars will be a part of the mix.”

“We grew roughly 20 percent in 2017 over 2016 by keeping our heads down, working hard, listening to the market, and doing our best to deliver what was asked of us … high-quality guitars and amps in a variety of price points. If there is a decline, we are not seeing it,” responded Jim Cullen, director of sales for PRS Guitars. “Over the years, all styles of guitars have experienced cycles of popularity that directly related to what is driving the music scene. In the ’80s and ’90s, for example, guitar and music with electric guitar solos were more prevalent than they are today,” stated Gil Soucy, vice president and general manager, U.S. Music Corp. “In the post-’80s and -’90s period, rap and vocal/dance bands became more popular, and, as a result, radio and television switched to shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice.” I think more of a pop trend stemming from these vocalbased television shows has put the acoustic guitar back in the spotlight, and sales of acoustics has increased as a result. I also believe that guitar sales are directly tied to what the record labels promote in general. For example, when rock-guitar-based songs get greater airplay and performance streams show players soloing in a video or ripping up the fretboard live in concert … the instrument is positioned differently in the eyes of the general public, giving them something to talk about after enjoying that musical

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APRIL 2018

experience. This is quite different than having the guitar in the pit band while the singer is the only one on stage and in the spotlight.” “I know a lot of pro players that perform with these acts and all of them are truly incredible guitar players,” he continued. “Most of their playing roots come from the rock, blues and jazz styles of yesteryear, but I think there is a little ‘out of sight, out of mind’ happening for the guitar in these scenarios that doesn’t help entice people to want to learn to play and doesn’t help electric-guitar sales. For years, I’ve thought that industry leaders should convene regular round-table sessions to talk with label executives to explain what we are seeing in the market. This could be a great way to keep the guitar better positioned in terms of what the public sees and hears.” “I completely agree that there is a decline in the electric guitar in popular music,” said Ben Parker, marketing manager at Chesbro, which is known for its Teton Guitars. “Popular music is cyclical, and we are in a cycle that is dominated by electronic music. This type of music will run its course, and pop culture will move on to something new. Maybe it will be guitar driven, maybe it won’t. Even if it is not guitar-centric, the electric guitar is not going anywhere. The electric guitar is part of our culture. It will always be found in all types of music.” Brian Piccolo, director of guitar brands at Korg USA, said, “The industry might be experiencing a slight downturn, but we’ve seen that happen in the past. These trends seem to come and go, and then come back again. Right now, we’re seeing a major resurgence in analog synths. We started to see the beginnings of this about five years ago, and now it’s in full swing. Eventually, that trend will cool off and something else will take its place. We’re very confident that electric guitar will have its ‘moment’ again. It’s just a matter of time.” “I don’t agree with the theory that the electric guitar declined over the past decade,” said Jeff Slingluff, product strategy manager at BOSS and Roland Guitar. “Yes, new product sales did decline, but if you look at support products like strings and picks, it MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

Andy Mooney, Fender

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paints a different picture. To me, it suggests that guitar players are strong and healthy in the world. Most likely, they’ve simply been less willing or able to buy new products. Of course, there were economic issues starting in 2008 and new online buying/selling habits that also contributed. At BOSS, our biggest competition for our compact pedals is the used market for the BOSS compact pedals we built years ago; this suggests a healthy used market for compact pedals that is competing with new product sales.” Talk of an electric guitar decline “makes no sense,” concluded Ryan Kershaw, director, product development and artists relations, D’Angelico. “We’ve been having this conversation

Brian Piccolo, Korg USA

for years and it’s consistently disproved. The demand for guitar has not gone down; it’s just that the kinds of products customers are looking for are changing — and that can be said across all industries. Consumers now expect only the utmost quality products for an accessible price. It creates a competitive playing field, but it also creates an environment in which only the fittest survive. High customer expectations have allowed our brand to grow and thrive in a difficult industry. Separately, whenever faced with this question, I think it’s important to mention that guitar is an inherent

and immoveable part of modern music culture — guitar brands just have to have the ability to change alongside and respond to that ever-changing culture.”

Year in Review

Getting back to 2017’s results, electric guitars accounted for 47.7 percent of all guitar sales in terms of dollar share by type, according to MI Sales Trak data. This is a strong rise compared to 2016, when electric guitars comprised 46.1 percent of guitar sales in terms of dollar share by type. Conversely, acoustics came in at 19.6 percent of all guitar sales last

year, a year-over-year decrease compared to 20.4 percent in 2016. Acoustic-electrics came in at 32.7 percent of all guitar sales in 2017, vs. 33.5 percent the prior year. In terms of electric guitar color trends by unit share, sunburst sales have been bright, with the most guitar units sold in this color during every month of 2017, as well as January of this year, according to MI Sales Trak. Black guitars placed second in each of these 13 months, with red guitars placing third each time. Across the board, manufacturers reported to the Music & Sound Retailer they were pleased with overall guitar sales and related products last year. “Despite the challenges the guitar industry faced in early 2017, Yamaha had a strong comeback and ended the year above the previous year,” said Webster. “It marked the ninth consecutive year of growth for Yamaha guitars in the United States. This was led by the success of new products such as the A Series, the TransAcoustic guitar and Revstar.” “Guitars were a bit of a challenge last year with the kick off of CITES,” said Gray. “Some factories were better prepared and cognizant of what was needed than others. Some parts of the world didn’t have the concern that others did with documentation or enforcement. Overall, CITES had a negative impact on sales for imported guitars, but for our domestic production the sales were up. We have hired more people and a new plant manager APRIL 2018

Courtland Gray, Peavey

see much of an impact because of CITES. We made the choice to continue using rosewood because we were not seeing any replacement options that we felt were going to be well accepted by guitar players. We made sure our suppliers had the correct documentation in place and we never ran into any issues.” “Our amp sales were great last year. We saw an increase in both Blackstar and VOX year over year,” said Piccolo. “In our

experiences with the amplifier category, it seems that if you can offer the right mix of product and hit the right price points, you can be successful. With even more great product on the way, we are looking forward to the year ahead.” “2017 was a great year for BOSS and Roland guitar product sales; we saw growth that far exceeded the industry trend,” said Slingluff. “There are multiple reasons we can attribute to

to assist in keeping up with the high demand of our HP 2 and Composite Acoustic guitars. The great thing about our Composite Acoustics carbon fiber guitars is that there are no concerns about CITES regulations regarding wood because they don’t have any forest-stripping wood in them.” Cullen said 2017 sales were “very positive,” with sales increasing by about 20 percent. “A lot of little things we’ve been working toward are beginning to blossom and bear their fruit,” he said. “The S2 Series is more firmly accepted and established. The CE is a lot of value for the price point [$1,999]. Our amplifier line was rounded out nicely with our Sonzera products. The SE line has been revamped, and the guitars are better than ever; an overall diverse lineup of price points, a pared-down model list with features that are desirable ... marketing and artist relations focus … The list goes on and on for sure.” “Given the challenges we, and the industry at large, faced last year, Washburn had a solid sales year in 2017,” responded Soucy. “In fact, we ended the year higher than projected despite the massive challenges posed with the CITES regulations that impacted sourcing and delivery for much of the year. I think our meaningful product offering and high standards for quality, sound and playability really helped to sustain the brand through the year. Our margin-rich dealer and distributor programs, as well as excellent customer service, also helped to achieve and maintain a higher volume of sales.” “2017 was a great year!” exclaimed Parker. “We didn’t MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

this growth. First, the industry as a whole experienced a resurgence in solid-body-guitar-related products. Along with that, BOSS has also introduced several new product lines over the past few years like the Katana Amplifier series, Waza pedals, MS-3 and the 500 series effects, which has also led to product and brand growth.” “FMIC’s worldwide guitar sales were up high single digits in 2017, outpacing industry growth, which was also positive,” said Mooney.

Selling Like Hotcakes

Continuing the theme regarding 2017 sales, we asked our panel what their hottest-selling products were last year. Here’s what they had to say. “Our sales have been up 200 percent year over year for the past three years,” said Kershaw. “We attribute that success to our being a noticeably growing brand in the industry — focusing on branding efforts that have helped the D’Angelico name go from niche to nearly ubiquitous. We have also focused on continuing to improve

Dennis Webster, Yamaha

the quality of our instruments, while establishing more and more accessible pricing — including a line of acoustic guitars that took off rapidly.” “I was amazed how many capos we sold throughout the year,” noted Gray. “Customers recognize the quality we put into our products. I angrily called our product manager once last year, when I saw how many were coming in on a container, but was pleasantly surprised when I checked our inventory a couple of weeks later.” “In Core, the McCarty 594 and Custom 24 models. In the S2

Series, the Satin Standards & the Vela. In Amplifiers, the Sonzera 20 combo. In SE, the Custom 24 [were our hottest sellers],” responded Cullen. Soucy said, “We experience success across a wide mix of guitars. The entire Washburn Comfort Series of guitars continues to be among our best sellers.

Models like the WCG20SCE and WCG25SCE were at the very top of the sales chart. Our longtime festival series EA15 was again a top seller and performed far beyond expectations, as did our Heritage Series HD10S, HF11S, HD10SCE and HF11SCE. Our Apprentice series acoustics and acoustic-electrics in the AD5, AG20 and AG40 model range also all exceeded projections.” “The breakthrough product for BOSS last year was the Katana amplifier series. Katana amplifiers are affordable, full-featured amplifiers with more than 55 BOSS effects built in. What really sets them apart is that Katanas are the first non-tube amplifiers to have the feel, volume and ability to cut through a band like their tube counterparts –– but for a lot less money,” said Slingluff. “Our best-selling guitar was our STG105NT, which is our entrylevel grand concert. It was No. 1 for us,” Parker said. “This is the first year that our STS105NT was not our best-selling model. It has been king for six years. It was fun to see the STG105NT take over

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that No. 1 spot. Our exotic-wood guitars also did very well for us. Our spalted maple and ziricote models jumped into our top-10 models at the very beginning of the year and stayed there all year. At Summer NAMM, we introduced our STS103NT-OP, a solid-mahogany-top dreadnought, and they sold out every time we received them in stock.” “For VOX, it was our 60th Anniversary AC15 & AC30 amplifiers,” Piccolo noted. “These amplifiers were hand-built in the UK, ending a nearly 15-year absence of a UK-made VOX product. We knew there was going to be a demand for these amps, but we were really impressed by how well these amplifiers sold and how well they were received by players.” “The launch of 2017’s electric guitar flagship series, American Professional, the update to the American Standard, was the most successful launch in Fender’s history,” Mooney responded. “The revolutionary Yamaha TransAcoustic guitar line was the hot item last year,” said Webster. “The TransAcoustic allows the player to experience authentic chorus and reverb generated by a small actuator completely hidden inside the guitar body. In short, you get a concert-hall sound without any external amps or effects. These guitars will continue to sell well in 2018 with the addition of the FG TransAcoustic, a more accessible model with the same cutting-edge actuator tech.”

ized they could not achieve such greatness.” “I think we all get inspired by Guitar Gods, but I also feel the guitar industry, as a whole, would benefit more if the guitar simply played a bigger part in modern music,” said Slingluff. “Guitar is easy and fun to play. Keeping up with a guitar hero can seem daunting and can actually become an emotional barrier to playing guitar. The industry needs a good mix of both: guitarist examples

that are attainable, desirable and fun, as well as aspirational influencers like guitar heroes.” “Guitar Gods are absolutely needed to keep the spotlight on the guitar! In fact, we can’t get enough of them,” said Soucy. “There is a lot of competition from outside the industry, and we need as much horsepower as we can possibly get to generate excitement for the instrument. The competition from outside has always been there, but we

House of Worship?

And now we come to the age-old question: Does the MI industry need Guitar Gods? “Trick question,” responded Cullen. “Of course, it helps because it is inspiring, but is it a Guitar God or music in general? Music in general wins for me, though ‘influencers’ certainly help the cause.” “I think any time someone is inspired by great talent and performance, it encourages them to emulate that greatness. It’s a good thing,” noted Gray. “Certainly, many of our past Guitar Gods have done just that and created a new wave of guitar players. They also created a lot of bass players who real-

MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

now live in the smartphone age of instant gratification, whereas playing guitar requires a time commitment that fewer and fewer kids are quick to embrace. So, while Guitar Gods are not needed in every genre of music, I think a few new ones are needed to get people talking about the instrument in ways that will sustain future guitar sales.” “Obviously, Guitar Gods are an important part of music and guitar culture, and historically

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Electric Guitars Electric Guitars Color Trend - Unit Share Color Trend - Unit Share Electric Guitars January 2018 Electric January 2018 Color Trend - UnitGuitars Share Guitars Electric

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probably more than there have Color Trend Unit Share January 2018 ever been and that inevitably inColor Trend - Unit Share fluences people. In fact, I just saw January 2018 100% January 2018 White a video for a new band called The 90% 100% Sunburst White Red 80%100% Fever 333. Seeing how passionate 90% Sunburst Other White Red Orange 70% 90% 80% they are as a band and how hard Sunburst Other 100% Natural 100% Red Orange Green 60% 80% 70% White Other they were rocking out made we 90% White Natural Gray/Silver Sunburst 90% Orange Sunburst 50% 70% Red Green 60% Gold 80% Natural Red want to get up from my desk and Other 80% Gray/Silver Burgundy Green 60% Other Orange 40% 50% 70% Gold Brown Gray/Silver Orange 70% Natural plug into a loud amp. So, to me, 50% Burgundy Gold Blue Natural Green 60% 30% 40% Burgundy Brown Blonde Green 60% Gray/Silver 40% Brown the Guitar God tradition is being Blue Gray/Silver Black 50% Gold 20% 50% 30% Blue Gold Blonde Amber Burgundy 30% Blonde Burgundy 40% redefined. We are still looking for Black Brown 10% 40% 20% Black Brown 20% Blue Amber Amber 30% Blue Blonde 30% players to introduce us to sounds, 0% 10% 10% Blonde Black 20% Black Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 Amber 20%Jan '17 0% 0% techniques and gear, but we’re Amber 10% Jan '17 FebFeb Mar Apr May June Nov Dec Jan '18 10%Jan '17 Mar Apr May June July July Aug Aug Sept SeptOct Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 finding them in more and more 0% 0% Jan '17 Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 Jan '17 Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 places, and not just the cover of Jan '17 Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 Amber 0.9 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.2 0.6 1.1 0.7 1.1 1.3 rock magazines.” Black 21.6 20.9 21.0 19.9 18.9 19.2 19.7 18.6 18.9 21.5 20.3 20.3 19.1 Jan '17 Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan '18 Blonde 3.2 3.4 2.8 2.6 3.7 3.5 3.8 3.3 3.8 3.5 3.1 2.9 4.0 Amber 0.9 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.2 0.6 1.1 0.7 1.1 1.3 “Virtuoso guitar players will Blue 7.6 7.5 8.2 8.5 8.8 8.4 10.0 9.3 8.9 8.8 10.2 10.2 10.1 Black 21.6 20.9 21.0 19.9 18.9 19.2 19.7 18.6 18.9 21.5 20.3 20.3 19.1 Brown 1.9 1.9 2.7 2.1 1.8 2.1 3.0 2.6 3.1 2.6 2.5 2.1 Blonde 3.2 3.4 2.8 2.6 3.7 3.5 3.8 3.3 3.8 3.5 3.1 2.9 4.0 Burgundy 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.1 1.2 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.1 Blue 7.6 7.5 8.2 8.5 8.8 8.4 10.0 9.3 8.9 8.8 10.2 10.2 10.1 always be important. Ritchie Gold 1.4 2.3 2.0 2.4 2.1 1.6 1.5 2.2 2.2 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.7 Brown 1.9 1.9 2.7 2.1 1.8 2.1 3.0 2.6 3.8 3.1 2.6 2.5 2.1 Gray/Silver 3.0 3.5 3.2 3.5 2.9 3.5 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.2 2.5 Burgundy 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.1 1.2 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.1 Blackmore was the reason I emGreen 4.5 4.9 4.3 4.4 5.0 5.5 4.9 5.2 4.7 4.1 4.3 4.1 5.4 Gold 1.4 2.3 2.0 2.4 2.1 1.6 1.5 2.2 2.2 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.7 Natural 4.6 5.0 4.7 5.0 5.0 6.0 5.3 4.8 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.0 5.2 Gray/Silver 3.0 3.5 3.2 3.5 2.9 3.5 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.2 2.5 braced guitar,” said Mooney. “The Orange 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.5 0.9 1.4 1.1 1.4 Green 4.5 4.9 4.3 4.4 5.0 5.5 4.9 5.2 4.7 4.1 4.3 4.1 5.4 Other 4.7 4.5 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.9 3.8 4.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 5.9 4.3 Natural 4.6 5.0 4.7 5.0 5.0 6.0 5.3 4.8 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.0 5.2 Red 11.9 11.4 10.6 11.9 11.8 12.5 10.6 11.2 11.3 11.0 10.5 12.3 10.5 Orange 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.5 0.9 1.4 1.1 1.4 emergence of punk, however, Sunburst 24.5 22.5 23.3 23.8 23.6 22.4 22.2 23.0 22.6 22.8 23.2 23.1 21.7 Other 4.7 4.5 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.9 3.8 4.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 5.9 4.3 White 8.0 8.9 9.0 8.2 8.6 8.4 9.2 9.4 8.1 7.5 7.8 7.7 9.6 Red 11.9 11.4 10.6 11.9 11.8 12.5 10.6 11.2 11.3 11.0 10.5 12.3 10.5 forever changed the way playSunburst 24.5 22.5 23.3 23.8 23.6 22.4 22.2 23.0 22.6 22.8 23.2 23.1 21.7 White 8.0 8.9 9.0 8.2 8.6 8.4 9.2 9.4 8.1 7.5 7.8 7.7 9.6 ers related to guitar. After punk, Copyright © 2018 Marketing Information Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2018 Marketing Information Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. all you needed was the ability to Copyright © 2018 Marketing Information Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2018 Marketing Information Inc. All Inc. Rights Copyright© © 2018 Marketing Information AllReserved. Rights Reserved. GUITARS - DOLLAR GUITARSSHARE -Copyright DOLLAR BY TYPE SHARE BYServices, TYPE GUITARS - Services, DOLLAR SHARE BYasTYPE play a few chords coupled with important to me as the music GUITARS - DOLLAR SHARE BY TYPE unbridled enthusiasm and you itself. I think the guitar industry is 2016 2016 2017 2017 2016 2017 could join a band. Guitar is now facing the same issue as the film 2016 2017 predominantly a compositional industry. All of our rock stars are and performance instrument. getting old and all of their big-budThat change happened decades get movie stars are getting old. ago. Since then, the industry has The film industry has shifted from not just survived, but grown.” movie stars to movie franchises. Electric Electric Electric Electric Electric Electric 46.1% Electric 46.1% 46.1% 47.7% Electric 47.7% Webster said, “Having a Guitar People 47.7% stopped paying money to 46.1% 47.7% God couldn’t hurt the growth of go see a movie just because (inthe industry, but there’s a larger sert male movie star name here) point: I believe there is an even was in it, but they keep going to greater number of influential movies that are part of franchises guitarists now than 20 years ago. they love, even when the studios However, today they’re online have hired new, unknown actors Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic 20.4% Acoustic 20.4% and social-media sensations, to star in the movies. We need to 20.4% 19.6% Acoustic 19.6% 19.6% 20.4% rather than the rock-star avatar of do the same thing in our industry. 19.6% high-profile exposure that we asGuitar manufacturers will need to sociate with our guitar heroes of figure out how to create a ‘franthe past. For example, fingerstyle chise’ experience. There are a acoustic influencers are on the number of ways in which we can Acoustic/Elec Acoustic/Elec Acoustic/Elec Acoustic/Elec Acoustic/Elec Acoustic/Elec 33.5% Acoustic/Elec33.5% 33.5% 32.7% Acoustic/Elec32.7% 32.7% rise online, and they have a direct make that shift. Creating a strong 33.5% 32.7% impact on the younger generabrand identity and story, and intion, driving them to the acoustic volving new, inspiring artists who guitar (which helps explain the will contribute to a lifestyle brand market trend toward acousticare a couple of ways to make electrics). Unfortunately, it seems that happen.” that brands are trying to apply Piccolo had these thoughts. they’ve been monumental in aidmajor labels rule all, young guitar yesterday’s business practices “Right now, it doesn’t seem like ing guitar sales, but we’re living players are finding new spheres and marketing tactics to today’s the Guitar God is a necessary in a different time now,” noted of influence all around them.” web-driven, instant-gratification component to success. We are Kershaw. “Especially in the age But, Parker noted, “We are culture. I don’t think the musical seeing the big artists have less of social media, the meaning of fine without them. They served a instrument industry, as a whole, influence on players or potential Guitar God has changed — and purpose, which was to make the has a firm grasp yet on how to players. To us, it seems like the in many ways for the better. electric guitar an iconic instrubond with and influence today’s community of guitar players on Customers now feel a lot more ment and an instrument that younger players.” social media, on forums and the closely related, for example, to will be played for generations to players who are actively reviewsocial media influencers who come. When I think of the music ing gear on YouTube are having seem similar to them and have I listen to now, there are not any Tips for Retailers much more of a direct impact on started a successful guitar-based Guitar Gods in any of this music. No matter whether we need buying habits or what’s ‘cool,’ Instagram channel just because Sure, there are some great guitar Guitar Gods or not to sell guirather than a singular guitar they are a great player. Or, with players and, sometimes, I even tars, one thing is certain: Any player. That doesn’t mean there the huge volume of successful take the time to find out their advice manufacturers can provide aren’t great players and great independent bands because we’re names. However, the name of the regarding how to best sell their bands out there now. There are no longer living in a world where person playing the guitar is not guitars and related products Amber Black Blonde Blue Amber Brown Black Burgundy Blonde Gold Blue Gray/Silver Brown Green Burgundy Natural Gold Orange Gray/Silver Other Green Red Natural Sunburst Orange White Other Red Sunburst White

Jan '17 Feb 0.9 1.2 21.6 20.9 3.2 3.4 Jan '17 Feb 7.6 Amber 7.5 0.9 1.9 Black 1.2 1.9 21.6 20.9 1.1 Blonde 1.2 3.2 1.4 Blue 3.4 2.3 7.6 3.0 Brown 7.5 3.5 1.9 4.5Burgundy1.9 4.9 1.1 4.6 Gold 1.2 5.0 1.4 2.3 Gray/Silver 1.2 1.0 3.0 3.5 Green 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.9 Natural 11.9 11.4 4.6 5.0 24.5Orange22.5 1.2 8.0 Other 1.0 8.9 4.7 Red 4.5 11.9 11.4 Sunburst 24.5 White 22.5 8.0 8.9

Mar 1.4 21.0 Jan 2.8 '17 Mar 0.9 8.2 1.4 21.6 2.7 21.0 3.2 1.5 2.8 7.6 2.0 8.2 1.9 3.2 2.7 1.1 4.3 1.5 1.4 4.7 2.0 3.0 1.2 3.2 4.5 4.2 4.3 4.6 10.6 4.7 1.2 23.3 1.2 4.7 9.0 4.2 11.9 10.6 24.5 23.3 8.0 9.0

Apr 1.2 19.9 Feb 2.6 Apr 1.2 8.5 1.2 20.9 2.1 19.9 3.4 1.3 2.6 7.5 2.4 8.5 1.9 3.5 2.1 1.2 4.4 1.3 2.3 5.0 2.4 3.5 1.2 3.5 4.9 3.9 4.4 5.0 11.9 5.0 1.0 23.8 1.2 4.5 8.2 3.9 11.4 11.9 22.5 23.8 8.9 8.2

May 1.0 18.9 Mar 3.7 May 1.4 8.8 1.0 21.0 1.8 18.9 2.8 1.2 3.7 8.2 2.1 8.8 2.7 2.9 1.8 1.5 5.0 1.2 2.0 5.0 2.1 3.2 1.2 2.9 4.3 4.3 5.0 4.7 11.8 5.0 1.2 23.6 1.2 4.2 8.6 4.3 10.6 11.8 23.3 23.6 9.0 8.6

June 0.8 19.2 Apr 3.5 June 1.2 8.4 0.8 19.9 2.1 19.2 2.6 1.5 3.5 8.5 1.6 8.4 2.1 3.5 2.1 1.3 5.5 1.5 2.4 6.0 1.6 3.5 0.8 3.5 4.4 3.9 5.5 5.0 12.5 6.0 1.2 22.4 0.8 3.9 8.4 3.9 11.9 12.5 23.8 22.4 8.2 8.4

July 1.0 19.7 May 3.8 July 1.0 10.0 1.0 18.9 3.0 19.7 3.7 1.1 3.8 8.8 1.5 10.0 1.8 3.0 3.0 1.2 4.9 1.1 2.1 5.3 1.5 2.9 0.9 3.0 5.0 3.8 4.9 5.0 10.6 5.3 1.2 22.2 0.9 4.3 9.2 3.8 11.8 10.6 23.6 22.2 8.6 9.2

Aug 1.2 18.6 June 3.3 Aug 0.8 9.3 1.2 19.2 2.6 18.6 3.5 1.2 3.3 8.4 2.2 9.3 2.1 2.9 2.6 1.5 5.2 1.2 1.6 4.8 2.2 3.5 0.9 2.9 5.5 4.2 5.2 6.0 11.2 4.8 0.8 23.0 0.9 3.9 9.4 4.2 12.5 11.2 22.4 23.0 8.4 9.4

Sept 0.6 18.9 July 3.8 Sept 1.0 8.9 0.6 19.7 3.8 18.9 3.8 0.9 3.8 10.0 2.2 8.9 3.0 2.9 3.8 1.1 4.7 0.9 1.5 4.4 2.2 3.0 1.5 2.9 4.9 5.4 4.7 5.3 11.3 4.4 0.9 22.6 1.5 3.8 8.1 5.4 10.6 11.3 22.2 22.6 9.2 8.1

Oct 1.1 21.5 Aug 3.5 Oct 1.2 8.8 1.1 18.6 3.1 21.5 3.3 1.1 3.5 9.3 1.7 8.8 2.6 2.8 3.1 1.2 4.1 1.1 2.2 4.4 1.7 2.9 0.9 2.8 5.2 5.6 4.1 4.8 11.0 4.4 0.9 22.8 0.9 4.2 7.5 5.6 11.2 11.0 23.0 22.8 9.4 7.5

Nov 0.7 20.3 Sept 3.1 Nov 0.6 10.2 0.7 18.9 2.6 20.3 3.8 0.9 3.1 8.9 1.9 10.2 3.8 2.9 2.6 0.9 4.3 0.9 2.2 4.5 1.9 2.9 1.4 2.9 4.7 5.8 4.3 4.4 10.5 4.5 1.5 23.2 1.4 5.4 7.8 5.8 11.3 10.5 22.6 23.2 8.1 7.8

Dec 1.1 20.3 Oct 2.9 Dec 1.1 10.2 1.1 21.5 2.5 20.3 3.5 0.9 2.9 8.8 1.7 10.2 3.1 2.2 2.5 1.1 4.1 0.9 1.7 4.0 1.7 2.8 1.1 2.2 4.1 5.9 4.1 4.4 12.3 4.0 0.9 23.1 1.1 5.6 7.7 5.9 11.0 12.3 22.8 23.1 7.5 7.7

Jan '18 1.3 19.1 Nov 4.0 Jan0.7 '18 10.1 1.3 20.3 2.1 19.1 3.1 1.1 4.0 10.2 1.7 10.1 2.6 2.5 2.1 0.9 5.4 1.1 1.9 5.2 1.7 2.9 1.4 2.5 4.3 4.3 5.4 4.5 10.5 5.2 1.4 21.7 1.4 5.8 9.6 4.3 10.5 10.5 23.2 21.7 7.8 9.6

Dec 1.1 20.3 2.9 10.2 2.5 0.9 1.7 2.2 4.1 4.0 1.1 5.9 12.3 23.1 7.7

Jan '18 1.3 19.1 4.0 10.1 2.1 1.1 1.7 2.5 5.4 5.2 1.4 4.3 10.5 21.7 9.6

APRIL 2018

certainly can’t hurt. We asked our panel to provide some tips for MI retailers. “Be open to and understand the advantages of guitars constructed with different materials,” said Gray. “Remind the customer that a carbon fiber guitar doesn’t have the same issues with temperature and humidity that can keep a traditional guitar stored away waiting for sunnier skies. Travel the globe with your durable Composite Acoustic guitar without fear of it being seized at the border because you don’t have a CITES certificate stating where the wood in your guitar was harvested. Or you can spin it this way, that you will get more use from our carbon fiber guitars because of all this, thus making it a better value. More play equals less pay.” “Be involved in your community,” said Parker. “Be the music experts that people can look to when they need answers to their questions. Make sure you are reaching out to young people and please stop calling them ‘millennials.’ Be patient with them; they are used to having anything they want right there in the phone in their hands. These young people are not as brand specific as their parents are. That is very beneficial for an upand-coming brand like Teton.” “We are very thankful to be working with a wide range of amazing dealers who are doing their best to promote and sell our products daily,” said Slingluff. “Yes, BOSS has a great brand and after 40 years is still going strong, but the only thing I can really say to [our dealers] is thank you. If there is any advice to be had, I think it would be from them to us. So, the question is, how may we better help you?” “Don’t lose the passion that brought you into this business. To the contrary: use that passion to inspire it in others,” said Webster. Soucy noted, “I encourage retailers to look very closely at the new Washburn lineup. … This being Washburn’s 135th anniversary year gives our dealers a terrific story to tell their customers. Being the second-oldest brand of guitar will help your customers feel confident they are buying within the right brand and give MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

your salesmen confidence when selling Washburn that they are giving your customers something backed by 135 years of guitarbuilding experience.” “Play them, know them well and compare them to products in their price range — they will sell themselves,” said Kershaw. “We take a huge amount of pride in ensuring that our instruments are better than those they stand alongside, and that’s easily proven when a player is given the

chance to compare.” “Educate yourself because if you’re confident, you will sell more,” said Cullen. “Put our guitars in people’s hands; plug them into our amps. That is how you will appreciate our craft and attention to detail.”

Crystal Ball

The Music & Sound Retailer concluded by asking its panel to look into the future. Of course, it’s hard for anyone to know

exactly what will happen in the future. We first asked what future technologies could change the guitar industry. “The live performance needs of a guitar player really seem to be dictating user equipment,” noted Slingluff. “For example, 4x12s have decreased in popularity over the last decade, and that probably has a lot to do with in-ears, reduced stage volume, and the additional cost of renting or shipping for touring bands. These

Jeff Slingluff, BOSS and Roland

stage trends are adding fuel to the use of direct amp solutions. We’ve employed a feature on our amps called Power Control that allows users to maintain the feel and dynamic like a loud nonmaster-volume tube amp, while at the same time being able to control the volume. We can do this with a technology called Tube-Logic. Other companies are working to come up with their own solutions.” “I saw a few different companies at NAMM showing LED lights that are attached to the fingerboard,” recalled Parker. “The lights show players where to put their fingers as they are learning chords. The lights can also be synced to songs that will teach players how to play some of their favorite songs. The application of

these lights still felt off to me as a player, but the idea is now out there, and someone will figure out how to integrate it seamlessly with a fingerboard. At that point, beginners will have a new way to be involved with their instruments. Also, the industry needs the trend of music making to once again be social and involve people interacting with each other. Some amazing products have come out that allow people to be one-man bands or have a complete backing band inside a pedal. I love these technologies. They have allowed me to practice at my home whenever I want. But music is not about creating all on our own. We, as a species, need interaction with each other, and music has always been a way to fulfill that need. Whether it is

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middle school music programs or garage bands with friends, to giant outdoor music festivals attended by tens of thousands of people, music creates community.” “The trend among players has been toward simplicity in guitars, amps and effects pedals,” said Mooney. “Players have largely rejected the introduction of new technologies in equipment. We believe a key to accelerating growth in the guitar market is reducing the abandonment rate of first-time players, through online learning. We launched Fender Play in July 2017 and are very pleased with results to date. Our suite of interconnected apps, Fender Tune, Tone and Play are all geared toward helping players make it through their first year. That’s where we’re focusing our efforts in terms of introducing new technologies.” “Anything that can better engage new players to learn and stay interested in the hard work that it takes to become proficient in playing an instrument is great,” said Gray. “The great ones make it look easy, and it can be a disappointment when a new player realizes that it doesn’t come easy. Hartley [Peavey] has always promoted a musical program similar to the martial arts where a student has certain levels and achievements they must accomplish before they move up a level and get a new color belt. Music programs need similar levels of achievement that the student can obtain and know they have a destination to get to. But of course, in the grand scheme of things, guitar is a journey and not a destination.”

“We hold the belief that, with guitar making, we’ve seen time and time again that it’s not about reinventing the wheel, but rather making the absolute best wheel you can,” Kershaw said. “It’s part of the reason we reference our brand roots and our history — context that we are tremendously fortunate to have. We believe it’s tremendously important to preserve what is sacred about the guitar and to tread lightly with certain innovations. We believe wild technological innovation is not what guitar consumers want. They want the absolute best, realest instrument they can get their hands on. To us, that means logical innovations in sound and design, but not turning your guitar into a hoverboard that’s also a microwave.” Soucy said, “I think we need to continue to create an environment where more people can be exposed to playing guitar. I really think we need to find a way to get better support from the record labels and production houses to stimulate interest. I firmly believe making the guitar more present in general will help fuel its growth and stability. On the technology side, I think there are a lot of web-based lesson/teaching tools that will help people that are not near a local store or lesson center to learn to play. As an industry, I think we need to support the development of these products and keep them as affordable as possible and easy to obtain. As we all know, the local music store plays a massive role in creating new guitar players, and we should never overlook the value they provide and collectively, as an industry, we should do as much as we possibly can to help and support them.” “More practice? Who knows, really? It’s about creativity, and that comes from all over the place. People need tools to create their art with; that’s what we make. Does it shift moving forward? Let’s hop in my DeLorean and see where it goes,” joked Cullen.

The Future of Guitars

To wrap it up, we asked our panelists if they are bullish about the future of guitars. Here’s the responses we received. “I am bullish. Everywhere I APRIL 2018

Jim Cullen, PRS Guitars

look, I see people creating music with a guitar. Maybe we aren’t hearing it as much as we would like on the radio (really, who listens to the radio anymore?), but I see the guitar being played in every genre of live music,” said Parker. “Yes, we are excited about the business moving forward. We feel that we have premier brands that are developing great products and are very confident about the future,” Piccolo said. “Most definitely! I see a common theme in the music industry: an effort to engage new players and keep them super motivated to continue growing as musicians. As I’ve said, we are not quite there yet, but as more educational resources serve to enhance customer experiences, both online and mobile, engagement will increase. There are also great organizations such as GAMA, Guitars 4 Vets, Lead Guitar, Little Kids Rock and many others expanding guitar and music education to more people every year,” said Webster. “Yes, absolutely. I don’t believe the guitar market is dying at all — it’s just evolving. It’s becoming a reflection of a changing music and business culture where only those who have their finger on the pulse of all that evolution survive,” said Kershaw. Gray said, “There have always been trends and fads in the music industry, and much of that has been driven by the style of music in vogue. That has influenced the popularity of various instruments as well. Current trends are probably not helping drive guitar sales, but that can change pretty quickly. We could use some more Guitar Gods, MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

Gil Soucy, U.S. Music Corp.

and I am sure some new ones will come around and again inspire new musicians hoping to be like their new hero.” “No, I am hopeful,” responded Cullen. “Because music inspires people to create, dance, sing, etc., and people are passionate about music. In the end, it’s what brought me to PRS 21 years ago … passion for life. I play music, so why not surround myself with it? Other people obviously feel the same way because we are on a good path and poised to grow again in 2018. Like the tortoise, we are slow and steady.” “The answer is yes. Guitar’s role in music is like a pendulum that swings back and forth. It’s done this since the ’50s, and while the time it remains on one side vs. the other will change from time to time, there is no indication that the pendulum has stopped. And if anything, the last year may be an indication of its current direction,” said Slingluff. “Yes. Over the decades, I’ve seen all kinds of trends while selling guitars both at retail and in manufacturing/distribution, and now more than ever I see that music in general is as strong as it ever has been,” Soucy stated. “One item that consistently proves this to me is how much people are willing to pay for a concert ticket. … Also, as I have been traveling the around world, I have been hearing from a lot of colleagues that in many countries there is a very active movement to add guitar to public school programs. They realize the benefits that music brings to learning in general, which has been proven to help bring higher math and reading scores. At the same time, they are realizing there is a direct connection between the guitar

and current music trends that will help hold the students’ interest and attention while learning the complexities of music. The feeling in many cases is that even after the kids leave school, they will continue to play guitar. Plus, anyone who has tried to play the guitar with even just a little success simply knows how rewarding it can be to learn, which is why I think we as an industry need to make it easy for people to buy and learn the guitar. I also believe popular music in the future will always have the guitar present in it in some shape or form, so the future for the guitar seems very bright to me.” “I’m very bullish on the future of the guitar market because the underlying trends in consumption of recorded and live music are

so strong,” concluded Mooney. “Naysayers focus on the growth in EDM, but the facts are that half of the top-10 songs and albums streamed in 2017 came from guitar-based artists and bands, and the growth in music streaming is largely being driven by back-catalog music going all the way back to Buddy Holly. The predominant instrument on concert stages worldwide last year was guitar. Electric guitar sales in North America in the fourth quarter of 2017 were up double digits!”

S P ECI AL T O THE R ETAIL ER By Brian Berk Fender’s six-product pedal line — its first foray into this market — launched Feb. 27. The company officially premiered the products at a New York City press event, which recreated the workshop of Stan Cotey, Fender’s in-house engineer and vice president of product development — accessories and amplifiers, who spent many an hour designing the products. Fortunately, he joked, he’s not into watching sports — a good thing, as it didn’t rob any of his time from making the pedals. “If you go back to the very early part of Fender’s history, we built working tools for working musicians,” said Cotey. “They were built for function first, and we kept that same spirit in these pedals. A lot of the ideas, for me, came from listening, playing and seeing how things not only sound, but also feel. You design something, build it, and then start fine-tuning it with a guitar, an amp, and feedback from artists and players.” The long hours needed to create the pedals were definitely worth it. “For us, it’s a passion project. When you have a passion project, you really put the time in. It was late nights and lots of flights and lots of communications between our team in Hollywood and our team in Arizona,” Richard Bussey, Fender’s director of product development — accessories and amplifiers, told the Music & Sound Retailer. “In the end, I’m really excited about the final product we have.” Officially launched were the Pugilist Distortion at $99 MAP; Level Set Buffer at $99 MAP; The Bends Compressor at $129.99 MAP; two digital pedals, the Mirror Image Delay and the Marine Layer Reverb at $149.99 MAP; and the Santa Ana Overdrive at $199 MAP. In addition to competitive pricing, Fender wanted to make sure the pedals are unique. A patent-pending battery door that Bussey said allows end users to change batteries much more rapidly than competitor products, as well as lighted LED knobs, are two such unique features. But why enter the pedal market now? “The reason we wanted to get into pedals was we don’t own the signal chain if we don’t have pedals,” Bussey told the Music & Sound Retailer. “I think we make the best amplifiers in the world. I think we make the best guitars in the world. To me, if someone is creating a song, the amplifier is the canvas, the guitar is the paint brush and pedals are the paint. You are doing something different from the way the guitar is built and the amp is built. It’s how you make the song your own.” Fender CEO Andy Mooney added, “We have three objectives. First: offer compelling product in combination with compelling marketing. Second: fuel future growth in the category by allocating significant marketing resources to this short- and long-term. Third: elevate the profit potential in this category for our dealers in terms of margin and turn, relative to key competitors.” Regarding the manufacturing process, Bussey revealed Cotey was already developing pedals on his own, and a group of five Fender employees, two on the business side and three on the research and development side, made the pedal dream a reality. “We put our necks out there and decided we could launch a pedal line in a calendar year. Two of the ideas for pedals were already completed. The other four were developed about as quickly as you can make a line of pedals in this day and age. We got a lot of feedback from players and felt we can do this right and make it affordable. A $99 distortion that’s really two distortions in one is a great value. And $149 for the reverb and the delay are comparable to pedals that are $170 to $299 on the market, depending on where you go.” On a corporate basis, “We are absolutely vested in getting ourselves into the category space, where a player can pick up a Fender guitar, plug it through a Fender cable, a Fender pedal and a Fender amp, and own the stage 100 percent. Everything was designed by our team to make sure your version of your song comes out the way you intended,” said Bussey. Of course, Fender pedals can also be the “voice” of another company’s guitar or amplifier, he added. “It really is a second win for us,” remarked Bussey. For retailers searching for the right selling points to use when offering Fender pedals in their stores, Bussey offered the following advice. “The best reason for a customer to buy a Fender pedal is that they are truly different and unique,” he said. “They are all original schematics. You can stack the distortions, which is a fantastic way to figure out what kind of gain setting you want. The delay has a dotted-eight feature, which is something that doesn’t come on a lot of pedals, especially at the $149 price point.” Fender wanted to make sure every pedal had a distinct reason to exist, noted Bussey. “They are not what you could buy every day at any store,” he said. “It’s boutique-quality pedals at affordable, macro-pedal prices.” “Our pedals need to be as compelling as our guitars and amps,” concluded Mooney. “I believe these pedals meet that criteria, and I feel very good about the feedback to date from the players and dealers who’ve used them.”

Fender’s Pedal Passion Project

APRIL 2018

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FI V E M INUTE S W ITH

DAVID KALT

By Matt Van Dyke

We caught up with Reverb. com’s founder and CEO, David Kalt, after this year’s NAMM Show, where he was the NAMM Young Professionals keynote speaker. What follows is a great stand-in for those who could not make it to this year’s keynote, as well as an exceptional continuation for those who were able to attend. Kalt reflects on the young professionals in our industry, including those he employs, and provides an outline of his company’s approach to digital services and content right now and looking toward the future. Enjoy.

FOUNDER AND CEO, REVERB.COM

The Music & Sound Retailer: What advice did you offer to the young professionals during your NAMM presentation? David Kalt: The first and most important piece of advice I offered was “know your vision.” When we launched Reverb in 2013, I could envision where we are today: just under 200 employees, more than 10 million monthly visitors to the website per month, nearly $400 million in sales in 2017, employees in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and Japan. Today, I can visualize where we will be in one, five, and 10 years. If you don’t have clarity on where you’re going, why would a customer, employee or business partner want to come along for the ride? Another piece of advice I offered — pulling from my background — is that it’s never too late to change direction. Straight out of college, I was a recording engineer. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was definitely not going to be the next Jimmy Iovine. So, I taught myself to code and started a tech company. Later in life, I taught myself to trade options and built an options trading platform that eventually sold to Charles Schwab. More recently, I bought a guitar store and taught myself the business of buying and selling music gear before ultimately launching Reverb. It’s never too late to pivot. In addition to pulling from my own background, I offered several pieces of advice based on strategies that have helped Reverb grow into what it is today. First, everyone at Reverb uses the site — it enables us not only to find bugs and come up with new tools and services, but also it gets us closer to our customers. Another key to Reverb’s success? Great people. You’re only as good as the team you build, so you should constantly be thinking about your next hire

or how to cultivate the talent you have. Along those same lines, spend time nurturing your company’s culture. Create a work environment that attracts and retains great people. Finally, never be satisfied. That means having thick skin, listening to (and asking for) criticism, and constantly asking yourself how your product, service or company can be better. Even when things are going well, you should always be thinking ahead to a new supplier you could be working with, a new product you could offer, or a new service you could provide. As an example, we recently launched Reverb LP — a marketplace for records and other physical music. Building this business alongside what we’ve already built isn’t going to be a walk in the park, but if you want to grow, you have to continue to innovate.

The Retailer: How was your message received? Was there any notable feedback or interactions at the reception, afterwards? Kalt: Overall, I was blown away by not only the positive feedback I received, but by the incredibly thoughtful and introspective questions that audience members asked following my keynote presentation. This industry has gotten some flak over the past few years, between the “Chicken Little” proclamations that the electric guitar is dead [Editor’s note: see this month’s guitar cover story for more on this topic] to the overarching retail headlines that continue to highlight brick-and-mortar store closings. But when you talk to the people who are actively working to move their businesses and the entire industry forward — by, for example, attending

an educational NAMM session or contacting the Reverb Outreach team to see how they can increase their sales online — it’s incredibly encouraging. For every person who doesn’t want to change what he or she has been doing for the past 20 years, there are 10 others who are actively seeking out new ways to nurture and grow their businesses. A lot of audience members had further questions about hiring and culture — what we look for in new team members, how to create an environment where employees want to be, how to know when it’s time to let someone go and more. I’m proud that we’ve built a business that serves as an example for retailers and manufacturers that understand that your business is only as good as its people. Often in the music instrument industry, business leaders rely on the fact that “working in music” is cool and potentially attractive to candidates. That’s no longer acceptable. Young professionals, in particular, are looking for purposeful work. They want to feel like they’re part of something and making a difference through their careers. It’s up to business leaders to provide opportunities for young employees to make an impact and to create an environment where they feel empowered to come up with and initiate those ideas on their own.

The Retailer: Your stor y is one of innovation and problem-solving with technology. How would you gauge the next generation in MI on those two points? Kalt: Based on what I see 37

when I look at the young professionals that work within Reverb’s walls, the future is bright. They’re self-starters. They challenge the status quo. Yes, they grew up alongside technology and, as a result, they’re more comfortable using it to solve problems. But, even more importantly, they’ve been taught that if something isn’t working or could be better, fix it. At Reverb — where I estimate that the median age is around 31 or 32 — everyone is expected to speak

up when they have ideas and to take action, rather than waiting for someone to tell them what to do. It all goes back to the desire to make an impact. The next generation of leaders wants to do meaningful work and they want to see how their own specific actions lead to better outcomes for the business. I’ve seen first-hand how the next generation solves problems with technology through something we call The Contest. Every five weeks, new employees participate in a competition during which they are given $1,000 in Reverb Bucks and challenged to buy and sell as many guitar pedals as possible. The main goal of the competition is to encourage everyone, regardless of title or team, to experience the ins and outs of the Reverb platform, but often, employees will find bugs or create new services and features based on the intense five-week use of the platform. There are dozens of examples of new services and tools created through The Contest, including our Offer Bot app, which saves users time by automatically accepting, rejecting, or countering offers based on pre-set minimum and maximum listing prices. The Sell This Item button — which allows you to quickly auto-create a listing for something you purchased on Reverb — was also created by someone who participated in The Contest and thought it was counterintuitive to refill all information that is already available on the platform. Finding pain points and fixing them with technology is 38

something that is ingrained into the culture at Reverb.

The Retailer: There’s a major divide between what customers expect and what they receive, digitally, from independent MI retailers. How do you see young professionals closing that divide? Kalt: There’s no doubt that the MI industry is full of professionals who have been doing this for nearly their entire lives, and I get it — it can be tough to change course when you’ve been doing things a certain way for so long. That’s why the young professionals who are coming up through the ranks are so crucial to the advancement of the industry. One great example is Music Makers in Galesburg, Ill. The store opened in 2001 and quickly found success by offering quality products, fair prices and exceptional customer service. But when the town’s largest employer moved to Mexico with thousands of jobs in 2004, the small Main Street music store felt the impact. Last year, the store’s owner began working with a young musician named Evan Holmes. Evan knew that the key to Music Makers’ success was getting its incredible inventory in front of a larger audience of buyers online. To make a long story short, Evan helped Music Makers move its long-inventoried guitars online and transferred the store’s website to Reverb Sites, our free service that allows sellers to create a customizable e-commerce site that’s linked

to their Reverb inventory. After retooling the store’s e-commerce capabilities in June, the company’s August sales increased to $40,000, and within three months, the store had generated nearly $100,000 in online sales.

The Retailer: Is there anything more you’d like to say to young professionals? Kalt: A big underlying theme of my presentation that’s worth restating is the importance of continued education in whatever way you’re able to get it. The fact that this audience took time out of their busy NAMM schedules to come to the NAMM YP keynote shows that they’re on the right track, but learning should happen continually, not just once or twice a year at the NAMM Show. I challenge young professionals to seek out learning opportunities — whether it’s through webinars, a book, an informational interview with someone in the industry or a subscription to a trade magazine like the Music & Sound Retailer — and to ask their employers to support it, whether financially or by simply giving them the time to learn. I’d also challenge employers to find proactive ways to teach employees something new on a regular basis. At Reverb, we recently started a biweekly learning series in which employees hear from experts from inside and outside of the organization on topics ranging from “How Not to Blow Up Your Amp” to DJ gear essentials. We pride ourselves on the fact that nearly 85 percent of APRIL 2018

our employees are musicians and there is a lot of expertise within our company, but we also know that there is always more to learn.

The Retailer: Reverb has a great approach to online content. What influenced your approach online, and where do you still find inspiration? Kalt: Online content is absolutely crucial to our business and to music gear e-commerce, in general. When you can’t see, touch, feel or hear an instrument in person, we help you get as close to the in-store experience as possible through words, photos and videos. We don’t just create content that helps viewers learn about the gear they’re buying and selling — we also publish articles and videos that will keep them inspired and help them continue to learn more about music, nail a specific band’s tone or play their favorite song. Our approach initially wasn’t necessarily inspired by anything specific, it was born out of necessity. Today, we get inspiration from all over the place — brands inside and outside of the music industry, other marketplaces, news outlets that we admire and more. Our editorial team runs like a real newsroom, with editors, writers and video producers meeting regularly to map out what key points in time (artist birthdays, anniversaries of iconic albums, etc.) are on the horizon that we can create content around. The team is very flexible and constantly measuring its impact, so if something works, we figure out how to do more similar pieces of content, and if something doesn’t work, we stop doing it. The Retailer: What would you say are the digital trends in other retail markets that our industr y is missing and should adopt as soon as possible? Kalt: This year, we’re excited to continue to explore ways to incorporate artificial intelligence (A.I.) and automation into the online shopping experience. To be clear, we’re not building robots that will steal your job or beat you at chess. We’re combining data with human intuition to automate easy tasks so that emMUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

ployees in every department can tackle more challenging work. Here’s an example: Online marketplaces like ours are full of individual, user-generated listings. If we don’t review each item for consistency, edit each item for accuracy and group each item into the right categories (“acoustic guitar” or “beginner keyboards”), those items might never find the buyer that’s looking for them. Thanks to machine learning, our technology can now categorize

items as well as humans do, and it handles nearly half of the work that was previously completed exclusively by humans. We’ve already started to incorporate subtle A.I. throughout our site to help users buy and sell music gear faster and easier. Another example: If you’re selling a guitar pedal and you provide the make, model, condition and year, Reverb automatically suggests a price based on internal data. Similarly, through a combination

of data science and image recognition, our team is working to ensure that if, for example, you’re creating a listing for a guitar and fail to upload a crucial photo that we know will help sell the listing faster, the site will automatically suggest that you upload the additional photo. The best part for retailers and manufacturers? They don’t have to keep up with all of the trends in A.I., machine learning and automation because our tech team does it for them.

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M I SPY

Like lots of visitors to New Orleans, MI Spy looked forward to hearing hours of fine live music, munching on superb sweets and riding around town on those evercharming street cars. And, while in town, MI Spy also figured MI Spy would sniff out a few of the stores that cater to the many musicians of New Orleans. And, yes, MI Spy likes talking in third person. When I did research in advance of this mission, I was a bit surprised to find that there were no big musical instrument stores in the main area of the city. In fact, smaller independent shops are the rule here. As for nearby chain stores, there

white handkerchiefs) strolled along with them. And buskers situated themselves all over the place, on Bourbon and Royal Streets, on wide Canal Street and elsewhere in the French Quarter. I saw high-schoolaged teens honking away on their brass, younger kids smacking plastic buckets and twirling drumsticks, a few adults who soloed on banjo or guitar or violin, and small groups of adult musicians playing in the streets. They played jazz standards and blues numbers, folk tunes, and classic rock songs. These musicians need musical instrument shops. They need instruments, accessories, repairs and

as metal washboards. There was also a variety of accessories, such as chords, picks, strings and guitar slides. While I was there, a young man sat perched on a stool, softly playing classic rock songs on an electric guitar. The saleswoman spoke for several minutes with a couple about instruments they had ordered, but that had not yet arrived. “Don’t worry, I know it’ll come,” she said, and they all laughed. They discussed the purchases, and I eavesdropped a bit. There was a friendly vibe here at all times, and local art and posters graced the walls. Poking around the merchandise

JA ZZI N G I T UP IN T HE B I G E ASY is a Guitar Center in a suburb west of the city, and west of the familiar suburb of Metairie. Without a car, this would not be easy going, so instead I narrowed my search to local shops. This proved to be interesting in certain ways, but with a limited number of choices for instruments as far as brand selection, prices and variety in general. There are plenty of musicians in New Orleans, ranging from rank amateurs to high-school students to regularly gigging professionals. Walking around the French Quarter for just four nights, I saw lots of brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion musicians who played in clubs, bars, restaurants and on the streets. I did end up one late afternoon at the revered Preservation Hall (although we were only able to stay through one set of music because it is so popular and busy at this time of year), as well as at Musical Legends Park; Fritzel’s European Jazz Club; Maison Bourbon; and, in passing, we checked out the music pouring out of a few other clubs on Bourbon Street. One block away on Royal Street, we were lucky enough to watch a marching band walk by, playing spirited tunes while maybe a hundred wedding guests (a few twirling fancy parasols, dozens of others waving 40

maintenance, sheet music, amps, mics and more. Even the cute little kids playing bucket drums needed drum sticks. So MI Spy was intrigued to find out where the locals would go for their musical matters. Would authentic New Orleans be found lurking in these shops? Would the voodoo emerge within these commercial establishments?

Downtown Music 527 Dumaine St. New Orleans, LA 70116 504.358.3100

Tourists throng Jackson Square, right near the formidable Mississippi River. The historic Cabildo Building and the St. Louis Cathedral are there as well as the always bustling Café Du Monde, where I lined up for delicious beignets. A few blocks north is the cozy music shop Downtown Music. MI Spy entered the store and took note of its cozy size. A saleswoman behind the counter greeted me shortly after I arrived. A few dozen stringed instruments hung from the walls: acoustic and electric guitars, ukuleles, a mandolin, a fiddle, a few basses. There were instruments especially tailored to the New Orleans music scene, such

by one wall, what caught my eye was the selection of sheet music, which included a booklet of locally famous jazz songs with notation. I picked up a copy and, out of curiosity, asked the saleswoman if this book would be good for a teenager who had been taking several years of guitar lessons. “It’s a good book, good for guitar and also for piano. Some of the others over there are simpler and more helpful for the lyrics.” She mentioned that she also had sheet music geared toward brass and woodwinds. I couldn’t tell if this was a major musical instrument destination store, or more of an accessories shop that can order things for the discriminating musician. The location is on one of the quieter streets in the area, and not far from the French Market. The staff on hand was pleasant, and it seems like a shop for locals, with some items geared toward tourists, such as the sheet music, and also a few other NOLA-themed things.

Glue Clothing Exchange 8206 Oak St. New Orleans, LA 70118 504.782.0619

You look at this store’s name and think, why is MI Spy including a clothing shop here? When I strolled APRIL 2018

past this establishment toward another musical instrument store (more on that one shortly), I gazed at the display windows and was yanked into its orbit. Along with funky, vintage styles there was an intriguing array of musical instruments: guitars, a sitar of some type, an autoharp, a keyboard and more. They appeared to be more than just props for the mannequins, and there was a sign prominently displayed that read “We Buy GUITARS.” I also noticed that the store sign has a painting of a guitar attached to it. Inside, I saw many more musical instruments. The chill cashier told me “15 percent off all clothes today.” But, I quickly turned the conversation to the sitar in the front window. (I resisted the temptation to call it the “baby sitar.”) “It has a great sound, but it’s not easy to play, you really have to be dedicated to working on it,” he explained. He went into considerable detail, telling me about the manufacturer, how these are now pretty hard to find, but he was hoping someone would enjoy the challenge. “If you want, wait around a while and then I could get it out of the display area and you could try it.” I thanked him, but it sounded like a daunting task. It was late morning when I stopped by, and other customers were checking out clothes for the most part. One woman and her child, who looked to be about six or seven years old, were asking about guitar equipment, and the store owner discussed options with them. He asked the boy, “Are you ready for lessons? Or is your mom ready to have you take lessons?” They laughed, and the kid said he wanted to learn. “OK, I have phone numbers for instructors.” He took hold of a small stack of business cards and began to look through them. “Some of these people also work at the colleges,” he mentioned, referring to Tulane and Loyola. There were a few dozen acoustic guitars hanging from the walls and about as many electrics as well (most under $269). Some of them looked almost mint condition. I would call this a “take-a-chance” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

store. There was an impressive selection, but it was pretty much all vintage. You might not want to walk in with a specific guitar in mind for purchase, but if you are willing to come in and comb through, you might find a cool addition to your collection, or a few accessories. It is also a good place for a new student to look for a starter guitar, or someone to pick up a secondary instrument. The store is located just a block west of the legendary St. Charles Streetcar, in the Carrollton neighborhood uptown, so it is easy to get there. Artsy stores, restaurants, used book shops and other establishments line the street as well. (MI Spy sipped a cup of tea at the nearby Live Oak Café, and listened to a folk-blues guitarist.)

Strange Guitarworks 1122 Dublin St. New Orleans, LA 70118 504.325.2186

About a block away from Glue Clothing Exchange is this shop, and, originally, I came to this neighborhood in order to visit Strange Guitarworks. Glue was actually the surprise destination. But when I showed up at the door for Strange, it was not yet open for the day: Its

hours are noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and by appointment on Fridays and Saturdays. That’s why MI Spy ended up in Glue, as well as the Live Oak Café. But, the weather was nice that day, and I spent my time wisely. I returned to Strange just a few minutes past noon, and a co-owner let me in. It turns out that this is not really a retail shop, but a repair shop and custom guitar building shop. The workshop space was neat and spacious, and full of a wide variety of guitar parts. I was a bit disappointed to see that this was not a retail store (this hadn’t been clear to me from reading Yelp), but the co-owner was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He pointed out some of the different works in progress on various shelves. I asked him about what could be done for my friend’s Frankenstein guitar, because it has a constant buzzing problem that makes it annoying to play. “Where is the buzzing coming from? What kinds of parts were put in the guitar? We get some guitars like that and we can work with them. You’d be surprised what people come up with, swapping hardware and pieces around.” He also asked about the pickups, but I wasn’t sure about all the details. “Bring it by,” he suggested. “Don’t give up on it. You could

make it workable for a practice guitar or maybe even better.” As it was early in his workday, I was the only one there at the time, but the co-owner said the shop gets a lot of professionals bringing in their guitars for work to be done, including students and professors from the local schools. In addition to both acoustic and electric guitars, they work on mandolins, ukuleles

Fortunately, I gave the store one more chance. When I came back, a worker was in (as were the two customers I had seen earlier), and this turned out to be an impressive small shop for various musical instruments. Taking up the second floor of a corner building, this sprawling apartment has been turned into a music store with a very good selec-

The Sale

The musical instrument stores I encountered in the Crescent City are not huge chain stores. They tend to be smaller, homier and quirkier. They are not found in shopping malls, but are surrounded by other small businesses. If you are looking to do a great deal of comparison shopping, this scene probably will not appeal to you. But,

J A ZZ I N G I T U P I N T H E BIG E ASY and basses. He pointed out a particular mandolin that was getting a big overhaul. This is a very specific service place for the most part, but it is appealing, and if you love guitars and are in the area, you might want to visit to ogle the goods. And its website is very thorough.

Uptown Music Exchange 5434 Magazine St., 2nd Floor New Orleans, LA 70115 504.891.7670

If you’re in an unfamiliar locale and you schlep to get somewhere, you probably wouldn’t want to be greeted with a little handwritten sign on the door that reads “Back in a few!” You might stand around for a few minutes, checking your email on your cellphone, watching people walk by, eyeing other businesses surrounding it. But, after several minutes, you are likely to be annoyed. This happened to me. I rode the St. Charles Streetcar to the Jefferson Avenue stop. I walked several blocks over to Magazine Street, admiring lots of pretty houses along the way. I stopped in at a branch of PJ’s Coffee and then got confused about the location of Uptown Music Exchange. A woman in the beauty salon explained to me that the entrance to the music store was actually on the side street, Octavia Street. And that’s when I saw the handwritten sign. I waited almost 15 minutes for someone from the store to show up, but no one came. Two other customers came by, read the note and walked away. I went to wait for the bus on the corner. But the bus did not come, and I waited almost 15 minutes for it. I had to make the decision, check out the store once more or hoof it to the street car.

tion of instruments, and two rooms for lessons and demos. The overall layout included a room of guitars and other stringed instruments, a room of drums and sets, a room of brass and woodwinds, and a center room near the cash register with an accordion, autoharps and other instruments. Spying a flute, I asked about John Baptiste flutes (mispronouncing the name). The woman behind the counter gently corrected my pronunciation — Jean Baptiste — and we spoke about them. “They are really nice instruments,” she mentioned. I asked if they had stopped manufacturing them, because someone at another store had told me that. “Do you want to take a look on the computer? I could look it up, because I’m not sure about that.” I declined politely. Then she saw me looking at a few other, more exotic, instruments, such as an autoharp in a fancy case. “Also check out the accordion over there,” she said, and I did. “It has such a nice sound. I think it was hardly used. Someone brought it in recently.” I asked her if they stocked new items overall, and she described the store’s stock as “new, used and consignment.” I half-listened to the woman chat with the couple about instruments and instructors for their children, and she asked how the kids were getting along. I was impressed by how she cared about the kids’ progress with lessons and school. As with Downtown Music, the walls were decorated with lots of music posters and concert bills, especially of New Orleans musicians and shows. And I liked the cheeky sign on the wall that said, “Xmas is over — shop for yourself.” A worthy suggestion.

if you are looking for less typical purchases or for specialized service and want to avoid a big corporate environment, then you will be charmed. As far as service and selection, my favorite was Glue, with Uptown Music Exchange a close second. Glue is not your typical musical instrument store, but it takes its unusual status and goes far with it, and the customer service is attentive and knowledgeable. I had been miffed about the temporary closing at Uptown; the sign at the store should have made it clearer when it would reopen. If I hadn’t been willing to give it a second chance, I would have searched out another store altogether. But, I did return, and the staff member was very knowledgeable and friendly, and she was willing to go the extra mile for me. Glue was very helpful and proud of its business. I saw

JAZZI N G I T UP I N T H E B IG E A S Y how these people not only extended themselves to me but also other customers. As for Glue, if you have $200 or so and want to take a chance on a guitar, there are several interesting choices here. It has a decent selection and the vibe in the store is really good. I would definitely speak with the owner to see if he is getting in new stock or can procure a specific type of guitar for you. And maybe try that sitar. For an overall music selection of various instruments, Uptown Music had a good variety, and they also put emphasis on offering lessons. I enjoyed visiting Downtown and Strange Guitarworks, but they are very specialized shops with limited supply. APRIL 2018

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I N T H E T RENCHE S

THE COUNTERFEIT PROBLEM ‘In one week alone, I’ve

seen three

counterfeit Gibsons. The quality of the fakery ranged from pretty By Allen McBroom

darn good to something in the range of high-school failure equivalency.’

We’ve all got customers we know solely by their nicknames. Some of them have such significant qualities or notable characteristics that those qualities and characteristics end up creating their store names for them. For example, we have a semi-occasional customer we know only as “50 Cent Rolex.” I have no idea what his given name is, but when we first met him, he waxed eloquent for half an hour about the Rolex he bought at a garage sale for only 50 cents. He showed it to us repeatedly, and, sure enough, right there on the face was the name “Rolex.” Even though I’m not a watch expert, I didn’t have to call in a buddy to point out the green tarnish, uneven watch face surface and rough finish to know what I was looking at wasn’t really a Rolex. Quality control was poor enough that it wouldn’t have passed for a Timex. Unfortunately for us MI dealers, counterfeiters are no longer limiting themselves to Rolexes and fine art. Nope, we now see mass-production counterfeits in our industry ranging from $3,000 guitars all the way down to name-brand guitar strings. In one week alone, I’ve seen three counterfeit Gibsons. The quality of the fakery ranged from pretty darn good to something in the range of high-school failure equivalency. One belonged to a customer who thought he had a real Gibson. A quick look at the uneven binding, not-quite-right open-book headstock and Chinese pots all confirmed this was a fake. One belongs to one of our parttime employees. He’s laid a Ferrarri-red finish on it, had the electronics replaced and unless you really know what you’re looking for, this could easily pass for the real thing. On the other end of the counterfeit continuum was a third guitar taken in as pawn collateral by a good friend. At 20 feet, it was a very pretty, black Les Paul in the correct Gibson case. Up close, errors in the binding, a shallow dip in the open book, grinding marks in the neck binding that matched grinding marks in the fretboard and a dozen other small flaws were dead giveaways that this would never have gotten past Gibson’s quality assurance department, not even at 5 p.m. on a Friday. It was definitely not a Gibson. Here’s what placed this on the opposite end of the spectrum: If you roll the “Les Paul” over, there are no control covers, just a solid back. Think Les Paul on the front, ES-335 on the back. Further inspection showed that this was a hollow body, the controls were installed in the top and the no-access back was glued on. My friend’s employee had loaned a sizeable sum on this guitar, thinking it was a real Gibson LP. The result for the shop? Instant loss. Stories like this were once sort of rare, but today they are more and more common. As store operators, we have to be wary of even the most convincing instrument. We have to wear our expert hats all the time and teach our employees how to spot the fakes. One obstacle to spotting the counterfeits is that there is no guide book that can definitively tell us how to watch for this or watch for that. To really spot the fakes, you’ve just basically got to know your guitars inside and out and be able to tell high-quality production from low-quality production. Years ago, my Sunday school teacher was talking about discerning spiritual truth from spiritual deception, and he told us the following story. Canadian bank clerks are taught to spot counterfeit Canadian dollars, not by studying fake dollars, but by studying the real dollars. Each clerk spent hours and hours learning all about the intricate details of making real dolAPRIL 2018

lars, so when they encountered a counterfeit, the discrepancies would stand out like a sore thumb. His point was that it is hard to predict what form deceit will take, so we should study the scriptures so much that we would be familiar with the sound of truth and be able to easily spot deceit. I think we can use that same approach in learning to spot counterfeit name-brand instruments. Notice I didn’t say counterfeit Gibsons. That’s just the example that has cropped up several times this week. We’ve seen counterfeit Fenders, ESPs and Martins, as well. I think the most detailed counterfeit to date was a Martin D18 that a customer bought for $600. The first clue to its cloudy origin came from slightly sloppy bracing. Martin just doesn’t turn out that kind of work, and a little flashlight study inside the body turned up other signs that this guitar wasn’t born in Pennsylvania. So, how do we make sure we don’t end up owning some of these posers? I think our only defense is educating ourselves and our employees. Spend lots of time studying quality, original instruments. Look at the work inside the bodies, look at the routing in the control cavities, check the fit on the truss rods (don’t overlook the routed vs. drilled truss rod passage differences), know what kind of adjustment the truss rod should have (i.e., hex, Allen, Phillips, etc.), and look closely at the general fit and finish. Know what good work looks like, and the counterfeits should jump out at you. All this is not to say an exact counterfeit cannot be made; it certainly can be. But, to make a quality counterfeit will require just as much time and attention to detail as is given to the manufacture of the genuine item. And, that time and attention to detail costs money. To produce counterfeits that would precisely mirror the original would require the cost of the counterfeits to rise according to the precision given, driving up the price of the current $200 Chinese counterfeit to a point where the price is no longer attractive to the average American consumer. That demand for a lower price

will always create less attention to detail, which almost guarantees the counterfeits will always have tell-tale signs of “I’m not real.” Remember the first customer who thought he had a real Gibson? He got some comfort from being told he didn’t have a fake guitar. He had a real guitar; it just

wasn’t a real Gibson. He was OK with that. He liked the guitar, he paid for the repairs and went on his way as a happy camper. Knowing that dropping the counterfeit news on him didn’t throw cold water on his six-string joy made me relieved. I think it’s important to remember that when our cus-

tomers bring in counterfeits, we need to be kind and helpful, and be very gentle when we point out the discrepancies. We need to do what we can to keep their joy level up, so the next guitar they buy is genuine, and they buy it from someone they can trust, like us. Happy trails.

SHINE A LIGHT

RecessionProof Business?

By Michelle Loeb

Rock n Roll Rentals 1420 West Oltorf St. Austin, TX 78704 8335 Burnet Rd. Austin, TX 78757 512.447.5305 rocknrollrentals.com Mon. – Fri. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sat. 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Jim Norman, Owner

For a city like Austin, Texas — a venerable music capital teeming with musicians, professional and up-and-coming alike — having a place where players of all levels, as well as the venues that host them, can rent gear at fair prices is an invaluable convenience. That’s exactly what Jim Normon offers his customers at two Rock n Roll Rentals locations. “Most musicians in Austin find themselves at our stores at one time or another,” said Norman, who opened the first store 30 years ago. “Our business model allows us to help people do what they want to do.” A musician himself, Norman was working in the building business and running a small guitar store when his Yorkville Sound rep told him about a rental business model that the company had launched. “I liked the idea that it put equipment in people’s hands at very low rates, so I went to Canada and was mentored by Yorkville Sound founder and chairman Jack Long, with whom I’m still good friends,” said Norman. “Being so fortunate as to learn from Jack, I was able to avoid a lot of the pitfalls of the rental business when I came back to Texas and started Rock n Roll Rentals.” He added with a laugh, “[Jack] told me that I would probably go back to Austin and decide to make some changes, and each time I would come to understand why he did it the way he did in the first place.” In addition to Long’s mentorship, Norman also benefitted from having a college degree in economics and a strong interest in business. The rental business is a balancing act, Norman said, noting that “you have to have everything in stock because each customer needs something different. We still have the old models that companies no longer make that often come back in demand, plus we are constantly buying into the cutting edge, so we are inundated with gear. It’s a dance to know where to store it.” 46

His economics background helped him keep track of the store’s profits and losses, and he quickly found that “you can’t do this without a computer program to keep tabs on your inventory.” Norman jokingly added, “It’s important to always know where the gear is and when it’s coming back.” Rock n Roll Rentals offers rentals for everything from PA gear and LED lighting to guitars, amplifiers, DJ gear and recording equipment. PA gear and lighting are the backbone of the business. In addition, providing gear for weddings, concerts, theater productions, churches and school events are all part of the mix. One program that has proven to be quite successful is the Pedal of the Month Club, which allows customers to trade out their guitar pedals at any time for the same $9 monthly rental price. “That’s been a fun thing that brings in a lot of traffic,” said Norman. “Pedals are like the APRIL 2018

baseball cards of musical instruments.” Rock n Roll Rentals also maintains a sales component, with the store being a dealer for every line it rents. The goal is to sell most equipment after it has been on the rental circuit for about five years, though Norman will also sell a new piece that has only been rented once or twice, if at all. He is happy to place a sales order for a customer, and the store is also “licensed to offer terms like a credit card with an interest rate,” Norman said. “It gives our customers a lot of flexibility.” The majority of the store’s business, however, is rentals, with the split at approximately 80/20, according to Norman, who added that the rental business is practically recession-proof. “This store has done well in economic downturns because a customer can rent a lot of equipment and still afford it,” said Norman. “Someone always needs to do something, and the general idea is that if someone pays a small amount of money to rent what they need and they are happy, they will want to do it again. It’s the opposite of retail because we want to charge as little as possible.” Norman added, during lessrobust economic times, “We also get different people into the store who had never thought to rent before. They usually buy, but they see that renting is cool and they become our customers.” Norman gets great satisfaction out of giving people the opportunity to get the gear they need but can’t afford to buy outright. He also loves that rentals are a great equalizer, bringing in customers from all walks of life. “It’s like being in an international bus station here. The people are interesting, and you’ll hear a lot of languages spoken,” he said. “It’s fun because it makes the business super dynamic. “One time, about 15 years ago, Willie Nelson drove his bus into the parking lot. At that point I thought, we must be doing something right.” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

To Norman, the people are far and away the best part of the business, and that includes his 20 employees just as much as it does his customers. “It’s all about the people here,” Norman said. “Without them, nothing can happen.”

Norman hopes to be able to expand his business into future locations in the outskirts of Austin and perhaps even outside of Austin’s borders someday. “I feel like every town needs a Rock n Roll Rentals,” said Norman. “Business is so good here now

that it’s hard to just cope with it, but the future is wide open,” he concluded. “I would do it all over again from scratch, if given the chance, because it has been that good to me. The trick is you just have to work hard at it, pay attention and love it.”

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R E TA ILER R E B E L

The last few weeks in MI retail news have been dominated by stories about the financial state of Gibson Brands, including whether or not it’s about to go bankrupt, and about the fate of longtime CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. I had another topic planned for this column, but after Juszkiewicz gave an interview in Billboard magazine in which he laid blame on music retail stores for the current state of the MI retail industry and his company, I felt it was important to unpack his statements a little and respond. First off, it’s important to understand what’s happening. Gibson, which Juszkiewicz and his partner bought in the ’90s for $5 million, mostly with borrowed funds, is heavily in debt. How they got from a $5 million purchase to nearly $500 million in loans is a long, complicated story mostly involving high-interest junk bonds used to rapidly raise capital for purchases. In 2011, Gibson acquired Stanton Group, including Cerwin Vega, KRK Systems and Stanton DJ. In 2012, the company entered into a partnership with Onkyo, which then became part of Gibson Pro Audio. In 2013, it bought a majority stake in TEAC, and, in 2014, it bought Phillips Electronics, the consumer electronics side of Royal Philips, which overnight tripled the size of the then-christened Gibson Brands. All of these purchases amounted to a lot of debt and are part of the end goal of turning Gibson into a “lifestyle brand.” Gibson chose not to participate in this year’s NAMM Show and, instead, chose to release its new guitars along with its electronic products at the Consumer Electronics Show. I’ll preface this by stating that I do not work for, and have never worked for, a Gibson dealer. Almost none of my industry friends have ever been Gibson dealers. So much of my information about what it’s like to be a dealer is hearsay. That said, none of what I’ve heard has been positive. I’ve heard various numbers thrown out describing Gibson’s buy-in number, all of which were far higher than any other electric guitar brand. Similarly, I’ve heard horror stories about lack of dealer participation in inventory selection. I’ve heard such stories many times over, always leading me to wonder why anyone would tolerate being a Gibson dealer. So, I wondered how many of my fellow Ohio independent music stores do tolerate it. Almost none, as it turns out. In fact, upon searching the Gibson website, I found only one independent Gibson dealer in my entire state of Ohio listed. I also checked my home state of North Carolina, which had a whopping two independent dealers. The rest of the Gibson dealers were all Guitar Center or Sam Ash locations. This is interesting to me, because much of Juszkiewicz’s Billboard interview is spent complaining about the state of music stores. He certainly has some good points, such as mentioning the lack of seating in stores, and the reluctance of stores to change and adapt to the internet and other new technologies. Interestingly, Gibson heavily restricts which dealers are allowed to sell online, favoring only the biggest dealers, which makes being a dealer even more difficult for independent stores. If I were going to invest the kind of money I’m told one has to put up to become a dealer, I’d be very disappointed to find out I’m not allowed to list my inventory on my website and on my Reverb store. That’s handcuffing a dealer to their inventory and cutting off a major sales channel, one that Juszkiewicz himself says dealers need to learn to embrace. Juszkiewicz also mentioned MI retailers not working to appeal to women. Out of curiosity, I wondered how much Gibson itself is doing to appeal to women. So, I perused its website for images of women or other content focusing on female Gibson players, or showing any interest in appealing to women specifically. In its News-Lifestyle section, out of 36 articles posted, two featured

THOUGHTS O N T H E G I B S O N PROBLEM By Gabriel O’Brien

An indie's response to longtime Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz’s interview with Billboard , where he laid blame on music retail stores for the current state of the MI retail industry and his company. 48

APRIL 2018

women, only one of whom actually plays a Gibson guitar. Similarly, I checked Gibson’s Instagram grid, where I had to scroll all the way back to November to find a single image of a woman playing a Gibson. In fact, I only saw one other image of a woman in the entire grid, and she was a singer. Facebook was slightly better, with a post on March 8 for International Women’s Day and another on March 1. There was one post featuring Lizzy Hale in January, who was also featured in the other posts, and then I scrolled through their timeline back to September before giving up. To be fair, it’s worth noting Lizzy Hale does currently have a signature model, along with Nancy Wilson and Grace Potter, which makes a quarter of Gibson’s current artist models those of female players. Also, a point of focus in the Billboard article is poor customer experience and merchandising, with Juszkiewicz specifically singling out Guitar Center for the latter, expressing his belief that it should use a Wal-Mart-style planogram to make sure their chain carries the exact same inventory and it’s all in the same place. This seems to be the sort of tone-deaf disconnect that has caused guitar buyers to turn on Gibson. I don’t know any customers, male or female, who are flocking toward big-box planogram-style retail, and in fact much of what I read shows consumers, when not buying online, are searching out better experiences in their shopping, favoring what’s unique rather than the cookie-cutter experience big-box stores provide. When Gibson announced its new Les Paul models for 2015, they came with a convoluted, robotic tuning system absolutely no one wanted, an unattractive signature on the headstock, a zero fret that was met with a resounding groan and a 30-percent price increase. The following year, the guitars and pricing reverted to what they were. Even now, they’re putting out products that guitar magazines and players alike characterize as bizarre choices. A company whose idea of appealing to customers is $5,000 Les Pauls

painted like old vans and a Limited Edition J45 in neon green is in no position to criticize the presentation of inventory to consumers. If you want customer sell-through, a good first step is making things people want to buy, that look and function in an appealing manner. If Gibson wants to right its

ship, a good first step would be making affordable instruments the average player can take home and creating dealer programs independent retailers can afford to buy into, which will greatly expand its dealer network. Similarly, allowing independents to sell their inventory online and compete

with the big-box and online retailers would give the retailers and Gibson another channel with which to sell their guitars. Editor’s Note: Opinions expressed in this article are that of the author and not the Music & Sound Retailer.

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w w w . m s r e t a i l e r. c o m

HI R E LEA RNING

ADDING

• Easily send anyone a link to your application. • Never lose an application. (Come on, you’ve done it, too!) • Responses are viewable immediately. • Easily compare applications on file (by simply scrolling). • Archive and store the information automatically (no filing cabinet necessary). • Make notes viewable to your internal hiring team (comment on who is setting up interviews, etc.). The only real downside is that the responses from the form show up in spreadsheet format. Some of the longer paragraph answers can be hard to read in the spreadsheet. I have gone through the painstaking process of figuring out a Google script to generate a text document from the spreadsheet row of an application. If you’d like to get geeky, you can search Google for “script for generating Google Doc from Google Sheet” and dive in. If you don’t already collect applications online, I highly recommend it. Next, what questions do you ask on your application? Of course, we need the basic personal information like the applicant’s name and contact information. It’s also helpful to see educational background, past job experience that would qualify the applicant for the job, etc. We have also found it helpful to ask for current availability (as in days and times the applicant is available to work), as we have a few jobs with unusual hours. We ask for three professional references (mom doesn’t count) and ask how the applicant heard about Mason Music. This last question is super important. More on why in a minute. Once you have your application live on your website, it’s time to recruit some applicants. Where do you go for this? Well a lot of it depends on what type of applicant you are looking for. Does this position require formal education? If so, you might connect with a local college and see who to talk to about posting a job listing on the campus website. Are you looking to hire musicians? If so, you might want to post a flyer with tearoffs at local venues in the green rooms. Are you looking for office staff? Maybe posting a job listing on Craigslist would get you the applicants you are looking for. The trick is to think about your ideal candidates and be strategic about posting in the places they will be. I would also encourage you to try several different methods and look for what works. If you’re asking the question “How did you hear about this job?” on your application, the answer will be right there in your responses and you’ll know where to start next time. We still haven’t talked about the best recruiting pipeline of all: word of mouth. As you know, word of mouth gets discussed constantly in marketing conversations around getting new customers. You’ll hear things like “My friend told me y’all had the new pedals that make your guitar sound like it’s inside a spaceship” or “My neighbor takes lessons with you.” Word of mouth is the best source for new customers, but it is often overlooked when it comes to labor supply. If you have created a great place to work, your employees will tell their friends to apply. If it’s not a great work environment, you will struggle to get applications from this source. This is an important metric to keep an eye on when assessing your employee job satisfaction. It also has a huge bearing on your company’s future. If you don’t see applications coming in from friends of your current employees, you need to get really curious and search out what might be the cause. Turn your workforce into a word-of-mouth-generating machine, and you will be attracting the best talent available. This will allow you to be more selective when you get down to interviews and hiring decisions. But that will have to wait for the next article. So far, we’ve set some great expectations and have created a solid application collection process and recruiting pipeline. The next step will be holding interviews and gathering information to ultimately make the best hiring decision possible. The more you know (imagine the sound bite from the ’90s…) the better chance you have of making the right call. Happy hunting.

TO THE TEAM PART 2

By Will Mason In my last article, we talked about why it’s so important to make good hires. Good people on your team promote a positive work environment, help you create a healthy culture, and ultimately increase profitability by reducing turnover and improving the customer experience. We also looked at setting expectations for applicants by creating a detailed job description. If you missed it, go back to the February issue and check it out to catch up. Before you get people lining up for those jobs, you need a solid plan for your application process. Anytime we have a need to collect information, we turn to Google Forms. They are free to use, super easy to create and edit, and can be embedded on your website in minutes. Four years ago, we switched from paper applications to online applications, and it has made this part of our process so much more streamlined. Here are a few of the benefits. 50

APRIL 2018

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V E D D AT O R I A L

C I S U M G

N I L L E S

ed an V D By

We hear all sorts of predictions about how day-to-day life will change in the next decade. The speculation runs from the inane, “Amazon drones will deliver our toilet paper,” to the dystopian, “Robots will care for our children,” to everything in between. But certainly no one is saying things will cruise along as they have, and most predict radical changes to the way we live, and how we spend our money and time. One of the most transformative changes on the horizon may reboot the auto industry. America’s love affair with the automobile is poised for hyper-disruption, as self-driving cars, electronic vehicles, and “ownerless,” shared, autonomous vehicle ideas are researched, prototyped and tested. Virtually everything about the automotive industry, from the way cars are made and marketed to the infrastructure of repair, fueling and insurance, could change in years to come. Imagine a scenario without individual car ownership, without gas stations, and without traffic jams thanks to coordinated flow and dramatically reduced accidents. Imagine if no one would drive impaired, whether by substance, sleep deprivation or even texting. Or, if you prefer, imagine the worst-case scenario, where hacking and recalls, dissipated support for innovation and our crumbling infrastructure make “Bridge Out” signs and lengthy commutes the norm. I’m not predicting any particular outcome. The purpose of this little exercise is to illustrate how lucky we are in the music products industry. While some of our most cherished business models are due for some disruption (not that we haven’t been disrupted plenty in the last 20 years!), instruments remain fundamentally the same; DJs, drum machines and loopers did not replace musicians across 52

G N I K A M

the board; and we can count on the fact that people will continue to play music. Further, I think that we’re already seeing that some of the distribution disruptions are modifying, slowing or even reverting. Now that’s a relatively bold assessment given the changes we’ve seen, and particularly so in the face of the additional disruptions we anticipate. Let me walk you through my take on this. First, despite all that has changed in the last 40 years, people consistently (90-percent-plus) say that playing a musical instrument is valuable, educational, fun and that they would like to do it (if barriers of price, time and access were minimized). Popularity and desire aren’t even in question here. The variables we need to be concerned with are the barriers to entry: the cost of starting, the time required to play well enough to consider music fulfilling, and access to both instruction and opportunities to perform, collaborate or share the activity. I believe the successful companies in our industry will be those that can remove or minimize these barriers. However, if we want long-term music involvement, we need to supplement school programs and create additional outlets for all, regardless of instrument, style or age. The auto industry knows that electric cars aren’t fully viable without ready access to charging stations, rapid charging and a longer range between charges. We can’t expect people to buy an instrument without taking steps to ensure they not only learn how to play it, but that they have a place to play. I think we’ve always known this, but we’ve been slipshod about doing our part, opting instead to count on schools or other organizations to provide these things. No, we don’t have to build the performance infrastructure — but someone has to. I think we all know that we won’t be getting help from the government to do it (particularly in the current climate), and

we have seen historically that outsiders don’t necessarily have industry interests in mind. So, there’s work to be done, and much of it has nothing to do with selling our products as simple commodities. In fact, for those of us who don’t aspire to be large-scale purveyors of commodities online (good luck elbowing aside Amazon in this context), I think we need to deemphasize the commodity mentality. My second point is that we are beginning to see slower growth in e-commerce. According to eMarketer, which tracks worldwide ecommerce trends, 2016 growth was more than 10 percent, but is expected to drop each year, to just under 5 percent by 2020 — and at that point, e-commerce will represent less than 15 percent of total retail sales. As of December, the U.S. government estimate of the online sales share was only 9.1 percent. So, despite all the noise, e-commerce is no longer the juggernaut we have all feared. Why is this growth slowing? In the United States, internet access is available to more than three-quarters of the population (74.5 percent as of 2015). We’re not seeing dramatic increases in users anymore. Those who wish to buy online, for the most part, are doing so. While there will always be a chunk of “internet-only” consumers, there will also be those who purchase locally whenever possible (and yes, I know Millennials who do this, too). More important, though, are those who have become disenchanted with online shopping. Many people I talk with have run afoul of substandard product, have fears of identity theft, or simply find the vast array of products and sources confusing or (go figure) time consuming when purchasing anything other than specific products from trusted sources. So essentially, the honeymoon is over for these consumers, and we may have the chance to welcome them back into our stores. As I’ve said, it all comes down to the shopping experience. Despite the disruption, people still like to shop in an interesting, pleasant environment. They want to play an instrument. We have stores. But rather than thinking of ourselves as “selling instruments,” we need to recast and rebrand ourselves as “selling music making.” We’ve talked about some of the changes that need to be made: welcoming adults, curating inventory and acting as a community hub. Next time, we’ll talk about teaching in our new market. Till then, I invite you to comment and discuss on the Veddatorial Facebook page. What do you think? APRIL 2018

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UNDER THE HOOD

PRS GUITARS’

MT 15 Mark Tremonti Signature Amplifier By Anthony Vargas Paul Reed Smith Guitars, in collaboration with Creed and Alter Bridge lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, has released the MT 15 Mark Tremonti Signature Amplifier. This 15-watt lunchbox amp offers surprisingly large, bold sound from a relatively small frame, making it a great solution for practice sessions, bedroom recording and small-venue performances. “The MT 15 should serve as an excellent recording amp, ‘bedroom’ or home amp, and small-venue gigging amp,” said PRS’s Doug Sewell, amp designer for the MT 15. “It pulls off the elusive low-volume-yet-huge-sounding magic that places it in a higher category of amp design.” He added, “Being a signature amp, the idea was to create a small, affordable amplifier with all the tone and features of an amplifier that Mr. Tremonti could record with and

eventually tour with in a higher-wattage version. I was challenged, as the designer, to create an amplifier that performed and sounded like an amp at least five times its price.” To drive home the value proposition of the MT 15, Sewell laid out the full slate of hardware features included in the new amp. “This ‘affordable’ amplifier includes: two channels; 10 controls with pull boost for the clean channel; 12 LEDs (six per channel, red and blue, for a cool, backlit, channel-switching light show); six preamp tubes; two 6L6 power tubes; custom-voiced transformers; Belton sockets; Cliff jacks; a channel-selecting footswitch; external bias jacks and adjustment pot; a tube-driven loop; a triode/pentode half-power switch; 4- and 8-ohm output jack selections with an extra parallel 8-ohm extension jack; and, last but not least, a full, sixsided, top-access, embroidered, soft-padded cover.” The inclusion of two 6L6 power tubes was essential in recreating Tremonti’s signature tone. “The 6L6es typically have extended highs and lows, which assist in the nice, glassy cleans and the low-end chug of the lead tones. The short-bottle, GE-clone 6L6es that we use in the amp also have a particular smoothness that we prefer,” explained Sewell. “From a tone standpoint, Mark gave us queues from amplifiers that he owned and felt comfortable performing with. We discovered that his signature tone could not be had without 6L6 tubes, even though they are associated with higher-powered amps. We set up the MT 15 with transformers to accommodate (continued on page 60)

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PRINT MANIA: THE INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO THRIVE

Ad Index

Company

(continued from cover)

AUDIX CORPORATION.............51 AMAHI UKULELES...................27 BOURNS PRO AUDIO................61 CASIO...........................................C-II CE DISTRIBUTION....................45 CHAUVET LIGHTING................53 CHEM-PAK..................................60 CHESBRO MUSIC.......................39 D'ADDARIO.................................17 D'ANGELICO GUITARS.......... C-III EARTHWORKS AUDIO..............38 FENDER.......................................9 FENDER.......................................11 FISHMAN TRANSDUCERS.......29 GALAXY AUDIO........................3 GODIN GUITARS........................7 HOSHINO.....................................21 KAHUNA UKULELES................59 KALA BRAND MUSIC CO........35 KYSER MUSICAL PRODUCTS...............................16 MANHASSET SPECIALTY COMPANY................................6 MUSIC NOMAD..........................33 NAMM..................................... 14-15 NEW SENSOR.............................47 PEAVEY.......................................5 PRO X...........................................31 PRS GUITARS.............................23 RAIN RETAIL SOFTWARE........12 ROLAND......................................43 STRING SWING..........................26 TAYLOR GUITARS.....................19 TECH 21.......................................25 THE CAVANAUGH COMPANY.10 TRUSST........................................22 U.S. BAND & ORCHESTRA SUPPLIES............................................24 VOCOPRO....................................13 WD MUSIC PRODUCTS............8 WIREWORLD..............................28 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.

“Technology has changed the music publishing industry, and it is a change for the better! The combination of print and technology gives us the ability to provide the consumer with products unlike any other,” said David Jahnke, senior vice president, national sales, Hal Leonard. “A perfect example of how the two work together is our Essential Elements instrumental method series. The consumer can use the book alone and achieve a high level of success, but once they access the additional content available online, it is a completely new experience. Online, the students have access to multiple play-along tracks in a variety of musical styles for each example; the ability to record and post their lesson for teacher feedback; access to videos on topics ranging from instrument assembly and care to pedagogy; and the list goes on. Utilizing technology for Essential Elements gives us the ability to update materials regularly, creating an ever-evolving method book that is constantly adapting to the needs of the students and teachers.” “I’m not going to lie, it amazes me that print music continues to be strong in 2018,” Alex R. Ordoñez, vice president, marketing, Alfred Music, told the Retailer. “Although we see an increase in digital year over year, it still has not come close to the sales of physical books. All of this being said, we have been affected by online behavior. Our response has always been to embrace rather than fight, and to integrate into our products as another solution for learning, teaching and playing music. “These efforts have paid off in spades. The print music industry is alive, strong and well! That being said, we would be remiss not to acknowledge that the demand for digital content is a growing trend. It’s Alfred Music’s belief that both print and digital perfectly complement one another and both have a seat at the table. For example, digital greatly supports the practice element, whereas print works great for performance.”

Alex R. Ordoñez

“I’m not going to lie, it amazes me that print music continues to be strong in 2018.’ —Alex R. Ordoñez, vice president, marketing, Alfred Music “The print market continues to be resilient and we are very optimistic about the future,” added Jahnke. “A portion of our growth is dependent on the number of people wanting to learn to sing or play an instrument. When stores experience increases in lesson programs or enrollment increases in school music classes, instrument sales go up as does print sales. As long as there remains the strong desire to play music, we all have a future to be optimistic of.”

Back to School

School music, which includes methods and performance, has been doing especially well in terms of sales, revealed Ordoñez. “We are seeing great success with our newest band and orchestra method, Sound Innovations, with the addition of SI Online, an online platform that includes new enrichment and supplemental content that provide differentiated instruction and assessment to meet the unique needs within a classroom. For the private market, staples such as Alfred’s Basic Piano Library and Suzuki continue to prosper.” “There’s no denying that good music can significantly impact APRIL 2018

David Jahnke

print sales,” Jahnke added. “The music from the motion picture The Greatest Showman, for example, resonates with a lot of people and gives us the opportunity to publish something for everyone. Another strong category for us is music for educational/ school music programs. Method books like our Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Essential Elements and our choral/concert band/orchestra arrangements continue to sell in record numbers. The uptick in the economy has also seen a significant increase in the number of piano methods sold, most notably the Faber Piano Adventures line of products as well as the Willis Teaching Little Fingers To Play series. Print music based upon historic rock bands also has been popular. What makes these so popular with customers? “Our goal with every artist folio is to provide authentic representation of the band not only to current fans, but also to a new generation of fans learning to play music,” replied Ordoñez. “Creating special-edition songbooks, such as our hardcover artist collections — which include exclusive content like photos, background notes, special tunings and more — turns a songbook into a keepsake for fans. We take great pride in working closely with bands and their management down to every detail, resulting in a must-have product for every enthusiast.” MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

‘The combination of print and technology gives us the ability to provide the consumer with products unlike any other.’ —David Jahnke, senior vice president, national sales, Hal Leonard.

“The resurgence of historic bands touring and getting more YouTube plays breathes life into the print music sales,” noted Jahnke. “Everyone knows that good music stands the test of time. In the print world, truly authentic and accurate transcriptions stand the test of the ever-changing and challenging market forces. There is still a lot of bad and quite simply wrong transcribed material available online. I’m sure you have heard people say that nothing beats ‘free,’ but what we are hearing now is that bad is just bad, regardless if it’s free. Consumers seem to be waking up to the fact that content quality comes at a price, and they are willing to pay for the accuracy they want.” In terms of demographics, the school music market is showing great strength, said Ordoñez. “In general, this market remains strong and correlates with the up-

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tick we are seeing in total school enrollment and band rentals.” “We love the recreational musicmaking market, and as the baby boomers start to progress into retirement, it will be an interesting segment to watch,” said Jahnke. “But the largest growth demographic continues to be young people starting music classes in school or lessons at their local retailer.” Although print music is currently enjoying excellent sales success, we asked our two panelists if they have any advice they could provide about how MI retailers can sell their products even better.

“We encourage stores to crossmerchandise their print whenever possible,” responded Jahnke. “If the store is selling a lot of ukuleles, it makes perfect sense to position a display of ukulele books alongside the instrument. Drum books should be in the drum department as guitar materials should be by the guitars. We also encourage employees to pick out a few favorite products to sell along with every instrument. An entry-level guitar should never leave the store without a chord finder at the very least.” “Take advantage of our content experts and have them sell for

you. Whether it’s hosting professional development within your store, presented by an Alfred Music author/clinician, or sponsoring a clinic at your local music educator show, there are many opportunities to partner with us. We can customize depending on your store and customer needs. Our approach is to focus on the teaching solutions our products provide,” Ordoñez said. In closing comments, Ordoñez said, “Alfred Music is extremely excited and optimistic about the future of our industry. Each year brings a new set of challenges; however, our ability to adapt,

change and overcome has played a huge part in our successes. We are focused on innovation and leading this industry toward the future. Alfred Music is constantly evolving, allowing us to continue helping the world experience the joy of making music.” “Print is still one of the only product categories that has a solution for every customer walking into the store,” concluded Jahnke. “We encourage retailers to work closely with their print provider. We can help you assemble a mix that will work for the products you are focusing on and the customers you’re marketing to.”

UNDER THE HOOD: PRS GUITARS’ MT 15 MARK TREMONTI SIGNATURE AMPLIFIER

(continued from page 54) these tubes and adjusted the voltage to achieve the 15 nominal watts.” Sewell added, “With the first prototype, Mark worked with the tone controls to find his personal ‘sweet spots.’ We took those settings and made them happen at 12 o’clock on the dials, so the starting point for setting up the MT 15 amp would be with everything set at noon.” According to PRS, while the MT 15 is a 15-watt amp, it sounds more like a 50-watt amp. “It’s not just headroom that achieves this effect; it’s the frequencies that are emphasized,” explained Sewell. “Band width is a function of transformers, circuit design and tubes, and these elements can be ma-

nipulated to make the amp sound ‘huge’ without a lot of volume. One of the keys to this is to emphasize low end, but to do it in a way that is not flabby or smeared. Players describe this as ‘tight,’ and there are techniques to achieve this as much as possible. It is a very hard thing to do with a low-powered amp, but the MT 15 is very successful in this regard.” He added, “Furthermore, in the design process, the clean channel was treated like it has more power than it actually has, and each gain stage was carefully designed to keep the tones pristine and clean for most of the volume sweep. We employed six — count ’em, six — preamp tubes in this amp. There was no messing around or skimping with anything tonally. Our mission at PRS is to create amps that sound three-dimensional, that become ‘events’ when heard rather than just sources of guitar string sounds. The MT 15 will do that.” In fact, according to Sewell, the MT 15 often wows listeners who are not expecting such powerful sound from a more compact amp. “One of the cool things about the MT 15 is the looks you can get when you pull it out of its cover, set it up, plug it in and hit that first open D power chord,” he described. “It has never failed to impress, right off the bat.”

Experimenting with settings on the MT 15’s gain and clean channels can produce a range of sounds suitable for a variety of playing styles. “The clean channel is inspired by one of Mark’s 85-watt ’60s twin-speaker blackface amps; it’s super clean and spanky,” said Sewell. “This can promote country picking to lightly crunchy, roots-type music. The lead channel in extreme settings can produce no-holdsbarred, heavy, brutal, but smooth, super-tight low end and drippingwith-doom tone, if you are so inclined. [And the MT 15 can] do ’70s and ’80s hard rock very well. Can you say ‘Eruption’?” According to Sewell, the MT 15 has been well-received by the PRS artists and dealers who have had the chance to try it out, and the amp was given high marks by Tremonti himself. “I can say that, during the design process, we would solicit opinions from as many dealers and artists as would visit our factory, and I have never seen such overwhelmingly positive reactions from every person that has heard or played these amps,” shared Sewell. “I did not attend The NAMM Show this year, but I got glowing reports regularly during the event from Paul Smith, our AR crew and the sales staff. They let me know that nearly 100 percent of the dealers that

tried out the amp ordered them. I literally got emails from dealers during The NAMM Show thanking me for my part in the design of these amps. Mark Tremonti has had prototypes for a couple of years now, and he tells stories of his guitarist friends preferring the MT 15 to other high-end amps in his collection. He recorded all or much of his last album with this amp, [and that’s] a great testament to how good it is.” Judy Schaefer, Director of Marketing for PRS Guitars, added, “On Jan. 25, the first day of The NAMM Show, we started a ‘Win My Rig’ promotion for the players. It is a simple promotion that asks players to watch a 30-second video of Mark Tremonti running through his spec choices on the amp, [then] you answer one question, and you are entered to win a great prize. The promotion will end just as the amps start shipping to dealers, so we feel it was designed with great timing, and it’s based in educating people on the MT 15. We have more than 30,000 entries so far. In addition to the above, we offered dealers Tremonti posters and web banners for their stores, both physical and online.” The MT 15 Mark Tremonti Signature Amplifier began shipping this month. It carries a MAP of $649.

C O M I N G I N T H E M AY I S S U E O F T H E M U S I C & S O U N D R E TA I L E R : • • • 60

The Good Stuff: Great Things Going on in MI Today Music & Sound Award Dealer Nominees Front and Center: Lynette Sage, Reverb

• MI Spy in the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities • Shine a Light: Music & Arts • The Final Note: Terry Platt, CEO, Crush Drums And much more APRIL 2018

THE FINAL NOTE: GIL SOUCY, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, U.S. MUSIC CORP.

(continued from page 62) you can’t be promoted.” Both are brilliant in their own way. Another early mentor told me, “Always try to do the right thing, regardless of how hard it makes the process.” I carry these words with me every day, wherever my travels take me.

The Retailer: What was your first experience with a musical instrument? Soucy: My mom was a pianist, so our piano was my first instrument. My brothers played woodwinds, so I followed their lead and played wind instruments for 10 years as a kid. My brother, Larry, had a guitar, so having him show me a few things was truly my first exposure to that instrument, and I started playing guitar the most when I was 12. The Retailer: What instrument do you most enjoying playing? Soucy: Definitely the guitar. I seem to go through phases of concentrating on one style or another and draw inspiration from the particular instrument I’m engaged with at the moment, so I switch frequently between steel string acoustic, classical and electric. The Retailer: Tell us something about yourself that others do not know or would be surprised to learn. Soucy: Aside from playing/ performing music, I have an equal amount of experience in live sound engineering and stage lighting. Both are huge passions for me. However, given the choice now, I would still prefer to be playing on stage! The Retailer: What’s your favorite activity to do when you’re not at work? Soucy: Playing the guitar, bicycling and learning about different wines. I also enjoy running my chainsaw and swinging an axe a whole bunch, which I do almost weekly. The Retailer: What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? Soucy: I go to a lot of shows every year, but in recent times the award from me would probably go to Muse. Their producMUSIC & SOUND RETAILER

tion quality is so great it’s hard to compare to anything else I’ve seen in the past few years.

The Retailer: If you could see any musician, alive or deceased, play a concert for one night, who would it be and why? Soucy: As a kid, I had tickets to see Ozzy in Boston when Randy Rhodes died. The show went on for only two weeks after his death and featured Bernie Torme [pre-Brad Gillis] and was still pretty cool, but to this day I wish I could have seen Randy play live. My second choice would be to see Michael Hedges. The Retailer: What musician are you hoping to see play in the near future? Soucy: I hope to see Andy McKee some time soon. The Retailer: What song was most memorable for you throughout your childhood and what do you remember about it the most? Soucy: That would have to be either the Eagles’ “Hotel California” or the Doobie Brothers’ “China Grove.” I spent a lot of time first with a record player then with cassette tapes learning every nuance of both songs and playing along with them. The Retailer: What songs are on your smartphone, right now? Soucy: I listen to so many different genres, honestly. I have a ton of Porcupine Tree, Rush, Al Di Meola and Dream Theater type of music, but I also have a ton of classical guitar.

select three people, past or present, to have dinner with, who would they be and what would you ask them? Soucy: Elon Musk, Paul McCartney and any living former president of the United States. For Elon Musk, I think I would like to know the qualities he looks for in people when he needs to choose someone for a key role. His plans are advanced enough that I think he’d be easily slowed by those that don’t carry his same vision. For Paul McCartney, I’d want to know his most memorable non-music-life moment. To the former president, I’d want to know one thing they would have done differently and how they think it would have affected the current world situation today.

The Retailer: What is the best thing about the MI industr y? Soucy: The people and the products. We’re a small industry where everyone is in some way closely connected. At the end of the day, we manufacture and sell items that are creative artistic tools and incredibly inspirational for making my favorite thing — music. The Retailer: What technology could change MI down the road? Soucy: I think further exploring audio-over-Wi-Fi technology could be beneficial, as well as web-based teaching programs and garnering wide acceptance of “green friendly” manufacturing

materials. One non-technology thing that I think could have a positive impact on the future of our industry is the affiliation between the music products industry and the record labels. We need the labels to help promote players who are actually playing instruments!

The Retailer: If you weren’t in the music industr y, what would you be doing and why? Soucy: I’ve always had a secret desire to somehow be involved in the medical field. I would also consider the fashion, travel industry or auto industries. All require creative thinking. The Retailer: Tell us about your hometown and why you enjoy living there. Soucy: I live in Milford, N.H., a small New England town that has a population of 15,000 people. It’s centrally located to a lot of things I enjoy. I can be in Boston, at the seacoast or in the mountains all within a one-hour drive. I am within easy driving distance to NYC and Montreal, two of my favorite cities. The Retailer: What is your most prized possession(s) and why? Soucy: I have a guitar that I have literally thousands of playing hours on. It’s truly been a very important part of my life for decades.

The Retailer: What’s the most fun thing you saw/did at a NAMM Show? Soucy: Just this year at NAMM we partnered with our longtime Washburn signature artist Nuno Bettencourt and attended the Extreme show with about 60 of our top dealers and distributors at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Truly the best event I have attended at NAMM since I started attending the show in 1982. The Retailer: If you had to

www.bourns.com/proaudio 61

THE FINAL NOTE

GIL SOUCY Vice President & General Manager, U.S. Music Corp. By Brian Berk

The Music & Sound Retailer: Who was your greatest influence or mentor and why? Gil Soucy: Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many brilliant business owners, and all of them have had a mentoring effect on me. This continues today with JAM Industries, a great company that recently was cited for being one of “Canada’s Best Managed Companies.” I’m truly fortunate to be working with these amazing business owners and managers. The Retailer: What was the best advice you ever received? Soucy: Two things that come to mind were from the same very dear industry friend. When discussing a meeting I was preparing for, she told me, “If you’re not 100-percent sure, it’s better to keep your mouth closed and let them think you’re an idiot than to open it and confirm that you are one!” The second thing she advised was, “If you can’t be replaced, (continued on page 61)

APRIL 2018