mmr december 2008
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MMR December 2008TRANSCRIPT
w w w . m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
25th Annual
Review & Forecast
50 Dealer/50 State
27th AnnualAmerica’s Top Music Chains
16th AnnualDealers’ Choice
Awards
MMR_COV1 COV1 11/21/08 10:55:26 AM
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Marvel and all related characters are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. Copyright ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. www.marvel.comCheck out Satch on the road this Fall, promoting his new release “Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock!”Photo by: Jeremy Stockton
“It’s really a joy for me to play. It responds like almost all my favorite vintage guitars, and yet it does everything modern which is the coolest thing.” –JOE SATRIANI...on his JS20TH anniversary limited edition guitar
MMR_COV2 COV2 11/21/08 10:44:13 AM
2 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Features
MMR Musical Merchandise Review® (ISSN 0027-4615) founded in 1879, is published monthly by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781)453-9310, publisher of School Band and Orchestra, Choral Director, Music Parents America and JazzEd. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: U.S.A., US possessions, one year $32; two years $40. Canada one year $80; all other countries one year $159. Single issues $5 each. May Supplier Directory $35. Periodical-Rate Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to Musical Merchandise Review, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853. Periodicals circulation is directed to music dealers and retailers, wholesalers and distributors, importers and exporters and manufacturers of all types of musical instruments and their accessories, related electronic sound equipment, general musical accessories, musical publications and teaching aides. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competion. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Copyright ©2008 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.
DECEMBER 2008 VOL.167 NO. 12 Contents26 Webwise: Blogging for Customers
30 Stats: U.S. MI Imports 2008
36 25th Annual 50-Dealer/50-State Review & Forecast
MMR’s annual survey gets feedback from 50 owners and employees across the country to gauge the general state of the MI retail market.
60 27th Annual America’s Top ChainsIncreasing online and other, non-brick-and-mortar retailing, coupled with a shaky economy contributed to an ongoing trend away from dealers adding new locations.
68 16th Annual MMR Dealers’ Choice AwardsDealers who participated in this year’s Dealers’ Choice Awards voting once again selected the Yamaha Disklavier as the overall Product of the Year. 16 other lines walked away with honors in major product categories in what turned out to be one of the most competitive contests in the Awards’ 16-year history.
72 Print: RoundtableRepresentatives from key players in print music publishing refl ect on the past year and chime in on expectations for ’09.
78 Show Report: PASICMMR’s Eliahu Sussman summarizes the mood and events at this year’s PASIC Convention, held in Austin in November.
4 Editorial6 Upfront20 People22 Storefront24 Financial83 Supplier Scene89 Classifi eds96 Advertisers’ Index
Cover design by Laurie Chesna
68
72
www.MMRmagazine.com
Departments
6
36
MMR_2 2 11/21/08 10:56:01 AM
StudioDock™
©2008 Samson. iPod not included with StudioDock. StudioDock requires iPod with dock connector. StudioDock is a registered trademark of Samson Technologies. iPod is a trademark of Apple Inc.
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Samson’s New USB Monitors.With StudioDock’s USB capability, you’ll hear incredibly clear digital audio from your computer. And the onboard iPod dock let’s you sync, charge and play your music.
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StudioDock makes the perfect holiday gift for every musician on your list.
MMR_3 3 11/21/08 10:44:42 AM
Editorial
4 MMR DECEMBER 2008
PUBLISHERSidney L. Davis
EDITORChristian Wissmuller
MANAGING EDITORKevin M. Mitchell
ASSOCIATE EDITORDenyce Neilson
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERRick Kessel
STAFF WRITEREliahu Sussman
ADVERTISING SALES Iris Fox
CLASSIFIED AD SALESMaureen Johan
PRODUCTION MANAGERLaurie Guptill
GRAPHIC DESIGNERSAndrew P. Ross
Laurie [email protected]
CIRCULATION MANAGERMelanie A. Prescott
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTPopi Galileos
WEBMASTERSanford Kearns
SYMPHONY PUBLISHING, LLCXen Zapis • Chairman
Lee Zapis • [email protected]
Rich Bongorno • Chief Financial Offi [email protected]
Corporate Headquarters26202 Detroit Road, Suite 300, Westlake, Ohio 44145
440-871-1300www.symphonypublishing.com
PUBLISHING, SALES & EDITORIAL OFFICE: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494
(781) 453-9310 Fax: (781) 453-9389www.mmrmagazine.com
Volume 167, Number 12, December 2008
®
Better Than Most
Best Buy, the music industry’s newest potential 800-pound gorilla may have stated it best when it published the company’s latest quarterly earnings report (down 19 percent) with the terse comment that they were unable to accurately forecast fu-
ture revenue or earnings, due to the turbulence of the economy. This was pretty much the consensus of the 50 dealers interviewed within this issue’s “state of the industry” report. While a majority of retailers remain cautiously optimistic (a continuing theme since we launched the report 25 years ago). Several areas of concern were articulated by the independent group of dealers.
Loss of margin, vendor middle-of-the-year price increases, and the accompanying time needed to update point of sale pricing were noted as diffi cult challenges to navigate successfully. Brick and mortar dealers railed against the sales tax advantage of their In-ternet brethren and, of course, the courtship of vendors supplying big box outlets, along with the uncertainty of the aforementioned Best Buy’s impact on the music products community. Toss into the brew an apparent willingness of some of the major brands to open additional dealers within a defi ned trading area, a six per cent unemployment rate and the ever-present threat of reductions in school music programs and, as Stan Laurel, from the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy was fond of saying to his partner, “Ollie , This is a helluva mess you have got us in…”
On a positive note, the industry “Top Chain” store count (this issue) remains stable, if not trending upward. Contrast the music dealer to other retail spectrums and we start to look pretty good. Consider: Starbuck’s closing 600 shops, Linens ’n Things disap-pearing from the scene, Circuit City in Chapter X1, Specialty chains such as Ann Taylor shuttering 117 stores, the Gap closing 85, Footlocker down 140, Disney Stores down 98, Zales Jewelers closing 105, and KB Toys, cutting 356 outlets…
From informal conversations with both dealers and vendors it appears there are some bright spots in the music landscape. Internet sales are increasing in importance and, in a very real sense, leveling the playing fi eld for any independent willing to invest in the tech-nology and manpower to develop this market. While there are both plusses and minuses to the sale of vintage equipment, we fi nd several dealers expanding the category and, de-spite (or because of) eBay, increasing their profi t margins. In keeping with the cautious optimism of our report, we found several dealers enlarging their footprint: California’s Jim Music Center has doubled their space; Robb’s Boulder Music (Colorado) opened a new 6,500 square-foot store; Georgia’s Earth Shaking Music opened a new recording studio; and Illinois-based Brandolino’s Encore Music moved into a new location.
On balance, viewing the past twelve months, the music industry has more than weathered the fi nancial storm, with few retail bankruptcies (Holze Music was the most notable) and a slight overall growth in the store count. Also positive was the emergence and strengthening of independent dealers through the support of NAMM and dealer-oriented groups such as the MSO (www.musicstoreowners.com), a group of some 250 storefronts, and AIMM, the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants, a consortium representing some 200 dealer units.
sdavis@ symphonypublishing.com
MMR_4 4 11/21/08 10:56:28 AM
6 MMR DECEMBER 2008
UpfrontU.S. Band & Orchestra Buys St. Louis Music from Loud(St. Louis-based supplier also taking over old SLM HQ)
Loud Technologies announced it has shed aspects of the St. Louis Music (SLM) Company and all related inventory to St. Louis-based U.S. Band & Orchestra Sup-plies.
“I haven’t eaten for a week!” declared an exhausted Mark Ragin immediately after ink started to dry on a deal that would nearly triple his business. “But we’re excited about this. Our game plan has always been to be the ultimate one-stop shop, but we were not getting as much of the orchestra side of the busi-ness as we would had liked. Now, with this deal, we’ll be really the largest inde-pendent distributor for these segments.” Ragin, president and owner of U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies Inc., added that while the deal was understandably com-plicated, the people at Loud “couldn’t have been better to work with it.”
The deal includes SLM Marketplace catalog and accessories distribution business and proprietary St. Louis Stage Gear brand, along with the Austin gui-tars and Knilling instruments brands (“SLM Marketplace”). It also includes the transfer of the exclusive worldwide sales license for the patented Perfection Peg stringed instrument tuning device. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
“The SLM Marketplace sale, a non-core business unit and product lines, will enable Loud to dedicate its resources and solidify its leadership positions in the mu-sical instruments and professional audio markets,” says Rodney Olson, president and CEO of Loud Technologies Inc.
“Moreover,” Olsen continues, “U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies is the ideal new owner for SLM Marketplace, Austin, and Knilling, since they will ensure that our dealer network for these products will continue to receive the highest levels of service and support.”
Ragin adds, “We are all looking for-ward to continuing SLM Marketplace’s 105-year St. Louis tradition and to bring-ing our reputation for impeccable dealer
service to the many new customers with whom we are about to do business.” Ra-gin said.
Aspects of the St. Louis Music Com-pany that Loud retains include Crate, Al-varez, and Ampeg products.
“One Step At a Time” “I contacted Loud
about eight months ago in reference to the Knil-ling brand,” Ragin says, explaining the origins of the deal. “We have a great band line in E.K. Blessing, but no orchestra line.” Over time, conversations continued and eventually Loud opened up the idea of selling parts of SLM in addition to Knilling – but to the highest bid-der. That turned out to be U.S. Band & Orchestra.
“We purchased the inventory of Aus-tin guitars and Knilling orchestra instru-ment, and the SLM Market Place which includes product line. We also purchased all those brand names and trademarks – recognized and unrecognized – that were under the SLM banner. I have an entire sheet of them.”
In a separate deal, Ragin is close to an agreement with former SLM owner Gene Kornblum to lease the original SLM HQ and warehouse. Kornblum, who sold SLM to Loud in 2005 for $32.6 million, still owns the building and is reportedly pleased with this latest development. “I had a long talk with Gene the other day, and he thought I was the perfect person for this deal,” Ragin says. “Keeping it in town is important to him.”
At one point the company employed up to 400; Loud has cut back and so-lidifi ed operations at their Woodinville, Wash. base, leaving only a few warehouse workers in St. Louis. No doubt that will change as Ragin takes over. (His cur-
rent operation just had a makeover, but he says he’ll still vacate and move to the 80,000 square foot operation, which is four times the size.)
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” he says. “We’ll be adding people, but not a lot at once.” He notes that two of his current sales reps are former SLM em-
ployees, and he’s speak-ing with several others already. “We also just hired Devin Pelton for our vice president of sales for our Blessing and Educational divi-sion.” Pelton was with Conn-Selmer for 13 years and was one of their top sales people. “I’m also looking for a top string person in the country to take the vice
presidential position for our string divi-sion, and then search for another one for our combo division.”
One thing is for sure: Ragin is suddenly dealing with a lot of product. “That ware-house is fi lled to the rafter.”
About RaginMark Ragin grew up near U.S. Band’s
current home in St. Louis and, at the age of 17, found himself working in one of the St. Ann’s Music store chains. He also found himself quickly moving up the ladder: “Shortly after I started working, a manager quit right before the busy season started, and so they made me a manager,” he says. 17 years later he was president of the entire retail operation. When that company’s owner eyed retirement, Ragin was then poised to buy the largest music chain in Missouri with a partner, but the deal fell through at the last minute and Brook-Mays bought it.
St. Ann also operated a wholesale company called Wolf Imports. Ragin was actually president of that segment of St. Ann’s operation, and while he had a
“Our game plan
has always been
to be the ultimate
one-stop shop.”
MMR_6 6 11/21/08 10:57:29 AM
job offer on the table from Brook-Mays to continue working there, he decided to take on the wholesale company in June of 1999. Today U.S. Band has served 3,000 dealers at one time or another, and about half of those buy from them regularly, he says.
Earlier this year, instrument manu-facturer EK Blessing partnered with U.S. Band. It is a 102-year-old company, and the oldest manufacturer of instru-ments in the historic town of Elkhart. They are currently producing 41 differ-ent instrument models, 35 of which are
made in the U.S., which is, to Ragin, a major marketing point.
Knilling offers a variety of string instruments at the student and step-up level, and some electric violins as well.
“We are all very excited about the fu-ture,” he said.
Upfront
Rico’s New Proprietary Reed Blanking Machines“When D’Addario acquired Rico in 2004, they really made a commitment to help-ing develop the company – both in terms of the process of how we make our prod-ucts, as well as the products, themselves,”
says Robert Polan, Rico’s product manager. “Part of the goal was to bring things into the 21st Century and apply state-of-the-art technologies to our processes. The fi rst area D’Addario invested in was the blank-ing process, as it was determined that the blanking stage would have the greatest im-pact on quality production.”
As a result, Rico Reeds recently en-gineered and installed fi ve Automatic Blanking Machines to replace over 24 previous generation blanking units. Rico presently produces more than 30 mil-lion reeds per year. As part of a complete process makeover for the Rico operation D’Addario has invested $4.3 million in this automation project.
Cane is a natural material and it doesn’t always come to the factory in the right shape and tolerances to easily make a precise reed. Cane tubes are of random dimen-sions, shapes, and color. Rico’s new auto-matic blanking process uses precision laser
measuring devices to position the natural raw material so that virtually perfect sym-metry of the side rails is achieved on every reed. “You can’t make a great reed unless you start with a precision blank,” states Jim
D’Addario, CEO of D’Addario & Co., Inc. “We immediately began this monumental engineering project in 2004 when we realized that we could dramatically im-prove the quality of all Rico Reeds if we invented a better process.”
Creating a new process is ex-actly what Rico and D’Addario en-gineers have done. The machines have several cutting and polishing stages, video and laser inspection, and measuring stations to insure that the parts are within tight di-mensional tolerances, an elabo-
rate color video sorting process to separate cane into different quality classifi cations and a pre-vamp cutting step to prepare the blanks further for the next operation where the fi nal precision vamp cut is made.
“D’Addario’s philosophy has always been to outpace the competition through innovation and technology. Most compa-nies don’t inject heavy amounts of capital investment into a mature market leader; at D’Addario this is standard operating procedure. D’Addario has already invest-ed over $10 million into Rico since our 2004 acquisition including new reed mak-ing machines, factory improvements, and over 45 new hectares (80 acres) of planta-tion between our Argentinean and French operations,” states D’Addario.
The improvements to date are only the beginning. “We have big plans for Rico,” says Jim D’Addario, “We are now in the process of automating our cane tube sorting, sawing, and splitting, so
that we can locate a state of the art, effi -cient process at both our plantation sites, France and Argentina. And we are also in the development phase of completely digital reed cutting technology that will set new standards for reed design and quality. This is an exciting time for the Rico brand.”
“We’re also in the process of implement-ing a lean manufacturing program, which is a pretty common practice in many in-dustries,” adds Gary Smith, vice president of West Coast Operations. “It’s based upon the Toyota production system and involves looking at your processes with an eye to-wards where the wastes are and eliminat-ing that waste. In doing so, you improve your effi ciencies and make your operation more productive. It also helps the product quality improve and makes you more re-sponsive to your customers.”
“Our objective, overall, is to take another leap beyond our competition in terms of the quality of product we can offer,” Polan adds. “By continuously improving Rico’s quality, we’re showing players that Rico is commit-ted to making the best reed possible.”
Left to right: Carlos Meija, manager of Product Quality and Development; Gary Smith, VP of West Coast Operations; and Robert Polan, product manager.
8 MMR DECEMBER 2008
MMR_8 8 11/21/08 10:57:33 AM
Upfront
Financial Crisis, Credit Crunch: What’s It Mean for MI?“What crisis?” deadpans Vic Richmond. “I had dinner last night, the sun rose in the east, and I had breakfast this morn-ing …”
Richmond, president of Allegro Ac-ceptance, which provides retail fi nancing to America’s keyboard dealers, quickly adds: “Of course there is concern over the economy. As we specialize in help-ing dealers fi nance keyboard purchases, I can tell you that what we’re seeing is lower-priced product being fi nanced. There are also more digital pianos being fi nanced, which we aren’t used to seeing.” The keyboard market as a whole is cur-rently weak, but “for qualifi ed buyers, we have money.”
BusinessWeek reports that how the current fi nancial crisis will affect busi-nesses like MI is mixed. Simply, though, money exists. However, if a small busi-ness has bad credit, or if the books are shoddy, banks are going to take a long second look and the likely beginning of the last sentence of the conversation will be the three words: “I’m sorry, but...” Yet, “many banks still want to lend to estab-lished fi rms with good credit and collat-eral.” It also reported that Ohio banks aren’t renewing lines of credit, and are going so far as to call in loans made to
decades-old family businesses who are actually up to date on their payments.
“What you have to do is tighten your belts,” Richmond says. Focusing on rent-to-own programs is a good place to start, which is something he is seeing resur-gence in. “This gives the buyer a back door in case it doesn’t work out for him or her long term.” Otherwise, these times don’t allow the dealer to draw on past experiences because there’s never really been anything out it. “Dealers are work-ing smarter, and working longer hours – I also think they are buying more modest lunches, too,” he adds with a laugh.
Dennis Zalewski has empirical proof banks are tightening up: he has more business. As president of the National Music Funding Corporation, Zalewski buys rent-to-own accounts from MI dealers who fi nd themselves short on cash. “When a music store’s bank is sud-denly hemming and hawing at lending $75,000, the store can sell us the receiv-able contract and get an infl ux of cash,” he explains. “And we’re seeing more mu-sic stores calling us because they can’t get money from the bank.”
Zalewski, who has been at this for around 15 years, says that he’s trying to analyze it all himself, but at this point
he can’t even guess what is on the hori-zon, short term or long term. But he does point out how the media can make it all seem like some kind of fi nancial Arma-geddon. “When you see it on the news about banks not making loans and tight-ening up, it can seem like it’s happening to everyone everywhere,” he says. “But the reality isn’t that bad. Otherwise, I’d be on the phone all day long! It’s happen-ing, though, so everyone just needs to be more careful.”
Mixed messages abound. The Federal Reserve reports that lending standards for small businesses have been tighten-ing at many banks for over 12 months. In the three-month period from June to July, 65 percent of banks reported that they tightened credit for companies with less than $50 million in revenue. Yet the same report the week ending September 10, outstanding commercial and industrial loans totaled $1.51 tril-lion, up from $1.35 trillion a year earlier. This represents a 12 percent increasing in borrowing, though that includes big businesses as well and its unclear how many small retailers that number might include. Then there is a Gallup poll of 610 small business owners where only 14 percent of respondents reported having
10 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Musician’s Friend, a division of Guitar Center, announced that company founder Robert Eastman is stepping down from his day-to-day functions and assuming the role of chairman emeritus, effective January 1, 2009. Craig Johnson will fi ll the position of chief executive offi cer (CEO). Eastman will continue to have a presence within the company, serving as adviser to Johnson.
Musician’s Friend was founded in 1983 by Eastman and his wife DeAnna. The com-pany grew from a modest mail order house
garage startup – which was soon moved to an Oregon dairy barn – into the country’s largest direct marketer of music gear.
“For several years, we have been building a world-class management team,” says East-man. “With a solid management team in place, I decided that at the end of the year I will move into a chairman emeritus role and that Craig Johnson will become CEO. I look forward to getting to spend more
time with my family and having time to travel and, of course, go fi shing!”
Johnson assumes his new role as CEO af-ter serving as Musician’s Friend’s president and COO for the last two and a half years.
Musician’s Friend’s Eastman Steps Down, Johnson Steps Up
Musician’s Friend’s Craig Johnson and Robert Eastman on a recent fi shing trip.
MMR_10 10 11/21/08 10:57:38 AM
Upfront
In what is a continued effort to put it-self on stronger fi nancial footing, Loud Technologies announced a reorganiza-tion of its marketing, sales, and engi-neering departments. The restructuring is expected to generate a net reduction of approximately 90 full-time positions, primarily outside sales reps.
Under the new organization, product strategy, development, and marketing for the company’s MI and Pro businesses will be managed by separate, dedicated prod-uct management teams, while marketing communications for all Loud brands will be consolidated and managed by a shared marketing support team. The company’s worldwide engineering resources will be scaled accordingly to support a more focused product development schedule. Loud will also move North American sales from its current sales force to a group of independent sales representa-tion fi rms and consolidate portions of its international sales force.
In other news, in a letter to its sharehold-ers, Loud Technologies (under the name Sun Mackie) issued a request to purchase the remaining 23.8 percent of the fi rm’s shares that are still in the public domain.
As reported in MI Pro, the letter reads in part: “We are pleased to sub-mit this going private transaction pro-posal to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Loud Technologies not currently held by Sun Mackie, which currently owns approxi-mately 76.2 percent of the outstanding common stock. We are prepared to of-fer $1.45 in cash per share of common stock. We believe this is a full and fair price, which will provide the public
shareholders of The Company with a 45 percent premium over the October 31st, 2008 closing price of $1.00.”
The move to buy up the remaining shares in Loud suggests that the com-pany is hoping to go private once again.
Sun Capital Investment became in-volved with Loud (then Mackie) back in 2003 with a signifi cant investment that amounted to an ownership share. Since then, despite a regular series of acquisitions, the company has struggled to maintain its presence in the NASDAQ stock exchange, to keep its stock price up, and to cope with the pressures of regular reporting compul-sory within the US fi nancial system.
Most recently, Loud failed to submit an item in form 10-K, which pertains to internal control of the company. As a result, the staff of the Securities and Ex-change Commission issued a statement that “until the Company completes this evaluation and fi les a Form 10-K/A re-fl ecting its conclusions, investors should not rely upon such disclosure,” effective-ly saying that Loud was not a company to be trusted as regards investment.
Many have privately thought that Mackie and later Loud should never have gone public in the fi rst place, not least because of this sort of public re-porting, which could cost the company as much as $1 million per year. By going private, Loud will have the room to ma-neuver and make substantial savings.
It could also leave the company in a position to sell more easily or alterna-tively, invest in itself more easily. The cost of paying $1.45 per share should be a lot less than any long-term savings the company might make.
Loud Reorganizes, Goes Private
diffi culty getting credit, a fairly normal number.
The second version of the $700 billion bail out bill congress passed in fact did so because many lawmakers were more com-fortable with it because it offered more protection to small businesses. They will
need it, because in addition to all the other general challenges, falling home prices are making it harder for the small business man or woman to borrow for their shop against their house – a typical strategy for those trying to expand signifi cantly or sim-ply get through a down economic cycle.
And about those hard times … some economist stipulate it’s still mostly a cri-sis in confi dence in the fi nancial institu-tions.
“It’ll change, it’ll pass,” says Rich-mond of the crisis. “We just don’t know when.”
12 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Rodgers Executive Leadership ChangesRodgers Instruments president Lloyd Robbins will retire at the end of 2008, and vice president for Sales and Marketing Duane Kuhn has accepted appoint-ment as executive vice president with responsibility for the company’s day-to-day operations.
Ikutaro Kake-hashi, founder and special consultant of the Roland Corpo-ration, who serves as Rodgers chair-man, will assume the role of president upon Mr. Robbins’ retirement.
Mr. Kuhn joined Rodgers in 2004 af-ter serving in execu-tive roles at Baldwin Piano and Organ Company and its Wurlitzer Division, and as president of Church Organ Systems. During his tenure at Rodgers, he has been infl uen-tial in expanding the Trillium Masterpiece Series of highly customizable organs and strengthening support for Rodgers’ interna-tional network of dealers and distributors.
Rodgers is a member of the Roland Group, headed by Roland Corporation, a world leader in electronic musical in-strument technologies and electronic musical instrument sales and manufac-turing. More information is available at www.rodgersinstruments.com.
Kuhn
Robbins
(See accompanying story on page 6.)
MMR_12 12 11/21/08 10:57:42 AM
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MMR_13 13 11/21/08 10:45:20 AM
UpfrontFTC Investigation Into MI ContinuesIt’s been about 20 months since the Fed-eral Trade Commission (FTC) complet-ed gathering information from the MI industry relating to their investigation into the possibilities that Minimum Ad-vertised Pricing (MAP) policies violated long-standing anti-trust laws. It’s been 15 months since some kind of decision was supposed to be reach, but that September 2007 deadline has long passed.
Apparently, it could be another fi ve years for all those vendors and manu-facturers who received subpoenas that fateful day on Mar. 12, 2006. But FTC spokesperson Mitchell Katz confi rmed that the investigation is still going on – but he added that a new presidential administration could affect if a case like this continues or is quietly closed.
“The way it works is a case is open un-til charges are fi led, or it’s decided there isn’t enough evidence to go forward,” Katz says. “If we decide there is no evi-dence, those people or representatives of the entire industry will receive ‘clos-ing letters.’ Usually these letters are also posted on our Web site as well, and I have not seen closing letters for this case. If no one in your industry has received these letters, then it’s still being investigated.”
NAMM confi rmed that they have not received any such letter, nor know of any-one else in the industry that has.
But the end will come: “The case won’t just sit there. They don’t just get left open.
It’s in no one’s interest for a case to go on forever, and so we’re working methodi-cally on this to see if it can be developed. There have been cases I have worked on that were especially complex where the administrative process has gone on for fi ve or six years after the last piece of pa-perwork has been requested.”
Things do change, however – includ-ing presidential administrations—and that could affect a case.
Katz says the FTC is an independent body from the elected government gov-erned by fi ve commissioners. There is a sixth and equal member, a chairman, that is appointed by the president, and no matter how the election ends, their orga-nization will have a new chairman next year. “That chairman could have dif-ferent interests, different priorities, and want to spend resources in different areas than what we are currently doing.” But any decisions require a majority of the board, so the non-appointed commis-sioners, at least a few of them, would have to be convinced of a change in direction. But it does happen. “I can tell you that in at least one case a chairman left, another one took over, and the agency focused on different types of cases,” closing some in favor of spending more time on other types.
The FTC had asked MI trade organi-zations, vendors, and manufacturers to produce records dating back from Jan.
1, 1999 to present regarding MAP poli-cies, cooperative advertising funds, and artist endorsements. But in August of this year, in an unexpected move, the Supreme Court granted manufacturers broad new legal powers that allow them to set minimum prices on their prod-ucts and force retailers to stick to those prices and not discount. This reversed precedence established and maintained for a better part of a century, wherein antitrust laws were violated if a supplier tried to punish a retailer in anyway for selling at cut-rate prices. This particu-lar case involved a Dallas mom-and-pop retailer, Kays Kloset, which sold hand-bags.
Some in MI thought that once it was established that manufacturers could dictate the actual price of their item to retailers, then that would trump the assumption of the case against MI, which is being called into question for merely trying to maintain minimum advertised pricing policies, a practice done in many other industries. But it did not, and the investigation con-tinues, with no hint of when or how it will end.
The Federal Communications Commis-sion voted in November to allow technolo-gy companies like Google, Microsoft, Dell, and Motorola to produce “white spaces” devices that will use the same radio fre-quency (RF) spectrum now being used by wireless microphone and guitar systems.
The commission adopted certain ele-ments of Shure’s recent wireless micro-phone interference protection plan. How-ever, there are still concerns that, despite technical evidence to the contrary, the commission’s action opens the door to a
new breed of wireless gadgetry that relies on unproven technology as a safeguard against interference to wireless microphones.
“While not unexpected, today’s FCC decision will greatly complicate the lives of wireless microphone users across the United States and negatively affect tens of millions of Americans listening to live and broadcast events,” said Mark Brun-ner, Shure’s senior director, global public and industry relations.
An in-depth look at this issue will be featured in the January MMR.
14 MMR DECEMBER 2008
The NAMM Foundation recently presented a program grant to the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts for their efforts to expand music-making opportunities to older adults. The presentation took place in Philadelphia, PA during the Guild’s 71st annual conference. Pictured from left to right are: Bill Reim, President, Hoshino USA & Member, Board of Directors, NAMM; Jonathan Herman, Executive Director, National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts; Emilie Roy Corey, Trustee, National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts; and Mary Luehrsen, Executive Director of the NAMM Foundation.
NAMM Awards Grant
FCC Votes Against MI Wireless Products
MMR_14 14 11/21/08 10:57:46 AM
PMI Audio Acquires Trident AudioAfter long negotiations, PMI Audio Group has announced its acquisition of the original Trident Audio Devel-opments Company. The company has purchased all of the trademark rights, intellectual property rights, goodwill and assets of Trident Audio Develop-ments from David Stocks, who ac-quired the company from Relyon after it was sold by Malcolm Toft.
In 1972, under the direction of Malcolm Toft and Barry Porter, the company took its name from Trident Recording Studios in London. At that time Trident Studios was one of the most famous independent recording studios in the world. Because it was the fi rst 8-track studio in Europe, it was chosen by The Beatles to record their top selling single “Hey Jude.”
For more information, contact PMI Audio Group, 1845 W. 169th St., Gar-dena, CA 90247, telephone (310) 323-9050, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.pmiaudio.com.
Upfront
Musicorp Adds BBE Sound to Distribution LineMusicorp announces the addition of BBE Sound to Musicorp’s distribution line.
“BBE is famous for innova-tive technology and high qual-ity, particularly with their line of Sonic Maximizer products,” says Roy White, Musicorp Mer-chandising Product Manager.
Musicorp is now carrying 20 best-sell-ing BBE products, stocking them in their
centrally located Kentucky warehouse. Products include the popular, sound-en-
hancing Sonic Maximizer line, an assortment of qual-ity guitar effects and other assorted audio management gear.
For more information, call (800) 845-1922 or (800) 874-5774, or visit www.musicorp.com.
Samick Acquires Seiler PianoSamick Musical Instruments Company announces that it has acquired Seiler, a German piano company, as a wholly owned subsidiary. A new management team for Seiler has been appointed.
The company, founded in 1849, will continue making pianos in the
same factories by the same craftsmen, Samick noted. Seiler joins an ever-growing number of names under the Samick banner, which includes Pram-berger, Kohler & Campbell, Knabe, Sohmer, and pianos made with the Samick label.
Children at NAMM Show: Clarifi cationIn light of confusion following NAMM’s recent announcement about changing policies regarding minors attending the January trade show in Anaheim, the or-ganization has released a statement:
Here’s Clarifi cation On The New Policy
Recently, we’ve received some feed-back from Members about the change in our badge policy regarding minors attending our trade shows. We’d like to take a moment and clear things up.
First and foremost, NAMM recog-nizes and appreciates that our industry is very much a family business and many of our industry’s leaders grew up attending the NAMM shows from a very early age. We wholeheartedly support the families in our industry and want to see these fu-
ture leaders attending the NAMM Shows, both now and for years to come.
The new badge policy was put into place to reduce the non-industry attend-ees under the age of 16 who simply have no business connection with the show. These minors can typically be found col-lecting autographs, jamming on display merchandise hoping to be discovered and, in some unfortunate cases, shoplift-ing.
We ask that all NAMM Members please take a look at their badge lists and eliminate invitees (especially those un-der the age of 16) who do not have a le-gitimate business reason to attend.
So, as a quick summary, in the category of those welcome to attend:
Employees of NAMM Member com-panies - regardless of ageFamily members of NAMM Mem-bers who will grow up to work in the business - regardless of ageEndorsed artists - regardless of age
•
•
•
Note: For those family members and em-ployees under 16 who you would like to have attend, please place them in an employee badge. When they get to the show, you will have to sign a minor release form for them. Only Members in red or blue badges can sign the minor release form for their family member(s). Forms will be available at the Information Counter and in Registration.
Those not welcome to attend:Anyone under 16 who does not have a business-related reason to attend the show.
Finally, we’re sorry for any confusion this badge policy change may have caused. We want your NAMM Show experience to be the best it can be, so you can conduct your business without additional noise, congestion or disruption. If you have any questions about this or any show-re-lated matter, please let us know by call-ing NAMM at 800-767-NAMM (6266) or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. We look forward to seeing all of you at the 2009 NAMM Show in Anaheim!
•
16 MMR DECEMBER 2008
MMR_16 16 11/21/08 10:57:50 AM
UpfrontTrade Regrets:John Melville PearseEnglish studio musician, author, pro-ducer, and co-founder of Breezy Ridge Instruments, John Pearse died on October 31 in his home in Germany where he lived for the past several years. Breezy Ridge sells a variety of accessories includ-ing John Pearse Strings.
Born in 1939, Pearse fi rst began researching string manufacturing in the mid-1960s. He became a BBC ce-lebrity by teaching guitar on television, and is widely considered the fi rst one
to do so. His best-selling video guitar course made him an internationally
known teacher. As an author of over 30 books, he’s produced tomes not only about music but also on such diverse subjects as cooking and fl y-fi shing.
In 1978 he came to the United States to develop a line of accessories for Martin Gui-tar. In 1980 he left to co-found Breezy Ridge with Mary Faith Rhoads.
For more information on Pearse’s life, go to www.jpstrings.com.
18 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Sam D’AmicoSam D’Amico, 76, owner of the drum shop Sam D’Amico Music Center, lo-cated in South Philadelphia, died of West Nile virus on Oct. 22. For 33 years, drummers went to his shop for kits, les-sons, and accessories, including greats such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, and Desi Arnaz.
D’Amico was inspired to drum at age 10 when an uncle took him to see Krupa play. An aunt paid $1 a week for the boy’s lessons and drum rental.
While attending high school, D’Amico played gigs in jazz bands. He would work for his family’s plumbing busi-ness, but his wife, Rita, would encour-age him to return to music. In 1956 he did, playing in a band and teaching 40 to 50 students a week. Eventually he opened D’Amico Music.
In addition to his wife, Mr. D’Amico is survived by a son, Joseph; a daugh-ter, Luisa Reggente; and two grandchil-dren.
MMR Blogs about the MI industry every Wednesday. Go to www.mmrmagazine.com to see what is “Off the Record” today.
MMR_18 18 11/21/08 10:57:54 AM
A LOOK INSIDE OUR LITTLE BLACK BOOK
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MMR_19 19 11/21/08 10:45:49 AM
20 MMR DECEMBER 2008
PeopleBosch Communications Systems announces the ad-dition of Johnson Knowlesto its team as Field Applica-tions engineer.
Prior to this appoint-ment, Knowles spent 18 years with leading Dal-las, Texas-based architectural acoustics design and consulting fi rm Russ Berger Design Group—a company he helped found—and brings a wealth of experi-ence and expertise to his new position, primarily in the fi eld of architectural engineering and the design of broadcast and recording facilities.
Knowles also has extensive experience in designing broadcast cabling systems for sports facilities. Some of Knowles’ major clients include NBC, ABC, NPR, CMT, MTV, NFL Films, World Wrestling Enter-tainment, and Sony Music. He has under-taken studio design work for a wide range of artists, including Whitney Houston, Don Henley, Steve Miller, John Fogerty, Mariah Carey, and Michael Bolton.
David McCarthy Joins Apogee Elec-tronics as director of Sales. In his new position, McCarthy will lead the Apogee worldwide sales team, forecast and plan the global business, contribute to the marketing, tech-support and operations efforts as well as develop and maintain partner relations.
David brings 26 years of experience in the M.I. and pro audio industries to Apo-gee and has held positions at Lexicon, Line 6, Alesis and Peavey
Tony Polecastro is We-ber’s new liaison to deal-ers and players. Bruce Weber, founder of Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments, states, “Tony is perfect for our shop. Not only has he worked in music retail and also plays the mandolin and resonator guitar, he is a down-to-earth, genuine guy.”
After graduating from Columbia Col-lege in Audio Arts and Acoustics, Tony joined the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois helping with guitar lessons. He also wore several hats working in the school’s retail outlet, The Different Strummer, where he did pur-chasing and sales.
Zero Crossing has announced the ap-pointment of George Mantoan as its In-ternational Sales manager. Mantoan will concentrate on the worldwide develop-ment and distribution of N-Tune tuners.
As the owner of MMS Inc., an in-dependent representative/consultation fi rm specializing in the distribution of professional musical instrument/pro audio product lines, Mantoan brings an extensive and established network of distributors in over 80 countries. MMS Inc has managed export distributor sales and international marketing for fi rms including Kustom Amplifi ers, Rockman, Kramer Guitars, Spector Bass, Applied Research & Technology, Guild Guitars, Parker Guitars, Mackie Designs, CAD, and Earthworks Audio.
Knowles Polecastro
MMR Blogs about the MI industry every Wednesday.
Go to www.mmrmagazine.com
to see what is “Off the Record” today.
MMR_20 20 11/21/08 10:59:16 AM
22 MMR DECEMBER 2008
StorefrontOwensboro Music Center Celebrates 35th AnniversaryOn a Sunday in October that was blessed with good weather, Owensboro Music celebrated its 35th year serving the re-gions of northern Kentucky and south-ern Indiana. Over 600 people attended the event, which raised money for lo-cal charities, Christmas Wish and Grandma’s kitchen.
“The last 35 years have been a true labor of love, as we all have endured our ups and downs,” refl ects founder Gordy Wilcher. “The store started with a man’s dream to work in the fi eld he loved. I remember my fi rst days with a few guitars and amps in an 800 square-foot building. I am proud of our growth, which we work hard every-day to preserve.”
The celebration was held in the new McConnell Plaza in Owensboro, Ky. A variety of live bands performed at the four-hour happen-ing, plus there were workshops, seminars, contests, and food. Owensboro Music part-nered with two local radio stations, WBKR and WOMI, for the festivities.
“It was strictly a ‘thank you’ event, and no sales were involved,” Wilcher says. He notes that they previously held sales-specifi c anniversary events in the store’s parking lot, but they never drew much of a crowd. This one had a Guitar Hero contest where the winner, a nine-year-old and a student of the store’s les-son program, won a new Samick guitar. They also had an “ugliest guitar contest” with the winner walking away with a Sil-vertone Acoustic guitar.
Wilcher and company seem to know how to throw a party, and got many ven-dors on board to support the event with
swag. In addition to Samick and Silver-tone, Audio Technica, Dean Markley, Ka-man, Ludwig, Martin, Monster Cables, Peavey, RotoSound, Schecter, and Zildjian were among those who provided prizes for the giveaways. Even some manufacturer’s
reps were sent to the party. “In the end, we had so much stuff, we invited everyone left who hadn’t already won something up on stage,” Wilcher says. “I think everyone went home with something.”
It didn’t quite go off without a hitch, though: the city had forgotten to turn off the automatic sprinklers, and when they kicked on, it sent people and hot dog carts scrambling. Wilcher laughs about it now, but quite a few got soaked he says. But it certainly didn’t dampen the event.
“It was very heart-warming to get that kind of support,” he says. “I saw some of my very fi rst customers come with their grandkids, who are starting music lessons at our store. It’s important to build rela-tionships and be part of the community, and that’s really what this party was about. We just had fun, and we’re thinking of do-ing it like this every year.”
Owensboro Music Center celebrates its 35th with some special guests -- left to right: Owensboro’s Bob Blackford, Samick/Schecter rep Ron Hutchins, Owensboro’s founder Gordy Wilcher, and Peavey’s Rich Dunmstroff.
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MMR_22 22 11/21/08 10:59:39 AM
FinancialSteinway Musical Instruments, Inc.Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. (NYSE: LVB) announced results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2008.
Revenues for the third quarter increased 1% over the same period in the prior year. A 7% increase in piano segment revenues, which includes the Company’s re-cently acquired online music business, more than offset a 5% decrease in band seg-ment revenues. Overall gross margins improved to 29.8% from 28.3%.
In connection with the Company’s annual impairment testing of goodwill, in the third quarter the band segment recorded a non-cash charge of $8.6 million, impacting after tax earnings by $0.60 per diluted share. Controllable operating expenses were fl at with the prior year period but the negative impact of the impair-ment charge caused a $6.6 million decline in operating income for the quarter. Net interest expense decreased 18% as a result of lower borrowings during the third quarter of 2008.
Adjusted EBITDA improved to $12.2 million, or 25%, over the prior year period. The Company posted a loss per share of $0.03 and Adjusted earnings per share of $0.57 compared to earnings per share of $0.35 in the third quarter of 2007. Adjust-ments for the quarter are detailed in the attached fi nancial tables.
For the fi rst nine months of 2008, revenue increased 3% and gross margins im-proved slightly, to 29.5% from 29.4%. Operating income declined $7.4 million as a result of the charge to goodwill. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $31.4 million, or 14%, refl ecting improvement in both the band and piano segments.
Band OperationsIn the third quarter, band revenues decreased $2.5 million, or 5%, despite a unit
sales decline of 15%. Declines occurred in all major product categories, with the most signifi cant shortfall in student level instruments. Gross margins improved from 19.5% to 23.2% as a result of a change in product mix toward higher priced instruments, reduced sales incentive programs, and greater manufacturing effi cien-cies.
For the nine-month period, band sales were nearly equal to the prior year period. Gross margins improved from 20.7% to 22.2%, despite $0.9 million of severance costs during the period.
Piano OperationsPiano segment revenues for the third quarter increased $3.7 million, or 7%, to
$55.7 million. An increase in piano sales overseas offset a domestic decline while online music sales contributed an additional $1.8 million in revenue during the quarter. Overall unit shipments of Steinway grand pianos decreased 5% from the prior year period. Domestic shipments of Steinway grand pianos decreased 6% and overseas shipments decreased 3%. Unit shipments of mid-priced pianos declined 7%. Gross margins declined from 36.3% to 35.1% due to a decline in domestic re-tail sales and a change in product mix toward lower margin upright pianos.
For the nine-month period, piano revenues increased 5%. Steinway grand unit shipments declined 6% and mid-priced piano unit shipments decreased 2%. Gross margins decreased to 34.8% from 36.3% primarily as a result of lower production levels at the Company’s New York piano plant.
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24 MMR DECEMBER 2008
MMR_24 24 11/21/08 11:00:33 AM
WEBWISE
26 MMR DECEMBER 2008
The Internet is a beast that
doesn’t let you rest on your
laurels. Have a great web
site? Congrats! But now
start blogging.
I understand the reluctance to blog. After all, isn’t there too much chatter out there as it is? Do people really want to hear another opinion on anything? Isn’t blogging just for people with too much time on their hands? When MMR started discussing the possibility of the editorial staff blogging, those questions popped
into my head, but I’m now a believer in the power of the blog: traf-
fi c to our Web site immediately increased nearly 20 percent because of our efforts.
Everyone clamoring for our pearls of wisdom? Some, sure. But more im-portantly, just the act of putting some-thing new and fresh on a site raises it exponentially with search engines. So if MI retailer, Joe’s Guitar Hanger, has a good site, and Jane’s House of Fret does too, they will both probably show up on the same page when “Googled; however, if Jane is also blogging, her
Blogging for CustomersBlogging on Your Web site is an Effective Marketing Tool
By Kevin M. Mitchell
MMR_26 26 11/21/08 11:01:08 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 27
site will come up first. This is because the search engine “spiders” that search the Web will register her site as more “active,” and thus more important. Those searching the Web for a place to take their kid for guitar lessons will see her site first.
What if Jane’s blog isn’t that inter-esting? Or even read that much? That is less important. It’s fi rst about getting a higher search engine rating, and this is a sure-fi re way to do it.
Building the Case for BloggingNot to say that blogs aren’t read. Here
are a few statistics on the topic courtesy of particletree.com, a Web consulting or-ganization:
50 million Americans, about 30 per-cent of the total Internet population, visit blogs.Blog readers’ median income is be-tween $60,000 and $90,000.75 percent of blog readers are over 30 years old.
So the idea that blogs are for ne’er-do-wells and kids with way too much time on their hands are a myth.
Danny Rocks, who worked for Alfred Publishing for decades, launched his own consulting/training business a few years ago, The Company Rocks. “Blogging has defi nitely increased traffi c to my site,” Rock says. “And it’s a great way to defi ne your business.” Rocks is often at NAMM events participating in training sessions and semi-nars on Internet-related topics because he’s long been recognized for his savvy on the subject. His business has benefi ted from the power of the blog. So much so he’s ac-tually running four blogs now.
“Adding new content makes a site search engine-friendly,” Rocks confi rms. “And I found that adding specialist sites has allowed me to go deeper into certain subjects, and that brings up the visibility and attractiveness as well.” For the MI re-tailer, this might mean that the full line store has several blogs – one for percus-sion, one for pianos, one for guitars, etc.
Rock also says hyperlinks should be included in a blog posting whenever pos-sible. (A hyperlink is a piece of text that connects readers to another Web page – so a blog might read: “I read something
•
•
•
interesting in Guitarist magazine about new, inexpensive Archtops …” The magazine would then be hyperlinked so that the reader could click on it and go to the ar-ticle, or at least the source, being referred to.)
He says that blogging pro-vides a competitive advantage: “It defi nitely can be what makes you special on the web.” What this could mean for the retailer is, say, Jane on a lark takes in a high-end ukulele, and blogs about it. A week later, she’s got eight comments about from rapid uke fans. This might be a sign to stock more of them and include them in her advertise-ments.
The hardest thing to do is to get people to comment. Some-times you can egg your friends and good customers with an email, as in “Hey Tom, I just blogged about such-and-such saxophones, which I know you’re crazy about – go read it and comment on it if you want!” But you can only do that so much. If you never re-ceive comments, don’t think people aren’t reading your blog, and know that it’s still raising awareness of your operation nonetheless.
But here’s the bad news about blogs: You do have to keep it up. If you try and you can’t, then stop it and pull off what you have. Just like that Web site that has a section for “news” and you click on it and there’s one thing from 2005 is a death knell, so is a half-hearted blog.
What to SayRocks tries to post at least twice a
week on all his sites. But what to write? And how long should it be?
Blogs can be as little as a few sentenc-es, and I recommend not going over 500-words for a single entry. Rocks points out that you can serialize – so if you have an
idea about something to write about that requires more, write it in sections and post it in pieces. You can continue a lon-ger content idea as an ongoing thread.
Good blogs are the epitome of the phrase “short and sweet.” Rocks recommends knowing what point you want to make, make it, and then “get the hell out of the way.” It’s good advice. The blog is not the place to wax philosophically for paragraph
“Blogging has defi nitely increased traffi c to my site. And it’s a great way to defi ne your business.”
MMR_27 27 11/21/08 11:01:14 AM
28 MMR DECEMBER 2008
after paragraph. Another blogging tip for those especially short on time is simply point out another article your readers would be in-terested in. If you found something of inter-est in a local paper or on another website for example, write two sentences of comment, quote a paragraph from it (citing the source of course), and then hyperlink to it.
Rocks adds that there is nothing wrong with revisiting favorite topics, too.
If all that still seems like too much, consider just quoting from your suppli-er’s press releases about their products you are stocking. A few years ago I did some Web consulting for a retailer in another industry, and he’s quite shy and doesn’t feel like he’s much of a “writer” (I would beg to differ, but you know the type). He was not going to let that keep him from blogging, which he realized was key to drumming up new business. He just worked from information on new products. For Jane, taking this idea would look something like this:
“Doohicky guitars are shipping their new Z3 solidbody and it’s in my store now. It’s a mahogany single-cutaway with a maple top and maple veneer and comes in black and fi rehouse red. It’s 25-inch scale length with a 22-fret neck with rosewood fretboard …” et cetera. This is a good approach and has the benefi t of your supplier approving of it as well.
For those who commit to this bit of navel gazing, there’s one more benefi t: it can help defi ne what your store is about.“Blogging makes you think about your products and services on a whole other level,” Rocks says. “You can get a clearer understanding of what your message is and redefi ne it. I’ve become very clear about what my customers want and what I can do to offer them the things they need because of blogging.”
MMR Blogs about the MI industry
every Wednesday. Go to
www.mmrmagazine.comto see what is
“Off the Record” today.
MMR_28 28 11/21/08 11:01:19 AM
theRight POPfor YOUR Store
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they’ll need to capture every nuance of the gear they crave. Three-sided POP checkout counter displays and a fold-out brochure
reinforce The Right Mic message while cards in your display case highlight the features, benefits and applications of Sennheiser’s
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Full Ads_dec.indd 29 11/21/08 2:58:43 PM
Stats U.S. Imports for Consumption: Quarterly data for 2008
30 MMR DECEMBER 2008
HTS Number First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter In Actual Units of Quantity
Sources: The data presented in this chart been compiled from tariff and trade data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Com-mission.
* HTS: The Harmonized Tariff Schedule was enacted by Congress and made eff ective on January 1, 1989. The HTS comprises a hierarchical structure for describing all goods in trade for duty, quota, and statisti-cal purposes.
** NESOI: Not Else-where Specifi ed Or Included
Argentina
9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 0 0 30 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 784 0 0 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 1,028 158 39,398 Australia
9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 18 289 81 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 453 166 51 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 270 88 9206002000 DRUMS 6 27 36 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 0 0 13,836 Austria 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 130 0 0 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 13 10 12 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 127,440 170,332 74,343 Canada
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 2 117 141 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 7,310 7,519 8,823 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 122 677 1,817 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 21,412 77 17 9206002000 DRUMS 420 323 150 9206004000 CYMBALS 65,807 82,571 72,404 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 2,234 549 402 Chile
9205904020 CLARINETS 148 11 2 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 8,526 7,729 7,389 China
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 66,327 81,993 88,134 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 19,555 25,400 30,588 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 56,468 91,196 113,445 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 18,871 27,427 35,166 9205901400 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3,886 1,529 12 9205904020 CLARINETS 5,404 11,189 19,110 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 11,639 10,497 15,310 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 15,674 21,250 57,645 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 36,921 71,660 112,605 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 38,742 19,856 23,781 9206002000 DRUMS 101,475 116,750 269,039 9206004000 CYMBALS 12,521 9,793 28,012 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 300,209 299,612 519,762 9207100005 MUSICAL SYNTHESIZERS VALUED UNDER $100 EACH 14,193 8,347 122,704 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 218,673 330,069 550,948 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 219,600 318,876 1,140,469 Czech Republic
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 227 234 1,194 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 38 16 266 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 254 215 146 9205904020 CLARINETS 73 201 150 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 16 24 36 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 39 17 22 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 157 150 159 Denmark
9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 26,013 24,047 29,015 France
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 370 165 705 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 2 10 106 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 723 1,240 5 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 57 114 64 9205904020 CLARINETS 3,860 3,055 1,557 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 1,374 681 719 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 776 1,990 1,005 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 6 5,446 1
MMR_30 30 11/21/08 11:01:58 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 31
HTS Number First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter In Actual Units of Quantity
9206004000 CYMBALS 370 214 0 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 60 23 8 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 55,625 27,743 33,912 Germany
9201200005 GRAND PIANOS, USED 9 21 23 9201900000 PIANOS, NESOI 37 38 0 9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 1,382 1,159 1,298 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 51 426 84 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 58 201 47 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 1,908 1,294 3,429 9205901400 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 630 676 552 9205904020 CLARINETS 1,515 3,782 3,120 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 150 201 54 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 124 339 56 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 1,584 16,709 14,582 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 14,584 22,251 9,580 9206002000 DRUMS 177 369 436 9206004000 CYMBALS 10,292 12,579 18,359 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3,605 25,529 22,226 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 778 409 356 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 137,143 62,406 166,011 Hong Kong
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 0 26 0 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 680 236 50 9206002000 DRUMS 0 0 29,683 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 1,002 0 1,304 India
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 0 63 0 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 1,391 812 10,792 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 108 122 537 9205901400 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 322 338 126 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 21 2,404 0 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 394 12 3,338 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 615 4,180 540 9206002000 DRUMS 4,796 4,138 6,956 9206004000 CYMBALS 675 0 1,019 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 21,876 15,861 18,338 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 3,505 4,732 5,063 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 250 3,395 0 Indonesia
9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 1,526 786 684 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 2,217 3,891 1,253 9205904020 CLARINETS 4,048 2,440 5,760 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 451 0 0 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 7,403 4,704 4,814 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 228,050 63,627 262,450 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 986 0 0 9206002000 DRUMS 12,743 17,287 20,173 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3,125 12,646 14,660 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 70,470 105,767 156,074 Ireland
9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 750 0 0 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 458 2,650 3,000 9206002000 DRUMS 2,954 19 3,610 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 1,680 0 0 Italy
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 608 1,799 854 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 236 108 147 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 161 4,087 1,366 9205904020 CLARINETS 0 100 116 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 105 56 0
MMR_31 31 11/21/08 11:02:01 AM
32 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Stats U.S. Imports for Consumption: Quarterly data for 2008
HTS Number First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter In Actual Units of Quantity
Sources: The data presented in this chart been compiled from tariff and trade data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Com-mission.
* HTS: The Harmonized Tariff Schedule was enacted by Congress and made eff ective on January 1, 1989. The HTS comprises a hierarchical structure for describing all goods in trade for duty, quota, and statisti-cal purposes.
** NESOI: Not Else-where Specifi ed Or Included
9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 18 13 124 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 1 88 9206004000 CYMBALS 343 131 0 9207100005 MUSICAL SYNTHESIZERS VALUED UNDER $100 EACH 424 296 162 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 7,478 5,609 4,251 Japan
9201100005 UPRIGHT PIANOS, USED 704 885 831 9201200005 GRAND PIANOS, USED 340 254 201 9201900000 PIANOS, NESOI 10 9 16 9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 92 57 90 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 2,782 1,877 3,564 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 8,272 1,423 888 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 4,591 5,634 4,360 9205904020 CLARINETS 1,380 993 1,522 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 1,920 1,258 1,732 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 1,534 4,430 1,301 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 18,055 29,744 21,788 9206002000 DRUMS 3,477 4,616 5,561 9206004000 CYMBALS 0 365 0 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3,844 3,731 8,341 9207100005 MUSICAL SYNTHESIZERS VALUED UNDER $100 EACH 0 40 1,500 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 11,216 11,494 10,738 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 115 2,450 1 Korea
9201100005 UPRIGHT PIANOS, USED 1 0 53 9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 297 31 1 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 12,308 11,705 12,099 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3,258 476 1,793 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 280,775 207,070 248,523 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 48,100 57,856 194,100 9206002000 DRUMS 45 2,000 4,654 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 5,560 6,114 4,811 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 35,139 40,589 60,925 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 0 8,901 53,140 Mexico
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 133 0 66 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 8,921 11,843 12,817 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 174 127 48 9206002000 DRUMS 296 6,718 4,725 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 38,420 20,662 24,468 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 35,556 36,461 40,813 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 1,647,336 1,750,752 1,859,949 Netherlands
9206002000 DRUMS 329 402 536 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 2,462 502 704 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 0 0 822 Pakistan
9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 2,549 564 1,363 9205901400 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 258 0 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 0 60 171 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 507 0 0 9206002000 DRUMS 3,009 2,713 2,192 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 13,703 27,181 22,730 Peru
9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 9,764 5,500 7,181 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 3,206 760 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 4,706 2,715 9206002000 DRUMS 3,295 2,200 155 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 4,440 2,248 2,283
MMR_32 32 11/21/08 11:02:05 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 33
HTS Number First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter In Actual Units of Quantity
Romania
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 4,709 6,500 11,209 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 1,400 2,760 0 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 600 4,470 2,481 Spain
9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 2,580 450 1,704 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 98 2 133 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 82 70 60 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 270 9 9206002000 DRUMS 320 387 0 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 94 1 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 1,568 338 2,109 Sweden
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 0 234 2 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 0 101 170 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 3,609 882 2,721 Switzerland 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 174 34 81 9205901400 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 570 0 0 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 11 12,132 12 9206004000 CYMBALS 7,524 6,103 2,079 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 0 207 205 Taiwan
9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 4,435 25,500 8,002 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 8,447 7,684 8,266 9205904020 CLARINETS 2,455 103 0 9205904040 SAXOPHONES 8,795 10,971 9,542 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 35,601 1,776 2,042 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 10,268 32,187 6,753 9205906000 WIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 46,839 21,257 43,500 9206002000 DRUMS 52,405 53,469 70,319 9206004000 CYMBALS 2,145 962 1,115 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 129,340 233,498 168,182 9207100005 MUSICAL SYNTHESIZERS VALUED UNDER $100 EACH 160 0 200 9207900040 FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 0 1,150 504 Thailand
9206002000 DRUMS 27,065 21,486 26,156 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 53,667 69,626 81,741 Turkey
9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 377 0 0 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 240 0 0 9206002000 DRUMS 1,978 2,846 0 9206004000 CYMBALS 4,235 3,067 3,096 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 2,396 0 1,000 United Kingdom
9202100000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYED WITH A BOW 133 1,189 3 9202904000 GUITARS VALUED OVER $100 EACH, EXCLUDING THE VALUE OF THE CASE 230 44 17 9202906000 STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 3 779 3 9205100080 BRASS-WIND INSTRUMENTS VALUED OVER $10 EACH 289 54 1,925 9205904060 FLUTES AND PICCOLOS (EXCEPT BAMBOO) 146 165 78 9205904080 WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 12 10 710 9206002000 DRUMS 617 497 561 9206008000 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, NESOI 651 831 0 9209300000 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRINGS 213,943 23,779 38,509
MMR_33 33 11/21/08 11:02:09 AM
This has been a challenging year for anyone
in business—and no one knows for certain
what to expect in the months ahead.
That’s why it’s more important than ever
to take charge of your future by coming
together with your peers at the NAMM
Show, January 15-18, 2009. It’s the
one thing you just can’t cut from your
budget because there’s no other industry
event that will give you a better game plan for the year
ahead and a better return on your investment.
So what exactly are you investing in? You’re investing in yourself,
in your key staff and, ultimately, in the future of your business.
The NAMM Show is the ideal place to arm yourself with tools,
insights and ideas, and line your store’s shelves with the latest,
most innovative products on the market. Plus, this year the
NAMM University courses are laser-focused to help our Members
nd solutions to the challenges they currently face, and assist
them in making the best possible decisions for their businesses in
the year ahead.
The NAMM Show is the world’s music products show—the place
where we chart our course for the future. In good times and in bad,
our industry has always turned to the NAMM Show as a source
of solutions and support. And while no one knows what 2009 will
bring, one thing is for sure: by coming to the NAMM Show you’ll
do what industry leaders have done for generations to prepare
themselves and get their year off to the best possible start.
On behalf of our Board of Directors, Executive Committee and
staff, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season
and a prosperous New Year.
See you at the show!
Joe Lamond
NAMM President/CEO
Note from Joe
NewsDECEMBER 2008
ADVERTORIAL
Why It’s More Important Than Ever to Join Your Peers at the NAMM Show
Find Innovations You Won’t See Anywhere ElseThe NAMM Show is where you can stay up on the latest trends and be the first to witness—and order—the newest musical innovations produced by leading manufacturers from around the world. Your customers are seeking exciting new products; shouldn’t you be the local retailer to offer them? Come check out the 175+ brand new exhibitors joining us to show off their wares.
See Your FriendsThe NAMM Show is the one place where our entire industry comes together to re-connect.
Pick Up NAMM U TipsTough times call for new strategies. We’ve assembled the best and most successful industry players. Each session is focused to address today’s challenges and opportunities, from maximizing your Internet outreach to growing your local customer base. Take your business to the next level of effectiveness!
MMR_34 34 11/21/08 10:46:53 AM
NAMM News is published by NAMM. To keep up-to-date on the latest breaking industry news,
sign up for our PLAYback Digital e-newsletter at [email protected].
NAMM News December 2008
ADVERTORIAL
Rekindle Your Passion for the Industry Many attendees say that soaking up the unique vibe of the NAMM Show helps them to remember why they got into this industry in the first place. Getting away from your day-to-day and re-energizing your approach can increase your value to your company and start off your year in high gear.
Do More on a Tighter BudgetIn addition to bringing you the latest innovations in musical products, NAMM has also brought together a variety of business service providers who can help you look at your current expenses and see how they can save you time and money.
Return Inspired, Ready to Transfer Your KnowledgeWith all you will see and learn at the show, you’ll have lots to share with the folks back at the store and your customers when you return. Get your staff pumped up too by transferring your knowledge, sharing the new ideas you picked up and brainstorming strategies for the year ahead.
One Great Idea Can Pay for Your TripChances are, continuing to do the same thing will only get you the same results. By attending the NAMM Show, you can up the ante in your store, and find new products, ideas and strategies that will set you apart from the competition. Besides, sometimes all it takes is one successful strategy to pay for the entire trip (not to mention, you can write it off!).
Housing and registration for the NAMM Show are now open. Register for your FREE badges now by visiting www.namm.org. Be sure to do it before the December 5 deadline—after that, badges are $25 each!
Anaheim, CaliforniaJanuary 15-18, 2009
www.namm.org
R ki dl Y P i fR ki dl Y P i f
V
Average Daily Temperature in Anaheimfor January 15–18, 2009
SUNNY68º F
SUNNY68º F
SUNNY68º F
SUNNY68º F
MMR_35 35 11/21/08 10:47:39 AM
RETA I L
25th Annual
Review & Forecast
50 Dealer/50 State
While concerns about the entry of Best Buy into the MI market
has some wringing their hands nervously, and continuing
anxiety over competition from big box and Internet retailers
remain hot topics, it’ll come as a surprise to no one that that
overarching concern voiced by those retailers we contacted for this year’s 50-
dealer/50-state review was: the economy.
With top economists predicting that, “a recession is likely to continue at least through the end of next year, with 79 percent saying the economy will grow less than 1 percent and 38 percent saying the economy will shrink next year,” according to a November CNN report, it’s likely that all retailers and suppliers will be feeling the squeeze for months to come. Also, while some see the emergence of a new presiden-tial administration in ’09 as a sign of better times on the horizon, at least as many seem concerned about the increased instability such a change may bring.
Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of sellers we spoke with voice a positive out-look for the coming year, even if they can’t point to specifi c reasons for such optimism. As Larry Stark of Ben Jacks’ Arkansas Music, Inc. put it: “I’m cautiously optimistic that 2009 will be much better than 2008, but frankly I’m hard pressed to give a reason why.”
“Although our business
remains strong so far, I don’t believe success is ever automatic. It is earned one day
at a time.”Menzie Pittman, Va.
36 MMR DECEMBER 2008
MMR_36 36 11/21/08 11:03:02 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 37
25th Annual 50 D
ealer/50 StateALABAMARon Partain’s World of MusicPell CityRon Partain, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales stayed fl at; we had no measurable increase or decrease in sales.
Highlights & Low Spots: We have been very pleased with sales of AXL and Michael Kelly guitars. The low spot has been the poor state of the economy.
Concerns: My main concern is the economy. People just don’t have excess money to spend. Musical instruments are not a priority for people right now.
Outlook for 2009: I’m hoping the new administration will keep their prom-ises and things will be stabilized.
Product of the Year: Alvarez RD8C guitar
ALASKAPro MusicFairbanks Craig Smith, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Overall 2008 has been better than 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: The sales of import elec-tric and acoustic
guitars have increased this year. The sales of synthesizers, especially at the up-per end, have decreased overall for the year.
Concerns: The loss of margin for deal-ers in the music industry.
Outlook for 2009: We remain opti-mistic for 2009 sales.
Product of the Year: Fender GDEC series of amplifi ers
ARIZONAInstrumental Music CenterTucsonMichael & Leslie Faltin, owners
2008 vs. 2007: Sales for this period are down approximately 30 percent from the same period in 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: Our rental season was up approximately 10 percent over the previous year, after be-ing fl at in 2007. Decreased competition and increased prices helped us have a great rental season. After the weak Christmas season for 2007, we saw sales slow sharply in January and February. We slowed down inventory acquisitions and scrapped any plans to open new lines after the NAMM show. This reduced spending helped us tremendously over the slow summer months. With the price of gas roughly doubling and the price of groceries going through the roof, it is surprising to see that the recession hasn’t hit us harder. Many of our vendors are raising prices, with one of our vendors issuing new prices for the third time in 2008. The man-hours required to up-date our computer system and make new signs to refl ect these price increases are daunting.
Concerns: Infl ation. If the prices con-tinue to go up without corresponding in-crease of wages, bad things will happen. People will need to make choices whether to pay their violin rental or fi ll up the tank. People won’t go out to eat as much, causing the pizza parlor owner to stop paying for his drum lessons. Music stores will stop carrying professional model horns that have slow inventory turns. Decreased demand for instruments will
cause manufacturers to cut back produc-tion, charge more for existing product, and close underperforming American factories. The workers fi red from those factories will not buy that new guitar for their daughter this Christmas, since they are about to be evicted from their home.
Outlook for 2009: I expect 2009 to look a lot like 2008. I wouldn’t antici-pate an increase in sales or school fund-ing for at least another one to two years. I expect to see more rental business, as many people will not be able to afford to purchase instruments. I anticipate more repair business as people fi x up old horns rather than get new ones. I plan to see an increase in sales on low to mid-priced instruments. The bright side is that with more people spending time at home in-stead of traveling, and the relatively low cost of playing music, we could see a great upsurge and a greatly renewed interest in folks playing music together. There’s a silver lining for the prepared dealer.
Product of the Year: Yamaha Xeno Trumpet
ARKANSASBen Jacks’ Arkansas Music, Inc.FayettevilleLarry Stark, operations manager
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were down about as much as gas was up in 2008.
Highlights & Low Spots: The lows were the fi rst three quarters of
2008. The highlight was the fourth quar-ter. No matter about the economy, elec-tion year, or anything else so far, it’s still Christmas and Santa always shows.
Concerns: Manufacturer’s total disre-gard for independent dealers who have loy-ally represented them for 40 plus years and then get a big box thrown in right on top of them. We are now one of three dealers of a particular guitar line in a two-mile ra-dius, soon to be four if Best Buy opens here. The big boxes need to be held account-able to territory and franchise agreements that we have honored during the last fi ve
“I expect to see more rental
business, as many people will not be
able to afford to purchase
instruments.”
MMR_37 37 11/21/08 11:03:13 AM
38 MMR DECEMBER 2008
25th
Ann
ual 5
0 D
eale
r/50
Sta
te decades. We should take note of what greed has done to the banking and mortgage in-dustries and reverse this troublesome trend before the big boxes collapse the entire in-dustry and leave us all with nothing.
Outlook for 2009: Cautiously opti-mistic that 2009 will be much better than 2008, but frankly hard pressed to give a reason why.
Product of the Year: the Fender Squire Vintage
CALIFORNIAJim’s Music CenterIrvineRob Joly, president
2008 vs. 2007: We are actually up in sales through the third quarter.
Highlights & Low Spots: High-lights were fi nalized lease negotiations on a new building, double the space of our current location. The real highlight is that the building has visible signage on the freeway with over 400,000 drivers every day. Lows were dealing with con-tractors, landlords, and trying to get help from our industry with the move.
Concerns: Defi nitely our economy is my main concern. Also, continuing price in-creases the manufactures are sending our way is a concern. Price increases at two or three times a year are very hard to deal with on the inventory side – updating computers, as well as actual inventory, and the problems caused by customer proposals that were quoted before the price increases.
Outlook for 2009: We are keeping a very positive attitude and direction go-ing into the fourth quarter and 2009. Our sales have been very consistent.
Product of the Year: Fender Strat Packs
COLORADORobb’s Boulder MusicBoulderSeth Goodman, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Overall, 2008 was a better year for us than 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: Our highlight for the year was a move to a bigger and better location with a lot of community support. We now have state-of-the-art lesson stu-
dios as well as a 6,500 sq. ft. showroom.
Concerns: Our greatest concern cur-rently is the instability of our domestic economy.
Outlook for 2009: We have a posi-tive outlook for 2009, from our helpful and knowledgeable staff, to our huge se-lection of beginning- to professional-lev-el gear. We have been serving the Boulder community of musicians for almost 31 years, and it is that support that gives us the great outlook for 2009.
Product of the Year: Roland V Drums.
CONNCECTICUTNorwalk Music, IncNorwalkMichael Spremulli, president
2008 vs. 2007: Retail sales were down from 2007, but were more than offset by a signifi cantly higher lesson enrollment and strong rental growth.
Highlights & Low Spots: Ibanez acoustic and electric guitars were a great addition to our offering. The company is terrifi c to deal with and the product sold ex-cellently! The lows were learning of yet an-other box store/mass marketing conglomer-ate opening stores across the country, and watching the same manufacturers that went down with the last box/chain debacle hop right back on the bandwagon again.
Concerns: We’re continuing to have a diffi cult time being competitive with
the free shipping and sales tax advantag-es of online shopping, while still having to pay astronomically high rent to be in a highly visible area of town.
Outlook for 2009: We will con-tinue to focus on lessons, rentals and repairs, while carefully choosing both the companies and product mix for our sales fl oor. Our Web site is now fully in-tegrated with our store, so what is repre-sented online is represented on our sales fl oor as well.
Product of the Year: Ibanez AEF18
DELAWAREAccent MusicWilmingtonSteve Harkey, owner
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 was another challenging year, but we managed to run a few successful promotions that kept the customers coming into the store. Highlights & Low Spots: One highlight of 2008 is it’s our 20th anniver-sary. We had celebrations throughout the
year, and our major anniversary party drew a huge crowd. The lows of 2008 are how the growth opportunities are suppressed by the overall economy. It
“Retail sales were down from 2007,
but were more than offset by a
signifi cantly higher lesson enrollment
and strong rental growth.”
MMR_38 38 11/21/08 11:03:18 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 39
takes a lot more effort to produce the same results.
Concerns: My concerns are of course the economy and what impact that has on our local and Internet market. Also, this slowdown in retail has encouraged other large retailers like Best Buy to enter the MI business in order to offset slower sales in their own primary markets.
Outlook for 2009: 2009 will be challenging and, since we are in unchar-tered waters with the economy, it is hard to say what will happen. I will be working harder to keep our business healthy and moving in the right direction.
Product of the Year: Mapex QR 5 piece drum set
FLORIDAMorningstar MusicNaplesRoger Raymond, owner
2008 vs.. 2007: We are down only 2.5 percent, most of which has occurred in the past two to three months. The fi rst
quarter was up a little. Very careful or-dering months ago and economic under-standing were the keys for us.
Highlights & Low Spots: The quick start for 2008 and really only being down a small amount in this economy is a highlight. In music, the lows are lim-ited to fi nance for me, so I would say see-ing other stores suffer is a low.
Concerns: The opening of MI in non-MI outlets concerns me. You need real music people in a true music setting to be help-ful to customers, and many good stores are hurt due to money considerations alone.
Outlook for 2009: I think the coun-try has a more positive outlook since the election and this will increase activity for all outlets. My dad worked for GM and I can not imagine what he would think if we let our auto industry fade away with-out a fi ght. I think 2009 will see a re-bound in most retail settings and music will be a big part.
Product of the Year: Peavey Vypyr amps.
GEORGIAEarthshaking Music, Inc.AtlantaDavid Strohauer, president
2008 vs. 2007:2008 was very good. Gross sales were up 11 percent from 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: We
were named Music Store of the Year by readers of Atlanta’s Creative Loafi ng weekly. The opening of our in-store re-cording studio has been a great for sales and training of home studio products, and has become a decent revenue stream in itself. High gas prices actually drove new traffi c into our store. The lows are not worth mentioning.
Concerns: I’m most concerned about the overall job market and real estate market. Our market seems fairly stable and strong, with a growing disenchant-ment with big box retailers and greater
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40 MMR DECEMBER 2008
trust in us as as the place with the gear and the answers.
Outlook for 2009: Guardedly opti-mistic, but I think we’ll do great.
Product of the Year: Alto PS2A powered loudspeaker
HAWAIIPacifi c Music ConnectionHiloBrendon Nakano, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales have stayed the same, but Christ-mas will really be the telltale sign.
Highlights & Low Spots: We had great sales from
local, new music programs. We also had a very good January. The low part has been gas prices. People have been hold-ing onto their money, especially over the summer.
Concerns: The economy and people losing their homes are my concerns.
Outlook for 2009: I am hoping for change with the new government. I am staying positive and hoping that sales will go back to the way they were in prior years.
Product of the Year: Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0
IDAHO American MusicCaldwellBenjamin Snell, sales associate
2008 vs. 2007: We have seen a bit of a drop in numbers in 2008 from those of 2007. However, our store dy-namics have improved with the hir-ing of another sales associate, as well as a couple of certifi ed repair techni-cians to better service our customers.
Highlights & Low Spots: Picking up a few great lines including Korg, Vox, and Mapex, has been a great highlight. This
has only helped us increase our dynamics. As far as the lows, the biggest thing that comes to mind is the lull in the economy that has really taken its toll on everybody.
Concerns: My biggest concern is pending budget cuts in school mu-sic programs as well as an over-all drop in recreational spending.
Outlook for 2009: We are looking forward to 2009. I believe the music in-dustry will see more new upcoming mu-sicians. In hard times it is great to have an escape and music is a relatively inex-pensive and readily available recreation that can be enjoyed virtually anywhere.Product of the Year: Taylor solid-body electric
ILLINOISBrandolino’s Encore MusicShorewoodBobby Brandolino, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Being in a new loca-tion might have played a part in 2008 be-ing a much better year for me. I must say
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That’s the$50,000question!Levy’s most successful dealers pose this question to each of their customers, and as a result, sell $50,000.00 worth of Levy’s guitar straps per storefront annually. Well… okay, it’s not that simple. There are a couple other things you need to do besides asking the question:
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MMR_41 41 11/21/08 10:48:15 AM
42 MMR DECEMBER 2008
that the summer of 2008 was much better than the summer of 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: The highlights for us have been the group and private music lessons. The enrollment has been phenomenal this year. The lows are diffi cult to pinpoint. Certain lines are moving much slower than others, al-though certain trends seem to be back in. It’s still hard to foresee what’s going to be hot and what’s not.
Concerns: The economy! Being in a more or less specialty business, tends to land us in the category of things that people tend to cut back on when times get tough.
Outlook for 2009: We are going to set some very realistic goals. Expand on some of the lines that are doing well. We are also going to fi nd some creative ways to pick up the pace on some of the slower moving merchandise.
Product of the Year:Palmer PF-24
INDIANARoxy MusicLaporteWilliam Heiss, general manager
2008 vs. 2007:Sales were up about fi ve percent.
Highlights & Low Spots: Our lesson program and guitar sales of $500 and below, along with
eBay store sales were very strong. Expensive acoustics have been a little slow
Concerns: My concern is what will happen in the coming year with the new administration.
Outlook for 2009: We believe our lesson program will continue to grow, along with overall growth of sales, as we focus on new students, and doing more promotion in the lesson program area. Also, continuing to expand our
eBay store listings will allow sales in-creases.
Product of the Year: Fender Amer-ican Standard Strat
IOWADave KroganGeneral ManagerRieman MusicDes Moines
2008 vs. 2007:Our fi scal year ends June 30th, and sales were essentially fl at for the year, which was true for the pre-vious year as well. With the changes we have made in in-
ventory control we were able to increase profi tability substantially.
Highlights & Low Spots: Pianos continue to be in a slump, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon with tight-ening credit. A highlight for the year was
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44 MMR DECEMBER 2008
fretted instrument sales being up almost 20 percent. Our main business is the school band directors. We had a slight increase in school business and rentals, but are seeing an increase as we move into the fall of 2008. We have spent a lot of time on our Web site and have begun offering online rentals this fall. We con-tinue to see small rural schools shrink and the metro schools grow. As we move forward we continue to focus on GMROI on smaller catagories of inventory and increase our turn rates.
Concerns: Best Buy just opened their music store next to Guitar Center here – very nicely laid out, nice product mix. They will have an effect on the Christmas entry-level market.
Outlook for 2009: Iowa has had a historically low mortgage failure rate, and we’re looking at a near record set-ting harvest. So while the press laps up the doom and gloom around the nation, we are fairly stable and optimistic about the future.
Product of the Year: Casio PX120
KANSASSupersonic MusicTopeka Derek Sharp, owner
2008 vs. 2007: I credit several new things that made 2008 a good year: the competence of new staff, a better product mix (we dropped several non-performing brands and brought in a few new ones), the eventual lowering of gas prices, and a little better local market presence with the recent closure of other stores.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high-lights were the excitement about new brands, moderate remodel in stores, and a new staff with integrity. Lows were: the continuing trend towards fl ash-in-the-pan musicianship; guitar books with one-fi nger (open) chords; the instant success kids feel when playing the video games, which they confuse with talent; new elec-tronic instruments and products that do so much that folks aren’t motivated to re-ally create; stuff that dumbs down music and doesn’t speak to the reality that it takes years of practice to master anything.
Concerns: I hope that new staff will continue to grow and continue to serve well.
Outlook for 2009: I plan further evaluation of existing lines, and the pos-sibility of more of them being dropped. This is hard for me because I’ve been a dealer for a decade. Certain companies’ increasing buy-ins and over-saturation in the market makes me want to just let the box stores deal with them.
Product of the Year: Bugera 6260 Head
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46 MMR DECEMBER 2008
KENTUCKYOwensboro Music CenterOwensboroGordon Wilcher, owner
2008 vs. 2007:Heading into No-vember we were slightly up for the year. Let’s hope the year can fi nish steady.
Highlights & Low Spots: The highlight was our 35th Anniversary Community Celebra-tion. We had about 500 people attend, and it was just a great time. We had some great music and raised some money for a great charity. The low point has to be the slumping economy and consumer cau-tion. Throw in the election year and it’s been a really bummpy ride!
Concerns: My biggest concern is maintaining a livable profi t margain. Shrinking margains and expanding outlets are the challenge for all inde-
pendent dealers. Not a day goes by that a customer challenges us to match an In-ternet price that violates MAP pricing. Pouring more products into the market place is eroding the independent deal-ers’ margins. Lines that once had clout in a market like ours are now just anoth-er stock-keeping unit. It’s a day to day challenge to fi nd the product’s to sell that pay the bills. Out of control health care also worries me. That’s our number one expense.
Outlook for 2009: Cautiously optimistic at best. Consumer loyalty is at an all time low, but I am hopeful customers will remember the value of service after the sale. It’s looking like it’s more important than ever to offer service, lessons, and a knowledgeable sales staff. We may have to look at being more lean and mean. We will be work-ing on all the above. Belonging to mu-sicstoreowners.com helps too. Indies have to join forces and work together now more than ever!
Product of the Year: Samick SSL-3 guitar
LOUISIANAC & M Music CenterKennerChris Nail, owner
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 was very good, better than 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high-light of 2008 was great sales. The low was the hurricane.
Concerns: “Flavor of the year” ven-dors, who cheapen their brands selling to Best Buy concerns me.
Outlook for 2009: I think we are going to have a great year.
Product of the Year: Yorkville Elite powered speakers
MASSACHUSETTSDowntown SoundsNorth HamptonJoseph Blumenthal, owner
2008 vs. 2007:2008 was slightly better than 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: The highlight of 2008 was good sales. There were many
different products that did very well.
Concerns: My concerns are competition from the Internet and big box retailers. I also wonder if my vendors will continue to make it possible for me to make a living.
Outlook for 2009: I think we are going to have a great year.
Product of the Year: Martin 15 Se-ries guitar
MAINEMark’s MusicBrewerMark Braveman, owner
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 started out real-ly slow during February and March, but turned around. We had a record-setting
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August and Sep-tember. Who knows what the fourth quarter will bring, but I am keeping my fi ngers crossed.
Highlights & Low Spots: The
highlight of 2008 for me was that we had a new casino built in our town which we were contracted to do the sound system. It was a great job for us, and we also did several other installations at area health clubs and venues. The lows were the rising costs of shipping and everyone’s worry about the economy.
Concerns: What concerns me the most is the current economy, the cost of heat-ing oil in this area, and wondering where people will decide to spend any extra or any income they would have to spend on non-necessity items, such as music.
Outlook for 2009: I am not sure of the outlook for 2009. I am hopeful that the economy will settle and it will be business as usual. I feel I need to work as much as I can at getting other aspects of the business going – such as rentals, les-sons, and installations – in order to stay strong and support retail.
Product of the Year: Fender CD60 acoustic guitar
MARYLANDBill’s Music HouseCatonsvilleBill Higgins, owner
2008 vs. 2007:Overall 2008 was better, actually.
Highlights & Low Spots:The economy and Best Buy now hav-ing four locations
in Baltimore were the low points. The highlight has been that our house brands products have done well.
Concerns: Chain stores and Musicians Friend.
Outlook for 2009: If we work hard and focus, we will do fi ne.
Product of the Year: Peavey Vypyr Amplifi ers
MICHIGANHanson Pro Music LLCPort HuronEric Hanson, manager
2008 vs. 2007: For the fi rst three quarters, total gross sales were up 2.4 percent.
Highlights & Low Spots: The low was the finan-cial crisis; Octo-ber was down 52 percent from last year. The high was selling a $3,000 Taylor.
Concerns: Vendors’ unrealistic expec-tations of a market, Best Buy going in-
MMR_47 47 11/21/08 11:03:55 AM
48 MMR DECEMBER 2008
strument retail in my town, and our next president.
Outlook for 2009: Another year of survival to make it through to more good times.
Product of the Year: Four Star Wire and Cable.
MINNESOTADowntown MusicNew PragueJim Reeder, owner
2008 vs. 2007:This year was tougher than 2007. Not only were sales down, but our ex-penses increased.
Highlights & Low Spots: The
high was band instrument sales. The low was difficulty in working with manufactures because of their consoli-dation.
Concerns: Defi nitely the economy.
Outlook for 2009: I think things will get better and turn around by the third quarter.
Product of the Year: Jay Jr. youth guitars
MISSISSIPPI Stan’s String Shop NatchezStan Smith, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Our 2008 sales were down just a little from 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: Taka-mine guitars and Gretsch drums were the highlights. Band instruments and pianos were the lows.
Concerns: My concern is the local job market. As long as people have steady jobs they buy instuments and take les-sons.
Outlook for 2009: Staying positive.
Product of the Year: Takamine Guitars EAN 4OC
MISSOURIDexter Music CenterDexterSteve Agee, owner
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MMR_48 48 11/21/08 11:04:00 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 49
2008 vs. 2007: I’m still seeing growth in my fourth year.
Highlights & Low Spots: The economy was a low this year, but we con-tinue to grow.
Concerns: The value of the US dollar falling and the rise of gas prices seem to slow a lot of people’s spending, while at the same time I saw an increase in inter-national sales. So for me it was a wash.
Outlook for 2009: I look for another good year. I will have to continue to step up my game and have a stronger presence on the Internet. With gas prices coming down and the election behind us, it will probably bring some relief to a lot of us.
Product of the Year: Gibson Les Paul Standard
MONTANAElectronic Sound & MusicMissoulaCheckers Barker, co-owner
2008 vs. 2007:Right now we are down from 2007, but 2007 was an unexpectedly good year. Sales in 2008, through June, were almost on par with 2007 until
mid-summer, and then sales were soft. I just fi nished the books for Septem-ber, and numbers are up again. I hope that continues through the last quarter.
Highlights & Low Spots: I would say one of the highlights was that our teaching programs continue to grow.We are so lucky to have teachers that are well respected on their instruments and really enjoy what they do. The lows were prob-ably pressure from suppliers to keep buy-ing, whether you need product or not. This coming year will be our 30th anniversa-ry, and watching the economy and retire-ment savings drop has not been fun either.
Concerns: Suppliers that expect higher numbers every year while selling their products to every big box store in your area. The economy overall is also a concern. Sales are down from last year.
Outlook for 2009: It is hard to say . September was up, and we are heading into the biggest quarter of the year. It is anybody’s guess right now.
Product of the Year: Roland Elec-tronic Drums TD-9S
NEBRASKALou Kraus MusicOgallalaBob Josjor, owner
2008 vs. 2007:At the time of this writing our overall gross sales are up, but due to higher expenses our profi t is nearly even with 2007. Our combo business accounts
for a good portion of the increase in sales. Band instrument sales were only slightly better than last year.
Highlights & Low Spots: We tried some special promotions in 2008 and
they were a success. It’s always a good thing when you try something new and it actually works. The biggest hassle we faced this year was short supply from multiple manufacturers. It really made it diffi cult to project buying for the re-mainder of the year.
Concerns: Of course we have the Dow jump up and down like crazy, so uncer-tainty about the economy in general is a great concern. My chief industry-specifi c concern would be manufacturers’ treat-ment of smaller independent dealers in things such as direct sales to consumers, cost parity, and buy-ins. It’s too large for independents to comply with.
Outlook for 2009: We’re hopeful. The economy will do what it will do, and there is little we can do about it ex-cept continue to do what has gotten us through the last 25 years---provide top quality service and products at com-petitive prices. Sounds like an old, corny motto, but it is a proven success formula.
Product of the Year: Ibanez Steve Vai model
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MMR_49 49 11/21/08 11:04:06 AM
50 MMR DECEMBER 2008
NEVADA Musician’s AdvocateLas Vegas Bradley Hagen, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Slightly better, how-ever the third quarter and so far in the fourth quarter, our 2008 sales are way down.
Highlights & Low Spots: The highlight was the fi rst half of the year. The low is the current economic down-turn. It’s hard to convince someone to
buy a wireless mic system when they are about to be laid off, or if they are paying $100 to fi ll up their car.
Concerns: Right now there is a real fear about this economy and people are holding onto their money. Disposable in-come is what this industry mostly relies on and it is evaporating rather quickly
Outlook for 2009: Hopefully the housing crisis and economic downturn will stabilize at the very least. If it doesn’t, then we are all up the creek.
Product of the Year: Motif XS-8
NEW HAMPSHIRERondo MusicClaremontKurt Zentmaier, president
2008 vs. 2007: This year was excel-lent until the last week of September. Gas prices really did not hurt sales as much as the news seemed to indicate. After mid- September sales dropped off. It re-mains to be seen what kind of Christmas
we will have. I have not canceled any of our advanced pack and other Christmas related orders. If sales remain weak, I ex-pect there may be some pretty signfi cant blowout sales in order to get rid of it all.
Highlights & Low Spots: Sales were steady, way up until the last week of Sep-tember. Since then it’s been pretty poor.
Concerns: The state of the fi nancial markets and people’s ability to get fi -nancing going forward.
Outlook for 2009: First Quarter will probably be weak; after that it really de-pends on what happens with the economy.
Product of the Year: SX EG1K 3TS Guitar Pack
NEW MEXICOSanta Fe Music & PianoSanta FeSarma Taylor, president
2008 vs. 2007: We had a signifi cant drop in high-ticket sales, notably pianos.
“It’s hard to convince someone to buy a wireless mic system when they are about to
be laid off, or if they are paying
$100 to fi ll up their car.”
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Also high- end professional instruments slowed.
Highlights & Low Spots: We ex-perienced more interest in name brand instruments like our line of Yamaha guitars and band instruments. Also gui-tar activity increased this year. The lows that we are experiencing now, relating to the economy, are pretty serious. Cus-tomers who were ready to buy are stay-ing away.
Concerns: My concerns revolve around the ability of our customers to use their credit cards and the availability of credit from our suppliers.
Outlook for 2009: We believe that it is in the best interest of all retailers for the government to keep credit fl owing for consumers. Hopefully that will improve the economy. It may be the year for the small, independent stores to move for-ward.
Product of the Year: Yamaha Gig-maker Deluxe
NEW JERSEYSweetest Sounds Music CenterLyndhurst Michael Lepre, owner
2008 vs. 2007: The beginning of 2008 was normal and lucrative, pretty much the same in comparison with 2007. The challenge didn’t re-ally come until the last three months with sales dropping. Lately it has been harder to get people to come through
the front door. People aren’t spending their money for the obvious reason: the economy is bad. This election has been one of the most unpredictable and historical presidential elections of our time, so people are nervous about the uncertainty of the future.
Highlights & Low Spots: Some of the highlights of this year (believe it or not there were some) without a doubt were schools bids. The participation of the schools for the mom and pop stores is not just necessary, but beneficial to
the community. In general business was steady with repairs, sheet music, and rentals. Life was good for a lot of people – and then August came. There isn’t one specific thing to point to that made it a low point. People are just not spending.
Concerns: What concerns me the most is the instability of the economy. I feel that the economy will worsen be-fore it gets better. I am concerned with the people at the top or in control. They must worry less about their party and
“We must sustain the lows and work
intelligently towards the future. People will spend again!”
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MMR_51 51 11/21/08 11:04:16 AM
52 MMR DECEMBER 2008
worry more about this country, but it’s a hard thing to do in politics.
Outlook for 2009: I love this busi-ness and it’s been good to me. I am stay-ing confi dent for the future. We must sustain the lows and work intelligently towards the future. People will spend again!
Product of the Year: Ibanez Elec-tric Package IJX40
NEW YORKAlto MusicMiddletown NYJon Haber, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were up by roughly 10 percent from 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: None to speak of except the continued major re-vamping of our locations.
Concerns: The possibility of the ham-mering small business will take with the
new government and the tax policies that Obama espouses concern me.
Outlook for 2009: For the fi rst time ever, I have no idea
Product of the Year: Universal Au-dio UAD2 series
NORTH CAROLINASwansboro Music & Pawn, Etc.SwansboroDon Whalen, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were down by 15 percent from 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: Band instruments sales were down by 40 per-
cent. There were no highlights.
Concerns: The MAP system and on-line dealers with little to no overhead and free shipping.
Outlook for 2009: We want to have quality products to sell.
Product of the Year: Washburn Acoustic Guitars The D-52 All Solid Wood Acoustic
NORTH DAKOTAKenny’s MusicGrand ForksKelly Coreahl, manager
2008 vs. 2007: Sales slowed down in the summer of 2008 more than they did in 2007, but they are picking up again.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high-light was college students coming back; they help business. The low was CNN re-porting on the economy, scaring people.
Concerns: My concern is our beginner business. Parents are tightening their wallets and not buying instruments for their kids.Outlook for 2009: I am hoping to increase our high-end sales.
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DECEMBER 2008 MMR 53
Product of the Year: Line 6 Spider 375
OHIOMossman MusicNorwalk Don Mossman, manager
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 was not as good as 2007, but it could have been worse.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high-lights are any time when we manage to make a sale to someone who still has discre-tionary income – lows are when we don’t.
Concerns: The lack of available discre-tionary funds and lack of margin con-cerns me.
Outlook for 2009: I remain hopeful
Product of the Year: Hohner acous-tic HW200
OKLAHOMADancing Dragon MusicOklahoma CityGuy Ragland, Owner
2008 vs. 2007: Store sales were up 80 percent from 200.
Highlights & Low Spots: This was our third year in retail and the dramatic increase in store sales was very satisfying. Our product mix came into focus with gains
in every segment of the store. We thinned out our lines and tried to represent and advocate the remaining brands from top to bottom. On the downside, the third quarter/fall slump was more severe than in past year, but I believe that was attrib-utable to the election activities and the turmoil in the fi nancial markets creating a general sense of unease.
Concerns: National economic condi-tions beyond our control are my concern.
Outlook for 2009: I am optimistic and projecting another 20-25 percent growth, barring any major economic setbacks.
Product of the Year: Breedlove AC25/SR Plus
OREGONCentaur GuitarsPortlandJason Snell, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were up in 2008 from 2007. Our business has continued to grow.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high was a visit from ZZ Top’s guitar player, Billy Gibbon. We did very well with ef-fects pedals, but new electric guitars were not moving.
Concerns: I am concerned about the economy, but hopeful.
Outlook for 2009: I plan on contin-ued growth and want to establish more of a hold on the local market.
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MMR_53 53 11/21/08 11:04:30 AM
54 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Product of the Year: Home Brew effects pedals
PENNSYLVANIAWest Chester MusicWest ChesterScott Thompson, Proprietor
2008 vs. 2007: Overall 2008 was a good year. Busi-ness was up slightly compared to 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: For
us the highlights would have to be be-coming a full line Fender dealer and expanding our presence in the high-end electric and acoustic guitar marketplace. The low point would have to be the ex-tremely diffi cult decision to cease being a full line Gibson dealer.
Concerns: Our greatest concern, like just about everyone, is the economy and it’s effect on the MI industry, particu-
larly at the retail level. The entrance of Best Buy into the market concerns us as well.
Outlook for 2009: We are look-ing ahead with guarded optimism. We believe that we will continue to grow.
Product of the Year: Fender Amer-ican Standard Stratocaster
RHODE ISLANDAl Trombetti Music CenterWarwickBob McKenna, owner
2008 vs. 2007: The fi rst half of 2008 was good and then sales went down a bit.
Highlights & Low Spots: We had a very good winter and spring, but the low was the dip in our online sales.
Concerns: The economy is the main concern. People are tightening their wal-
lets. As a result we have lost quite a few students.
Outlook for 2009: I believe that by late spring things will turn around and get better.
Product of the Year: Fender Amer-ican Standard
SOUTH CAROLINAJohn’s MusicHilton Head IslandJohn Sturm, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Down, quite fl at.
Highlights & Low Spots:Highs were some innovative product, and lows were un-reasonable quotas
from suppliers
Concerns: Consumer spending on high-end products.
Outlook for 2009: Not great – I think that the economy will take a while to recover to the point of building con-sumer confi dence.
Product of the Year: Orange amps
SOUTH DAKOTAEngel MusicAberdeenDon Trebilcock, owner
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were slightly up in 2008 prior to the fi nancial crisis.
Highlights & Low Spots: Key-board sales were up. We had no lows be-cause sales were up from 2007.
Concerns: My main concern is people losing their jobs. That affects every-thing.
Outlook for 2009: We are taking things one day at a time. It’s hard to predict with a new administration coming in.
Product of the Year: Yamaha key-boards
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DECEMBER 2008 MMR 55
TENNESSEELunsford’s Musical Instruments, IncKnoxvilleSonja Dittrich, owner
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 was better. More adults are getting into music and taking lessons. People are spending more wisely and not buying online to be assured of quality. Customers realize we have Internet pricing with local service.
Highlights & Low Spots: This is a combination. I was down with some medical issues and the employees stepped up to the plate for a great rental season. It was really nice knowing that I had a team that I could depend on.
Concerns: The quality of instruments. If the quality doesn’t stay up then the music industry will suffer in general. Customers will throw the cheap instru-ment out and buy another. Therefore, the quality of the instrument is gone as well as the quality of the musical experi-ence.
Outlook for 2009: I’m looking for-ward to it. Customers are realizing the value of local service again and the per-sonal relationship that the local music store provides. I’m not looking forward to higher taxes for the small business. We spend way too much time on weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly taxes. A lot of companies don’t make it past three years. I bet if you asked what really hap-pened, they would say too much paper work, and taxes were the biggest obstacle, not the hard work!
Product of the Year: Gemeinhardt 3SHB
TEXASSwords Music Inc.Fort WorthDave Sheppard, manager
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 has been better for us than 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: I have noticed an uptick in PA gear sales and in guitar sales. Those are usually our best
departments, but I have noticed drum-set sales down a bit. Rentals have been up this year.
Concerns: My biggest concern is getting people in
the door.
Outlook for 2009: Going to get peo-ple in the door.
Product of the Year: Cort EVL-K4
UTAHKSM MusicLoganKevin S. Moore, president
2008 vs. 2007: Sales were down a little from 2007.
Highlights and Lows Spots: In reviewing the past year for highlights, I can’t fi nd any, which might tell me some-thing.
25th Annual 50 D
ealer/50 State
MMR_55 55 11/21/08 11:04:41 AM
56 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Concerns: The decline of small retail-ers and the lack of concern about it from everyone but small retailers.
Outlook for 2009: We are trying a new formula for doing business in the fourth quarter and into next year. I feel positive about it.
Product of the Year: Baden Guitars DSM mahogany with the matte cedar top
VERMONTMaple Leaf Music CompanyBrattleboroKate Spencer owner
2008 vs. 2007:There have been fewer sales, across the board.
Highlights and Low Spots: Sales being down was the low spot, but we’re
still in business.
Concerns: The economy. We have had many potential customers say they are just waiting for the stock market to come back up before they buy.
Outlook for 2009: We are looking at 2009 with a jaundiced eye through rose-colored glasses!
Product of the Year: Huss & Dal-ton DS Custom
VIRGINIAContemporary Music CenterChantillyMenzie Pittman, owner
2008 vs. 2007:We had our best year on record in 2008.We continue striving to launch new programs and ideas. We have con-tinued to improve the look and artistic
presentation of the stores, and we always look for ways to have the customer and
the community win. If it is a win for the community it is a win for everyone.
Highlights and Lows Spots: My personal highlight was being asked by NAMM to participate in the Washington D.C. “Fly In,” addressing lawmakers on Capitol Hill, regarding the multiple ben-efi ts of music education. To be asked was truly an honor.
The only low for 2008 that comes to mind is the general feel of the slowdown in the economy.
Concerns: My main concern is the per-ception of the current economic outlook. If the media convinces the consumer things are bad enough, it will be a self fulfi lling prophecy.
Also our industry continues to re-defi ne itself, and I don’t see everything about the re-defi nition as positive. The trend in “non music related stores” sell-ing music products continues, and while that can be good for a few bottom lines, I don’t see it as “truly” serving the needs of the customer. It is also beginning to hap-pen in a watered down version of music education. We seem to be forgetting the
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DECEMBER 2008 MMR 57
knowledge of music is “specialized” and can’t be bought by the truckload at dis-count pricing.
Outlook for 2009: I remain cau-tious, and I watch trends closely. Al-though our business remains strong so far, I don’t believe success is ever au-tomatic. It is earned one day at a time. Overall it appears 2009 will be a very good year for us.
Product of the Year: Roland DP 990.
WASHINGTONMojo MusicBellinghamMike Roe, owner
2008 vs. 2007:Sales have been up in 2008. The products have shifted. People are looking for value. They are buying in-expensive products, but more of them.
Highlights & Low Spots: The high was an increase in our online sales and used product sales. The low was the eco-nomic problems putting a damper on high-end product sales.
Concerns: My concern is people’s in-ability to afford the product they want because of credit trouble and being un-able to get fi nancing.
Outlook for 2009: I am very opti-mistic. I want to diversify our products and expand home recording products.
Product of the Year: Korg M 50
WEST VIRGINIAGuitars Plus, Inc.BeckleyRandy Mullins, owner
2008 vs. 2007: 2008 had a good mo-mentum until June when the economy and the election started to have an im-pact on retail musical instrument sales. We were about even with 2007 totals un-til June.
Highlights & Low Spots: 2008 showed some good new products from Peavey, Line 6, and Paul Reed Smith. The gas prices and housing collapse would be the lows for 2008, which effect the musi-cal instrument buyer.
Concerns: So many products being made overseas. The USA is losing grip on a competitive product at a competitive price.
Outlook for 2009: Slow through the fi rst two quarters and then stating to level off a little bit. Prices have been so over infl ated that the market for instru-
“So many products being made overseas.
The USA is losing grip on a
competitive product at a competitive
price.”
25th Annual 50 D
ealer/50 State
Wholesalers of:
Juzek Stringed InstrumentsBowsCasesStringsAccessories
P.O. BOX 1415STOWE, VT 056721.866.846.5461 [email protected]
MMR_57 57 11/21/08 11:04:53 AM
58 MMR DECEMBER 2008
ments had to level off somewhere and adjust itself accordinly especially in the vintage market
Product of the Year: Peavey Vypyr Amplifi ers.
WISCONSINRockhausMilwaukeeRusty Olson, owner
2008 vs. 2007:2008 sales are way up from 2007. We have adapted to our new economic cli-mate in the music retail business.
Highlights & Low Spots: Highlights are the re-markably low cost high value of musical related products available today. Lows would be how very little profi t can be made on said items by a music retailer in this day and age.
Concerns: The devaluing of the lines and low profi t margins.
Outlook for 2009: Quite good re-ally. We are doing our best to wean our-selves off the brands that are whoring themselves out to the catalogs and the like. We are only dealing with compa-nies concerned with music shops. I have a feeling the customers are starting to feel the same way also.
Product of the Year: The G&L Asat.
WYOMINGHill Music CompanyCasperKurt Gilbert
2008 vs. 2007: We increased our sales in 2008 and our repair business was up from 2007.
Highlights & Low Spots: The bank-ing issues in the country were a low for us, but it didn’t hit the northwest as much as
it did the rest of the country. The highs were piano sales and rentals were up.
Concerns: I am concerned about what will happen in coming year with the new government and the fi nancial crisis.
Outlook for 2009: I am staying positive. We will get through it and have a good year.
Product of the Year: Yamaha EX saxophone
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MMR Blogs about the MI industry
every Wednesday. Go to
www.mmrmagazine.comto see what is
“Off the Record” today.
MMR_58 58 11/21/08 11:04:58 AM
60 MMR DECEMBER 2008
27th Annual
America’s Top Music Chains
PO Piano/OrganP PianoDP Digital PianoBO Band InstrumentsPC Percussion
FA Fretted Amplifi cationSR Sound Recording EquipmentEK Electronic KeyboardPM Print Music
DJ DJ EquipmentLT LightingIN Installation
While such doom-and-gloom pre-dictions may ultimately (hopefully) be proven to be unfounded, it’s certainly the case that this past year saw only modest growth in the way of new store openings. No doubt increased economic instabil-ity and the extreme price hikes for gas throughout the spring and summer of 2008 were contributing factors.
The 70 dealerships featured in the 27th edition of MMR’s “America’s Top Music Chains” fi eld a total of 791 units, up slightly from last year’s 781.
It’s worth noting, however, that the seemingly modest store-opening sched-ule suggested by the data we were able to collect doesn’t factor in several key com-ponents of the contemporary MI mar-ketplace. A number of large, individual outlets have opened in recent months and both Internet and mail order sales continue to represent a signifi cant por-tion of overall market share. While such retailers don’t qualify as “music chains” and are, subsequently, not included in
this report, it’d be unwise to not consider their impact when viewing the MI trade as a whole.
Another phenomenon which exists be-yond the traditional understanding of MI retailers or music chains, but which con-tributes greatly to the bigger picture, is the big box stores – the Wal-Marts, Targets, and Costcos of the world. Signifi cantly, Best Buy’s late fall launch of their store-within-a-store music departments will likely rep-resent the most substantial increase in the MI retail footprint for both late ’08 and ’09. With the current plan to open a total of 85 such departments in the coming months, Best Buy is poised to be second only to Gui-tar Center in total store count.
As for closings in 2008, the most note-worthy was likely the demise of Texas’ 10-store Holze Music chain, which had been in business for over 70 years. Finan-cial and tax diffi culties forced Holze to abruptly cease operations at all locations in late May, leaving a considerable gap in the area’s MI sales and rental market.
W ithout question,
the unstable
economy is
the subject on
everyone’s mind and, though
some maintain a positive
outlook for 2009, other
MI dealers offer a harsher
assessment for the near future.
When asked to hazard a guess
as to the market’s fortunes in
the coming year, Fred Forshey
of Forshey Piano (Houston,
Texas) commented: “This year
was much darker than 2007
and I think improvement in
2009 is unlikely… right now
my concerns are cashflow and
cheap wine.”
MMR_60 60 11/21/08 11:09:28 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 61
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINSCompany Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
Guitar Center 313 12 0 $2.4 billion(Music & Arts, Brasswind & Woodwind) 5795 Lindero Canyon Rd., Westlake Village, CA 91362 (818) 735-8800 • Fax (818) [email protected] • www.guitarcenter.comCEO: Marty AlbertsonDP,PC,FA,SR,EK,DJ,LT,IN
Sam Ash Music 46 1 0 $420 MM P.O. Box 9047, Hicksville, NY 11802 (516) 932-6400 • (516) [email protected] •www.samash.comCEO: Richard AshDP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT
Music Go Round 36 0 1 $28.5 MM4200 Dahlberg Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55422 (763) 520-8500 • Fax (763) [email protected] • www.musicgoround.comTim Kletti - directorDP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,DJ
Fletcher Music Centers 23 0 0 $20.0 MM 3966 Airway Circle, Clearwater, FL 33762 (727) 571-1088 • Fax (727) 572-4405jriley@fl etchermusic.com • www.fl etchermusic.comCEO: John K. Rileyhome organs
Daddy’s Junky Music 20 0 0 $31.0 MM 1015 Candia Road, Manchester, NH 03109 (603) 623-7900 • Fax (603) [email protected] • www.daddys.comCEO: Fred BramanteDP,SR,EK,PC,FA,PM
Schmitt Music Co. 16 0 4 $36.0 MMButler Square,100 N. 6th St., Ste. 850 BMinneapolis, MN 55403(612) 339-4811 • Fax (612) [email protected] • www.schmittmusic.comCEO: Tom SchmittP,DP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM
J.W. Pepper & Son 15 0 0 $6.3 MM(Malecki Music, Wingert-Jones Music) P.O. Box 850, Valley Forge, PA 19482(610) 648-0500 • Fax (610) [email protected] • www.jwpepper.comPM
Piano & Organ Distributors 14 0 2 $15.0 MM 2403 New Raleigh Rd., Durham, NC 27703 [email protected](919) 596-2105 • Fax (919) 596-4930CEO: W.C. Boyce IIIPO,DP,EK
Jordan Kitt’s Music 12 0 0 $38.0 MM9520 Baltimore Ave., College Park, MD 20740 (301)513-1212 • Fax (301) 474-3648www.JordanKitts.comPO,DP
George’s Music Stores Inc. 11 0 0 $22.0 MM650 W. Swedesford Road, Berwyn, PA 19312 (610) 640-0777 • Fax (610) 640-0908www.georgesmusic.comCEO: George HinesDP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM,IN,LT
Mills Music, Inc. 11 0 0 $6.0 MM 10120 Main St., Bothell, WA 98011 (425) 486-5000 • Fax (425) [email protected] • www.millsmusic.comCEO: Sam MillsP,DP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM
“Even though sales were up seven percent from 2007 it has been weird – defi nitely quieter. The phones have been ringing less, but at the end of the day the numbers are there. Go fi gure! I am uneasy about the uncertainty regarding the tax policies of the Obama administration. But we have never had a down year, and I’m not about to start.”Jon Haber, Alto Music,Middleton, N.Y.
As the majority of the dealers represented in this report are privately held, in most cases data being presented in “America’s Top Chains” was supplied by the companies, themselves.
*
MMR_61 61 11/21/08 11:09:33 AM
62 MMR DECEMBER 2008
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Sherman, Clay & Co. 10 0 0 $26.05 MM 1111 Bayhill Dr., Suite 450 San Bruno, CA 94066 (650) 952-2300 • Fax (650) [email protected] • www.shermanclay. comPresident, Retail Division: Tom AustinP,DP
Kennelly Keys Music Inc. 9 0 0 $8.0 MM 4918 196th St., Lynwood, WA 98036 (425) 771-7020 • Fax (425) [email protected]: William J. KennellyDP,PC,BO,FA,SR,EK, PM
Washburn Piano Co. 8 0 0 $8.0 MM 45 E. Southern Ave., Mesa, AZ 85210 (480) 429-6994 • Fax (480) 429-9642washburnpiano.netCEO: David Hermanson P,DP
Piano Gallery 7 0 1 $20.0 MM5478 Green St., Murray, UT 84123 (801) 266-9550 • Fax (801) [email protected] • www.pianogallery.comCEO: Stan BeagleyPO, DP
Willis Music Co. 7 0 1 $6.7 MM7380 Industrial Road, Florence, KY 41042 (859) 283-2050 • Fax (859) [email protected] • www.willismusic.comCEO: Kevin CranleyP,DP,PC,FA,EK,PM
Marshall Music Co. Inc. 7 0 0 $20.5 MM3240 E. Saginaw St., Lansing, MI 48912 (517) 337-9700 • Fax (517) 318-9325 [email protected] • www.marshallmusic.comCEO: Dan MarshallPO,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT,IN
Rieman Music 7 0 0 $12.6 MM4420 E. Broadway, Des Moines, IA 50317 (515) 262-0365 • Fax (515) [email protected] • www.riemans.comCEO: Paul F. RiemanPO,DP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM
Eckroth Music Co. 7 0 0 $9.6 MM1221 W. Divide Ave., Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 223-5320 • Fax (701) [email protected] • www.eckroth.comCEO: Jeff EckrothDP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM
C&M Music Center, LLC 7 0 0 NA2515 Williams Blvd., Kenner, LA 70062 (504) 468-8688 • Fax (504) [email protected]@musiccenter.netwww.musiccenter.net CEO: Chris Nail, Melvin Volz, Jr.SR,EK,PC,FA,LT
West Music Co. 6 0 0 $29.7 MM 1212 5th St., Coralville, IA 52240 (319) 351-2000 • Fax (319) [email protected] • www.westmusic.comCEO: Steve West PO,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT,IN
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“Our 2008 sales were relatively fl at. We continued to see strong school sales
as the remaining funds from the
large state grants for the arts were
spent. But, I worry about parents being
fi nancially able to continue renting. Are we going to see a big
increase in returns and delinquencies as the school year
progresses? I expect sales to be somewhat down in 2009, due to state
funding cuts in education and the overall economic
downturn.”Winston Dutton,
Nick Rail Music, Santa Barbara, Calif.
MMR_62 62 11/21/08 11:09:38 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 63
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Frank & Camille’s Keyboard Centers 6 0 0 $16.0 MM 482 Route 110, Melville, NY 11747 (631) 385-0606 • Fax (631) [email protected] • www.FrankandCamilles.comCEO: Frank Sicari PO,DP, EK
Jacobs Music Co. 6 0 0 $15.4 MM1425 Walnut St., Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 568-0021 • (215) [email protected]: Al C. RinaldiPO,DP
Henderson Music Co. 6 0 0 $5.5 MM 910 Madison Ave., Covington, KY 41011 (859) 431-2111 • Fax (859) 431-8426www.hendersonmusic.comCEO: Carl HendersonP,DP
Nick Rail Music 6 0 0 $8.8 MM 2801 De la Vina St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 569-5353 • Fax (805) [email protected] • www.nickrailmusic.comCEO: Nick Rail P,DP,BO, PC,FA,SR,EK,PM
Falcetti Music Inc. 6 0 0 $6.0 MM 1755 Boston Rd., Springfi eld, MA 01129 (413) 543-1002 • Fax (413) [email protected] • www.falcettimusic.comTony Falcetti, presidentPO,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ
Keyboard World 6 0 0 $2.2 MM 14701 National Highway, Lavale, MD 21502 (301) 689-2534 • Fax (301) [email protected]: Ronald B. KlinetobPO,DP,FA,EK,PM
White House of Music 6 0 0 $6.7 MM 2101 N. Springdale Rd., Waukesha, WI 53186 (262) 798-9700 • Fax (262) [email protected]: Christopher White P,DP,BO, PC,FA,SR,EK,PM
Ken Stanton Music 6 1 0 $10.7 MM 119 Cobb Pkwy N., Ste. A, Marietta, GA 30062 Phone: (770) 427-2491 • Fax (770) [email protected]: Ken Stanton, Jr.P,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK
Keyboard Concepts 5 0 0 $19.0 MM 5600 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91401 (818) 787-0201 • Fax (818) [email protected] Hagerty, presidentP, DP
Ted Brown Music Co., Inc. 5 1 0 $11.5 MM 6228 Tacoma Mall Blvd., Tacoma, WA 98409 (253) 272-3211 • Fax (253) [email protected] • www.tedbrownmusic.comPresident: Whitney Brown-Grisaffi BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,DJ,LT,IN
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“This year was much darker than 2007, and I think improvement in 2009 is unlikely. It was hard to tell the difference between the economic crisis and Hurricane Ike. Right now my concerns are cash fl ow and cheap wine.”Fred Forshey, ForsheyPiano, Houston, Texas
“I think the economy has hurt us very badly. We were down about 24 percent. People are afraid to spend any money now; we have a lot of big deals we can’t close because of it. I hope 2009 will be better.”Robert Trombino,Trombino Music Centers, Belle Vernon, Pa.
MMR_63 63 11/21/08 11:09:42 AM
64 MMR DECEMBER 2008
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Saied Music 5 0 0 $12.0 MM 3259 S. Yale Ave., Tulsa, OK 74135 (918) 742-5541 • Fax (918) [email protected] • www.saiedmusic.comCEO: Bob SaiedP,DP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM,LT
Brook Mays Music 5 0 0 NA8805 Carpenter Fwy., Dallas, TX 75247(214) 905-8614 * Fax (800) 637-9399www.brookmays.comCEO: Bill Everitt, Jr.
Portland Music Co. 5 0 0 $5.6 MM531 S.E. MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97214 (503) 226-3719 • Fax (503) [email protected]: Mark TaylorDP,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT
Trombino Music Centers Inc. 5 0 0 $4.3 MM 1049 Broad Ave., Belle Vernon, PA 15012 (724) 929-6707 • Fax (724) [email protected] • www.trombino.comCEO: Robert A. TrombinoPO,DP,PM
Samuel Music 4 0 1 $4.9MM908 W. Fayette Ave., Effi ngham, IL 62401 (217) 342-9221 • Fax (217) [email protected] • www.samuelmusic.comPresident: Bruce BannisterPO,DP,EK,SR,PC,FA,PM
Piano Music Center. 4 0 0 $7.4 MM 3386 Tyler Street, Riverside, CA 92503 (951) 687-9800 • Fax (951) 354-8154sales-riverside@pianomusiccenter.comwww.pianomusiccenter.comCEO: Anthony SicilianoP,DP,PM
Tarpley Music Co., Inc. 4 0 0 $6.4 MM 2420 Commerce, Amarillo, TX 79109 (806) 355-0795 • Fax (806) [email protected] • www.tarpleymusic.comCEO: David TarpleyP,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT,IN
Quinlan & Fabish Music Co. 4 0 0 NA166 Shore Dr., Burr Ridge, IL 60527 (630) 654-4111 • Fax (630) [email protected] • www.qandf.comCEO: George Quinlan, Jr.BO,PM
Mississippi Music Inc. 4 0 0 $8.4 MMP.O. Box 1705, Hattiesburg, MS 39403 (601) 544-5821 • Fax (601) [email protected] • www.mississippimusic.comCEO: Rosi K. JohnsonPO,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT,IN
Firehouse Guitars 4 0 0 $5.0 MM3125 28th St. S.W., Grandville, MI 49418(616) 532.FIRE • Fax (616) 532.7153www.fi rehouseguitars.comPC,FA,SR,EK,DJ,LT
Critchett Piano & Organ 4 0 0 $3.4 MM3304 100th Street, Urbandale, IA 50322(515) 278-1000 • Fax (515) [email protected] • www.critchetts.comCEO: David BrownP,PO,DP
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“This past year was very good. But, the
overall lack of support and respect for
independent dealers in the industry concerns
me. Particularly a lack of acknowledgment
that the independent store distribution is
the foundation on which this industry was built. Looking
beyond the historical, it may not be the total source of selling goods
to the public, but it remains a vital way to get the overwhelming
breadth of product out to consumers. There is an ongoing trend, with
rare exception, that something else must be the way to grow
the industry.”Chris Nail, C & M Music
Center, Kenner, La.
MMR_64 64 11/21/08 11:09:46 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 65
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Mr. E’s Music 4 0 0 $9.0 MM4913 Airport Fwy., Fort Worth, TX 76117-7263 (817) 595-1910 • Fax (817) 595-1920www.mr-e-music.comCEO: William C. EverittPO,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM
Dietze Music House 4 0 0 $6.5 MM1208 “O” St., Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 476-6644 • Fax (402) [email protected] • www.dietze.comCEO: Douglas FentonP,DP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM,IN
Riverton Music, Inc. 4 0 0 $6.3MM4650 South 3740 West, West Valley City, UT (801) 254-4489 • Fax (801) 746-1140www.RivertonMusic.comCEO: Kevin RindlisbacherPO,DP,EK,PC,BO,FA
Heid Music Co. 4 1 0 $10 MM308 E. College Ave., Appleton, WI 54911(920) 734-1969 • Fax (920) [email protected] • www.heidmusic.comCEO: Paul HeidP,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT
Griggs Music 4 0 0 $3.9 MM3849 N Brady St., Davenport, IA 52806 (563) 391-9000 • Fax (513) [email protected] • www.griggsmusic.comCEO: Steve JudgeDP,SR,EK,PC,BO,FA,PM
Buddy Roger’s Music, Inc. 4 0 0 $5.3 MM6891 Simpson Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45239 (513) 729-1950 • Fax (513) [email protected] • www.buddyrogers.comCEO: Dave MillerDP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,DJ,LT,IN
Steinway Hall 3 0 0 $7.8 MM109 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019 (212) 246-1100 • Fax (212) [email protected] • www.steinway.comCEO: Thomas Kurrer
Alto Music 3 0 0 $30.0 MM180 Carpenter Ave., Middleton, NY 10940(845) 692-6922 • Fax (845) [email protected] • www.altomusic.comCEO: Jonathan HaberPO,BO,DP,SR,FR,PM
Skip’s Music 3 0 0 $10.0 MM2740 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95821(916) 484-7575 * Fax (916) [email protected] • www.skipsmusic.comCEO: Skip MaggioraPC,FA,SR,EK,PM,DJ,LT,IN
Mom’s Music 3 0 0 $4.1 MM 19 Mellwood Ave, Louisville, KY 40206(502) 897-3304www.momsmusic.comCEO: Marvin MaxwellP,PM,DP,EK,BO,FA,SR
M. Steinert & Sons 3 0 0 $7.0 MM 162 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116 (617) 426-1900 • Fax (617) [email protected] • www.msteinert.comPresident: Paul E. Murphy, Jr. PO,DP,EK
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“Overall, 2008 has been fl at in comparison to 2007. It reminds me of last year’s NAMM show when one of my reps told me that fl at is the new up. I believe the economic crisis had an impact on our business more with the higher end stuff. We are in the Midwest in a fairly stable local economy. However, it seems like I see a lot more thought going into a purchase of $100 or more. My concern is that we begin to see our business as just a commodity and get away from the core of helping people make music… It seems we learn a little more every year and especially when things are tough. We are always up for a challenge, and I would say that we have one.”Tim Pratt, Dietze Music,Lincoln, Neb.
MMR_65 65 11/21/08 11:09:50 AM
66 MMR DECEMBER 2008
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Jackson’s Music 3 0 0 $4.5 MM 1409 S. Stratford Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27103(336) 760-9635www.jacksonsmusic.comCEO: Douglas J. DrydenP,PM,DP,EK,BO,FA,SR
Jent’s House of Music 3 0 0 $5.0 MM 2646 34th Street, Lubbock, TX 79410(806) 795-5579www.jents.comCEO: Ray JentP,PM,DP,EK,BO,FA,SR
Instrumental Music 3 0 0 $5.8 MM 3328 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105(805) 569-5055 www.instmusic.comCEO: Brian McCannP,PM,DP,EK,BO,FA,SR
Evola Music Center 3 0 0 $8.6 MM 2184 Telegraph Rd., Bloomfi eld Hills, MI 48302(248) 334-0566 • Fax (248) [email protected] • www.evola.comCEO: Jim EvolaPO,DP, EK,PM,church organ
Henri’s Music 3 0 0 $8.6 MM500 S. Military Ave., P.O. Box 3589 Green Bay, WI 54303 (920) 496-3700 • Fax (920) 496-3704www.henris-music.comCEO: Jim JannsenPO,DP,EK,SR,PC,BO,FA,PM
Bach to Rock Music School Inc. 3 0 0 $6.7 MM (dba East Coast Piano)198 Route 46E, Fairfi eld, NJ. 07004(973) 882-2899 • Fax (973) [email protected] • www.eastcoastpiano.comCEO: Enrico AquinoP, DP
Forshey Piano Co. 3 0 1 $8.5 MM1240 Clear Lake City Blvd., Houston, TX 77062 (281) 286-6300 • Fax (281) 286-6900 [email protected]: Fred ForsheyPO, DP
Prosser Piano & Organ 3 0 0 $4.7 MM 13400 Interurban Ave., South Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 957-8732 • Fax (206) [email protected] • www.prosserpiano.comCEO: Kerry ProsserPO,DP,EK, PM
Steinway Hall / Dallas – Ft. Worth 3 0 0 $7.5 MM5301 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, TX 75205(469) 656-3669www.steinwaydfw.comPO
Art’s Music Shop, Inc. 3 0 0 $7.2 MM 3030 East Blvd., Montgomery, AL 36116 (334) 271-2787 • Fax (334) [email protected] • www.ArtsMusicShop.comCEO: Paul FreehlingP,DP,BO,PC,FA,SR,EK,PM,IN
Robert M. Sides 3 0 0 $7.0 MM201 Mulberry St., Williamsport, PA 17701 (570) 326-2094 • Fax (570) [email protected] • www.rmsides.comCOO: Peter K. SidesPO,DP,BO,SR,FA,PM
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“2008 was an exceptional year in many ways as our
company continues to focus on its core competencies. Our
growth was the best ever. We are
somewhat isolated from the economic
crisis here in the upper Midwest.
But, we have taken a more conservative
approach to inventory and consumer credit policy.
From a business perspective, we
believe an economic downturn will
provide opportunities for active music
making. Our organization is
focused, more than ever, on supporting
these efforts and participating in their
success. It’s too early to have 2009
detailed out, but we do see a modest
increase, both in top and bottom line,
for 2009.”Jeff Eckroth, Eckroth Music,
Bismarck, N.D.
MMR_66 66 11/21/08 11:09:55 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 67
AMERICA’S TOP MUSIC CHAINS
Dave Phillips Music & Sound 3 0 0 $6.5 MM377 Irwin St., Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 (908) 454-3313 • Fax (908) 859-4449dphillips@davephillipsmusic.comwww.davephillipsmusic.comCEO: Dave Phillips DP, PC,BO,FA,SR,EK,PM,LT,IN
Pecknel Music Co., Inc. 3 0 0 $6.8 MM 1312 N. Pleasantburg Dr., Greenville, SC 29607 (864) 244-7881 • Fax (864) [email protected] • www.pecknelmusic.comCEO: Scott N. PeckPC,BO,FA,SR,EK,PM
Meyer Music 3 0 0 $7.0 MM1512 W. Highway 40, Blue Springs, MO 64015 (816) 228-5656 • Fax (816) [email protected] • www.meyermusic.comCEO: Ted MeyerPC,BO,FA,SR,EK,PM,LT
Piano & Organ Center 3 0 0 $3.6 MMGreat Northern Mall, Clay, NY 13039 (315) 622-3926 • Fax (315) [email protected] • pianoandorgancenter.comPresident: David Constantino
Bob and Elliott’s Piano Shoppe 3 0 0 $4.3 MM285 West Central Parkway, Suite 1720 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714(407) 774-2667www.bobandelliottspiano.com
Kessler & Sons Music 3 0 0 $3.6 MM3047 E. Charleston, Las Vegas, NV 89104 (702) 385-2263 • Fax (702) [email protected] • www.kesslermusic.comCEO: Charles KesslerBO,PC
Lark In The Morning 3 0 0 $2.5 MM P.O. Box 799, Fort Bragg, CA 95347 (707) 964-5569 • Fax (707) [email protected] • www.larkinam.comCEO: Bill & Debbie TaylorPC,FA
Company Total Opened Closed Vol. Units ’08 ’08 (est.)’08
“Sales for us were up in guitars and amps, down in pianos and fl at in band instruments. Due to more effi ciency in inventory control we improved profi ts and we continue to improve. There are many defi nitions of economic crisis. We are fortunate to be in an industry which remains fairly stable. Here in the Midwest it was a good crop year, and we are currently in an upswing in sales. We don’t experience the wide economic swings of either coast. What would happen if the media reported on successes everyday instead of broadcasting doom and gloom? It’s all about consumer confi dence, lets quit beating them down. We always plan on increases. How well we do our jobs determines whether we get there. You have work to build your market by supporting musicians and the arts. We have a state organization, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, and we teach over 1200 lessons per week. We ask ourselves everyday how we can make customers happy.”Dave Krogan, Rieman Music, Des Moines, Iowa
27th Annual
America’s Top Music Chains
MMR_67 67 11/21/08 11:09:59 AM
Dealers’ ChoiceAwards
68 MMR DECEMBER 2008
PRODUCT OF THE YEARYamaha Disklavier Yamaha Corproration of America
It’s hard to argue with success and, as Yamaha’s series of high-tech player consoles inches one step closer to an unbroken decade-long reign as Prod-uct of the Year, the Disklavier would seem to be in a league of its own when it comes to achievement.
“The world’s most advanced piano” line offers a full range of instruments, from uprights to concert grands, and in 2008 the Disklavier received a series of improvements including a recent 3.0 upgrade for the Mark IV series that allows the instrument to record actual external audio and not just MIDI. Ad-ditionally, Disklavier 3.0 can be controlled by both the Pocket Remote Con-troller, and also by PCs and Macintosh consoles.
With continued innovations and no discernable waning of interest on the part of consumers, don’t bet against the Disklavier taking top honors once again in 2009.
In a season defi ned by a historic presidential
campaign, MMR once again sponsored our own
election, polling MI retailers to determine the top
products of 2008. The votes have all been tallied
and, for the eighth consecutive year, dealers have chosen
Yamaha’s Disklavier as the overall Product of the Year.
Selections for all categories were solicited via e-mail and a ballot included in the October issue of MMR.
Few would dispute that ’08 presented ample challenges for vendors and this fact was perhaps refl ected by the voting results for this year’s Dealers’ Choice Awards – in virtually every cat-egory, competition was tighter than in any previous year.
We extend our thanks to the retailers who participated in the 16th annual Dealers’ Choice voting.
16th Annual
MMR_68 68 11/21/08 11:10:29 AM
Ibanez SR SeriesHoshino USA, Inc.
ELECTRIC GUITAR LINE OF THE YEARFender Stratocaster
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
With a range of models at every conceivable price-point and offering a wide selection of
features, the venerable Fender Stratocaster remains a favorite
with dealers and consumers alike. With continued expan-sion of the line and an overall
uptick in guitar sales, the Strat remains atop the
electric guitar heap.
ELECTRIC BASS LINE OF THE YEAR
In a very tightly contested race, Ibanez managed to edge out the competition with its SR Series being singled out – its array of dif-ferent models appeal to a wide variety of players.
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 69
AMPLIFIER LINE OF THE YEARPeavey Vypyr Peavey Electronics
ACOUSTIC GUITAR LINE OF THE YEARMartin Guitars
C.F. Martin & Co., Inc.
SOUND REINFORCEMENT LINE OF THE YEARYamaha BR Series Yamaha Corporation of America
RECORDING EQUIPMENT LINE OF THE YEARZoom H4 Recorder Samson Technologies
Celebrating their 175th an-niversary in 2008, the folks at Martin Guitars can now also
enjoy being selected as the top acoustic guitar line by dealers.
A varied selection of instru-ments, including acclaimed
custom models, coupled with the brand’s reputation and
history make Martin a go-to brand for acoustic guitarists.
Peavey’s affordable range of modeling guitar amps takes top honors in one of the most competitive prod-uct categories in this year’s balloting.
Zoom’s H4 is at the head of the pack in the burgeoning product category of hand-
held digital recorders. Dealers cite the unit’s versatility and wealth of features as strong
selling points with customers.
Yamaha’s new line of affordable loudspeakers proved appealing to schools, churches, and performing musicians in 2008.
16th Annual D
ealers’ Choice A
wards
MMR_69 69 11/21/08 11:10:37 AM
HOME DIGITAL KEYBOARD OF THE YEARYamaha Clavinova Yamaha Corporation of America
ACOUSTIC PIANO LINE OF THE YEARKawai K-3 Kawai America Corporation
PERCUSSION LINE OF THE YEARTAMA Imperial Star Hoshino USA, Inc.
PRO DIGITAL PIANO LINE OF THE YEARRoland FP-7 Roland Corporation
BAND & ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENT LINE OF THE YEARJupiter XO Series Trumpets Jupiter Band Instruments, Inc.
MICROPHONE LINE OF THE YEARShure SM57/58 Shure, Inc.
Long the industry standard, Shure’s SM57 and SM58 cardioid dynamic mics were clear winners in this category, though the com-
pany’s Beta series also received a substantial number of votes.
In another of the extremely tight races within 2008’s Dealers’ Choice Awards balloting, Jupiter ultimately edged out competitors with its popular XO Series pro-fessional trumpets.
Popular with educators, perform-ers, and institutions, Kawai’s K-3
Upright proved a winner in this category. Deal-
ers point to value and brand loyalty
as upsides that attract buyers to
the K-3.
While Yamaha’s Disklavier gets the nod for Product of the Year, the company’s Clavinova – marking it’s 25th Anniversary this year – is also an undeni-able hit, providing Yamaha with its third award in ’08. With a number of models at many price-points, the Clavinova appeals to a variety of players at dif-ferent ability levels.
A wide selection of sounds and features makes Roland’s FP-7 a winner in this category. Now bundling
Cakewalk SONAR LE, the FP-7 offers end users even more versatility.
In yet another hotly con-tested category, TAMA emerged victorious as Percussion Line of the Year. Though the company’s products, in general, received a num-ber of votes, TAMA’s affordable, feature-rich Imperial Star line, in particular, stood out.
16th
Ann
ual D
ealer
s’ C
hoice
Aw
ards
70 MMR DECEMBER 2008
MMR_70 70 11/21/08 11:10:43 AM
DJ LINE OF THE YEARNumark iDJ2 Numark Industries
LIGHTING LINE OF THE YEARAmerican DJ American DJ Supply, Inc.
American DJ netted their fourth consecutive win in this category. Dealers noted ADJ’s reputation in the
fi eld and inno-vative product developments
as strong points.
Once again Numark takes home top honors as DJ Line of the Year – this time for the iDJ2, which readers felt was the most versatile iPod mixing console available.
SOFTWARE LINE OF THE YEARSibelius Avid Technology, Inc.
PRINT MUSIC PUBLISHER OF THE YEARHal Leonard Hal Leonard, Corporation
SUPPLIER WEB SITE OF THE YEARYamaha Yamaha Corporation of America
ACCESSORY LINE OF THE YEARD’Addario Strings D’Addario & Company
Victorious in this category since the inception of MMR’s Dealers’
Choice Awards 16 years ago, Hal Leonard yet again fi nds
itself in the Winner’s Circle. A staggering
collection of high profi le partnerships and the
sheer volume of available titles makes the company a tough champ to unseat.
As “the world’s best-selling notation soft-ware,” Sibelius nar-rowly edged out the competition in this hotly contested (and new for 2008) category.
Breaking Korg’s three-year supremacy in this category, D’Addario strings were singled out by dealers as
favorites amongst guitarists and bassists.
Yamaha’s win in this extremely competitive catego-ry is the company’s fourth for ’08.Dealers applauded Yamaha’s online presence for its wealth of infor-mation and tools that benefi t both retailers and end users.
16th Annual D
ealers’ Choice A
wards
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 71
MMR_71 71 11/21/08 11:10:50 AM
72 MMR DECEMBER 2008
PR INT
Print Music Publisher’s
State of the Market, and Keeping Track of Trends
“Educational products for us seem to be recession proof, and they
keep driving customers into the stores,” says Ron Manus of
Alfred. Larry Morton of Hal Leonard agrees: “Historically, the
print music business has been the most reliable category in the
music business during tough economic times.”
For Alfred, Hal Leonard, and Mel Bay, more than ever it seems to be all
about partnering with dealers. At Mel Bay, they’ve even revised their new
issue policy to allow dealers more fl exibility in taking fewer products, and
more of the big sellers. All are upbeat about the business and share hopeful
prospects for the coming year. And of course, all are excited about a slew of
new titles.
Hal LeonardLarry Morton, president
“We’re fi nishing up 2008 a little bit over 2007, and in this challenging en-vironment, we think that’s not too bad,” says Hal Leonard’s Larry Morton. “We’ve stayed very focused on deliver-ing strong new titles and providing the highest possible service to our dealers, which are the two things we can con-trol. Our theme has been work harder, smarter, and faster!”
Roundtable
MMR_72 72 11/21/08 11:11:15 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 73
“Here at Alfred, we are happy to see that the music education market is still strong,” says Alfred’s Ron Manus. “Yes, the economy is having a rough time, and what we are hearing is that while people may not be spending money on things like a new car, they are still buying music books and entry-level music products.”
He says he’s found that surviving tough economic times, dealers need publishers
who will work with them and be fl exible. “They need a partner in the industry to provide them with resourc-es including great products, technology solutions, data, and marketing support.” As an example, dealers have had great success with our joint direct mail promotions aimed at
driving traffi c into their stores. They are doing more co-op mailings specifi cally to piano teachers, includ-ing Value Packs that are of-fered in conjunction with their “Partners In Promo-tion” dealers.
“Also, through our digi-tal initiatives we are driving sales to our
He says that because of the economy, the dealers need products delivered faster more than ever be-fore. Their new, expanded distribution center, which opened in May of 2008, is a state-of-the-art facil-ity “which has set a new standard in the print mu-sic business for fast deliv-ery. Our launch timing for this higher-level service couldn’t be better. Dealers also need 24/7 up-to-date information from the web, which we’ve expanded in 2008.”
Consumers continue to want book/CD packages for play-alongs, and Morton notes that while the play-along category has been around for a long time, it has in the last year really exploded. Today they have more than 200 new play-along titles for guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, piano, and violin, and all of them are selling well. The integration of pitch-changing/tempo changing software on Hal Leon-ard’s play-along CDs has also been a big factor in the success of this area.
Workshops, both performance and in-structional, remain a mainstay of stimu-lating sales for dealers. “We’re doing more than ever before, particularly in guitar and piano. We’re launching a praise/wor-ship music workshop tour in 2009, which will be a big hit. We’re also fi nding more opportunities for dealer sponsored co-op mailings, both as physical mailings and email blasts. We’re getting more active in providing ‘templates’ for our dealers to use with the end consumer.
The digital age is upon us, and when the subject comes up, Morton takes the opportunity that it was Hal Leonard who
was the fi rst to launch a dig-ital download site. Sheet-MusicDirect.com is now 11 years old, and they’ve added another eight related sites since then. “In 2008, we launched our newest digital site, www.GuitarIn-structor.com, which is the fi rst complete website for guitarists featuring down-loadable video, audio, and guitar tab. As most dealers
know, we are the fi rst and only print mu-sic publisher to have a full range ‘Digital Retailer’ programs, providing for in-store downloads, online affi liates and online digital retailing. We have nearly 1,000 dealers participating at present.
“Regarding the overall digital busi-ness, it’s continuing to grow and shows little sign of slowing down. However, it appears to be mainly a trade-off with tra-ditional print sales, and therefore it is critical for all deal-ers to get involved in our Digital re-tail programs.”
“We want music dealers to know that we re-main 100% com-mitted to sup-porting them, as evidenced by our new, expanded distribution center and our wide range of promotional programs we offer. We are still the only music print publisher offering dealer sales support 7 days per
week, and with extended hours (until 9pm CST). On the product development side, we continue to be the innovation leader with new concepts like our expanded line of legal Real Books, our successful Pro Vo-cal series, and our Essential Elements meth-ods for band, string and choirs.”
Morton says that 2008 was a great year for new releases. Big hits have included their Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles; pop releases from the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana; Broadway soundtracks like Mamma Mia, Wicked, Spring Awak-ening, and the revival of South Pacifi c.“On the instructional side, the Hal Leon-ard Guitar Method broke a new sales record in 2008. Our DVD business con-tinues to explode, led by new releases fea-turing stars like Eric Johnson and George Lynch. Perhaps the biggest hit of 2008 is arriving late in the year: Disney’s High
School Musical 3. With the phenomenal sales of High School Musical 1 and 2, dealers can expect blockbuster sales in 4th quarter 2008!”
He says that 2008 has been their biggest year in their history; that said, 2009 will be challenging. “Consumers may hold off on major new instrument purchases, but they always keep coming in for new books and DVDs. That’s an important point for dealers to remember because the print music business gives
them reg- ular contact with customers and steady cash fl ow with good mar-gins. We expect to have a solid year, with healthy but modest sales gains in 2009.”
Alfred PublishingRon Manus, Vice President
MMR_73 73 11/21/08 11:11:22 AM
74 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Mel BayBryndon Bay, Vice President
“2008 has been a substantially bet-ter year for Mel Bay when compared to 2007,” says Bryndon Bay, Mel Bay’s vice president. “Demand for our product re-mains strong, but consumers are acquir-ing our product through a revised mix of channels.”
He says that the bulk of their retail-ers are re-ordering a varied mix of their “tried-and-true” products. The trend with retailers is to keep low inventory and only stock items that are in consis-tent demand. In an effort to match their offerings with current dealer needs, Mel Bay has reduced their new issue program to feature a smaller, more focused mix of
products. “We understand dealers don’t want to take a risk with new product. Our new issue program addresses this by limiting new releases each month and by releasing items that have the greatest sales potential. Additionally, we’re backing these products with a broad range of marketing efforts that will boost demand.”
He says that they have found that di-rect-to-consumer marketing has been most effective in building sales through retailers. “One might think that con-sumers would respond to advertising by
ordering direct from the source. Our experience has been that consum-ers purchase products we advertise through their traditional channels.” It is essential for Mel Bay pub-lications to build demand on the consumer level as
it has the greatest impact on dealer de-mand.”
Despite their changes in their new is-sue policy, they are still providing a lot of new product.
“We are very pleased with strong sales of Tommy Emmanuel’s new DVD, Em-
dealers through Alfred.com using Shopa-tron and our new digital download site.”
Just like everyone else, musicians and teachers are going online for informa-tion, interaction, and network. “They compare purchase options online and are participating in online communi-ties that drive music trends for the entire industry. Everyone prefers to have an in-teractive dialogue with companies rather than receiving only one-way marketing messages. We are getting more involved in online communities and fi nding new ways to interact.”
Alfred has part-nered with Band-Director.com, where many of the company’s performance pieces and new products are being reviewed, rated, and performed via we-bcasts. But they aren’t casting aside old-fash-ioned promotion meth-ods, by any means.
“Clinics are still the strongest way for us to reach teachers. We have had a tremendous re-sponse to our events, which is a testimonial to our clinic staff.” They are starting to test the feasi-bility of online clinics as well. “Also, we have had great success with direct-mail
promotions to piano teachers; this gives them important information about new products. It is really important that we close the loop on these kinds of promo-tions, so dealers have this product in stock when teachers come in and ask for it -- otherwise the teachers become frustrated.”
Alfred continues to build its dealer network online, and now all their deal-ers can sell digital sheet music. They have two plans: Complete website in-
tegration, which al-lows their dealers to sell digital sheet mu-sic while keeping the customer on their e-commerce site; and an affi liate website program, which al-lows the dealer, with or without a website, to sell their digital sheet music and earn a commission on every sale.
“We are re-ally excited about our new series of books that we did
with Rolling Stone Maga-zine,” he says. “These books focus on the ‘500 Greatest Song of All Time,’ as picked by the magazine. We have done a num-ber of books for Piano Vocal, Easy Piano,
Guitar Tab and instrumental play-along book and CD’s both for String and Band. These are doing really great, because people recognize Rolling Stone Magazineas the undisputed authority in this area. And if that wasn’t enough, every book comes with a free 1-year subscription to the magazine!”
Other titles he is excited about include Singers Library of Musical Theatre series of books, and their newly revised Alfred’s Basic Guitar series, which now have an optional DVD. “Our Simply Series is a breakthrough in terms of mass appeal to both piano teachers and the mainstream market. Major composers, songwriters, and bands are represented and we con-tinue to add to this best-selling series. Beethoven, Brickman, Broadway, Brubeck, Chopin, Gershwin, Mancini, and Mozartare just a few of the great titles we have in this series.
“And we continue our long relation-ship with The National Guitar Workshop with Easy Soloing for Rock Guitar and The Total Rock Drummer, among many other new titles.”
Not surprisingly, Manus feels that print can really help a dealer during these lean times.
“If you’re not already selling print, ask yourself why not,” he says. “It’s easy and highly profi table. Our sales people have worked in retail stores and understand what is needed to get you started.”
MMR_74 74 11/21/08 11:11:28 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 75
manuel Labor and of course are proud of our expanded Modern Method series, the sales of which continue to grow every year both domestically and internationally,” Bay says. In 2009 they expanded the series by releasing Modern Fiddling Method, Modern Banjo Method, Modern Drumset Method, Modern Electric Bass Method, Modern Vio-lin Method, Modern Cello Method, Modern Fingerstyle Guitar Method and Modern Classical Guitar Method.
“I feel very positive about Mel Bay’s fu-ture – particularly about 2009!” he says. “2007 was a challenging year for us and
we made some important organizational changes as a result. These changes have shored up our fi nancial position even in the current economic climate and set us on strong footing for the future. We’ll continue offering the outstanding service we are known for as well as developing our unique and specialized product line.” He adds that their overseas sales continue to grow as well, and despite the economic climate worldwide, they have experienced exponential growth abroad over the last 24 months, “and we see this trend con-tinuing.”
The Specialty PublishersThe world of specialty publishers is different, and with less room for error, often calls on more creativity. It’s certainly requires a special type of passion, of which all these publishers possess by the bushel.
Sher PublishingChuck Sher, Owner
Sher says the year was fi ne before the fi nancial crisis hit in September. “Too bad that other people’s excesses have a way of affecting innocent bystanders, but hopefully a change of direc-tion in Washington will create a silver lining to this mess by instituting some long-overdue economic reforms.”
For Sher, the launch of their digital download service has been a little bit of a disappointment and isn’t being used as much as he had hoped. “Perhaps it is a longer-term movement, but I don’t see it being very effective at this point. I think this is largely because people are used to get-ting jazz fake books for thirty cents each on CDs sold on eBay. Hard to compete with people stealing your work!”
He is excited about their newest book, The Best Of Sher Music Co. Real Books. “It will be a big hit, I’m sure, since I have found over the years that people tend to buy books of tunes they know
and love, and our BestOf book contains noth-ing but tunes like that, selected from all our different fake books. We are also coming out in November with a really useful two and a half hour DVD, Intro-
duction To The Conga Drum by Michael Spiro, author of our Conga Drummer’s Guidebook. Michael did a superlative job giving beginners all the foundational techniques they will need to become good percussionists.”
There’s also The Real Easy Book Vol-ume 3: A Short History of Jazz. It is doing well and has enjoyed lots of positive feedback from directors who have adopted it for their improvisation classes.
As for 2009: “Let’s hope for the best and for some public poli-cies that will keep the fat cats’ hands out of the cookie jar for a change.”
Kendor MusicCraig Cornwall, president
Craig Cornwall says that Kendor, a jazz specialty publisher, actually fi nished ahead in sales this past fi scal year, which he attributes in large part to their partnership with Advanced Music, based in Rottenberg Ger-many. “They do a lot of jazz book products which in-clude play-alongs, improvisation and composing ar-ranging products, all of which are popular,” Cornwall says. “They also do smaller ensemble things.”
Cornwell see that there are still lots of jazz programs out there, and their goal is to get more market share. He notes that several jazz publishers have gone by the wayside, which tells him the market might be shrinking, though his company is secure. He has noticed a negative effective of the No Child Left Behind program, though.
“We publish for school instrumen-tal programs, end of story – we’re not doing band stuff,” he says. “We have
MMR_75 75 11/21/08 11:11:33 AM
76 MMR DECEMBER 2008
these little peripheral things, mostly performance music for small ensembles, that directors are fi nding are a great tool. Otherwise, we’re publishing with the kids in mind, and rarely publishing professional pieces.” Kendor is creating a lot of product for performance contests, which is going well for them.
“We have a play-along at grade one level to prepare kids for their fi rst contest experience, called Kendor Recital Solos,which is going well,” he says. “Each book has a CD with two tracks, one with the piece played by a professional, the other for play-along.
“And we’ve been really creating some interesting product, sometimes with
CD accompaniment. A couple of years ago we did The Effective Etudes,which is designed to improve jazz improvi-sation skills and that is still going strong.” While jazz is their niche, they do also offer Kendor Concert Favorites, for grade one strings, which is a collection of popu-lar classical music. “And we have a new one by Bob Frost called Hol-iday Strings.”
When asked about 2009, he laughs and says: “I don’t know what to think at the mo-ment!” But they had a strong Septem-ber so he feels good about it. “I think we all just have to be very careful with the price of everything going up – fuel, paper cost, importing cost … we just have to be smart. It’s a nickel and
dime business.”
Meredith Music PublicationsGarwood Whaley, president
Garwood Whaley says his over 30 year of teaching experience, a DMA in music education, and a diploma from Juilliard enables him to know the type of publica-tions that help students, teachers and per-formers. He feels Meredith is on the right track, as his sales are up 11 percent this year.
“We’re doing lots of new publications, and we get great press on our music,” Whaley says, adding that they are about to celebrate their 10th anniversary of being distributed by Hal Leonard, and next year will be their 30th year in business. Mer-edith started out fo-cusing on percussion-related publications, but has branched out a bit into books the cover comprehensive
musicianship along with reference and resource material for teachers.
Whaley is especially excited about Cirone’s Pocket Dictionary of Foreign Musi-cal Terms, compiled by Anthony Cirone. “This 232 page dictionary contains
more than 160 musical ex-amples and thousands of foreign terms in Italian, French, and German,” he says. “Also included are comprehensive sec-tions for percussion and strings.”
His approach to marketing also refl ects his emphasis in prod-uct: “We’re running three different ads,” he explains. They are for conducting resources, curriculum resources, and motivational re-
sources. Each of those programs in-cludes nine books each on the topic. “That
sort of shows you where we are and the trends that we’re pro-ducing. And they are all popular. We sell a lot of books in each of those three areas.”
Other new titles include Composer’s Insights. This is planned to be a fi ve-vol-ume series of which the third in the series has just been released. “What we’ve done is identify 60 composers who are signifi cant in the 20th and 21st centuries – good com-posers who happen to compose for band.” The book focuses on living composers and the insights included will allow direc-tors to understand a piece and provide a key to unlocking what the composer was intending. “The icing on the cake is that the forward of each volume is written by a Pulitzer-prize winning composer.”
As for next year, he laughs and says, “Our head is down and we’re running with the ball!”
Lorenz MusicGeoff Lorenz, chairman
“We are having a pretty good year even though the industry as a whole isn’t doing that well,” says Geoff Lorenz. “We are up and are very active in bringing out new product with lots of new ideas and innovations.”
The publisher does not see jazz music as a whole particularly healthy. He says the market is currently oversaturated with jazz-related product, and he points out that over the last decade he’s seen publish-ers increasingly get out of the fi eld. “There
are still a few publishers in jazz that are very active, and while we still have a jazz catalog, we did not come out with any new product for jazz this year. We just felt like it’s not growing, and our change in strat-egy has paid off for us in a big way.”
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DECEMBER 2008 MMR 77
“I haven’t gone down, but I haven’t gone up enough to really talk about,” says Don Stewart of his year. The small boutique publisher has certainly had his share of frustration over the years. Sev-eral years ago he published a version of Joplin’s great opera, Treemonisha Sam-pler, which came with a great recording but yielded less-than-expected sales. “It’s one of those things that you’d think ev-ery college would want a copy of.”
Another challenge is reaching those who want his music. He says he gets calls all the time from happy customers who have just “discovered” his offerings tell-ing him, “I had no idea you existed.”
Something that has gotten atten-tion lately is a transcription of Three Preludes by Gershwin. He had to license the music, and based the
music on an arrangement he did for his own wind quintet years ago. (Stewart is still an active professional musician play-ing in several wind ensembles and jazz groups in Florida.) Also, his trio arrange-ment of Glen Miller’s String of Pearls, has stirred some interest as well. “Transcrip-tions for smaller ensembles of big band hits are things that people are interested in,” he says. Also another work of his he’s
just released is Period Pieces with NooGlufor wind quintet.
While the number of print music stores seems to be dwindling in the states, he has had success with several overseas. His products are found in Japan, the U.K., and Amsterdam.
As for next year, his goal is to “con-tinue with my effort to publish and sell good music.”
What Lorenz is focusing on heavily on their Heritage di-vision, which he says is doing well in part to the leadership of Larry Pug and Mary Lynn Lightfood. Heritage covers ev-erything from kin-dergarten through college with an emphasis on prod-
ucts for third grade through 12th. The category for general music products has exploded, and the fi rst few years they cre-ated products for that they experienced 100% growth the fi rst few years. “We found a niche and have dominated it.”
This is because they have been able to create educationally sound products that are fun and challenging. Some especially creative titles include Music Makes the Scene,which features 10 scenes from movies, and 30 clips of music. Students can pair different types of music with a scene to change the mood and see the roll music plays in fi lms.
Finally, there’s the Sudoku Music Book,which is based on the popular game. “We’re doing a lot of fun things like that
– we’re having more fun than should be allowed.”
While generally staying away from the pop fi eld, they have started licensing
some contemporary Christian songs and arranged them for the traditional church market, which has sold well.
“We also pride ourselves on our products for the cho-ral market, where many of our titles have ‘legs,” selling for 20 or 30 years. That’s prob-ably our single greatest strength.”
Trillenium MusicDon Stewart, Owner
MMR_77 77 11/21/08 11:11:45 AM
78 MMR DECEMBER 2008
SHOW REPORT
Austin, TexasPASIC 2008:
While it was suggested that Texas is such a great market for musical instru-ments that it might not be representative of the country as a whole, it was nonethe-less heartening to witness the excitement and vibrancy of young percussionists swarming the booths and lining up to try products. The PAS director of Media es-
timates that over 6,500 people were in at-tendance over the course of the four-day event, making it the third-highest attend-ed show in the 33-year history of PASIC.
In addition to the expo, there were ap-proximately 130 clinics, performances, presentations, and lectures open for at-tendees. Among the highlights were a
master class by University of North Texas professor and jazz great, Ed Soph, and a clinic by the Wackerman brothers – Brooks, Chad, and John – who performed together live for the fi rst time ever.
In a ceremony held Friday, November 8th, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Roy Burns were inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame.
The 2008 Percussive Arts Society International
Convention took place from Nov 6-9 in Austin,
Texas. As the streets around the convention
center in downtown Austin echoed with the
cadences of high school and collegiate drumlines, the
mood inside the expo was one of cautious optimism
about the MI market going forward, in spite of the
turbulent economy, which weighed heavily on the minds
of consumers, manufacturers, and retailers alike. As one
vendor stated, “Hope comes from the idea that in good
times and bad, people will continue to play music.” This
optimism was not unwarranted, as foot traffi c was high
and sales relatively strong. In fact, another vendor, a
representative from a cymbal manufacturer, mentioned
that his company hit their sales target for the entire show
in the very fi rst day.
MMR_78 78 11/21/08 11:12:08 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 79
Alfred: (L-R) Rich Lackowski, Antonio Ferranti, Ray Brych (Guitar Center), Michael Finkelstein, and Karissa Read.
Zildjian’s John Sorenson and Debbie Zildjian.
Humes&Berg: Irwin and Michael Berg.
Mapex: Marylon Stewart and Joe Vasko MakeMusic’s Tom Johnson
Pearl: Terry West
Latin Percussion’s Ray Enhoffer, Jim Rockwell, and Angelo Arimborgo
Paiste’s Wayne Wilburn, Tim Shahady, and Andrew Shreve
Neil Grover, of Grover Pro Percussion, Inc.
Yamaha: Troy C. Wollwage
Mike Balter Mallets: Performing Artist, Kevin Jahoda; Mike Balter; and Jeffrey Meegan Sabian: Dr. Nick Petrella
Ludwig & Musser: Brandon Sims, Jim Catalano, and Gary Devore.
Hal Leonard’s David Cywinski and Marilyn Fleenor.Garwood Whaley, of Meredith Music Publications.
MMR_79 79 11/21/08 11:12:13 AM
80 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Sabian Lifetime Achievement Awards Gala
Dr. Nick PetrellaRoy Burns and Bob ZildjianWill Wernick and Dame Evelyn Glennie
Bob Zildjian and Dennis DeluciaMatt Wernick and Roy BurnsDom Famularo
On the evening of Thursday, November 6th, Sabian hosted a reception to honor Sabian Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Dame Evelyn Glennie and Roy Burns, who, the following day, were also inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame.
MMR_80 80 11/21/08 11:12:26 AM
JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
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MMR_82 82 11/21/08 10:49:29 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 83
New Lava Cable PlugThe Right Angle Lava Plug is described as “the smallest solder-free plug on the mar-ket, enabling guitarists to squeeze their pedals together tighter than ever before.” This new plug provides for matched ped-al spacing at about 1” and less than ½” when pedals are staggered. Like the Lava
Plug, this right angle version uses a special 360-degree sleeve instead of a set screw for the ground connec-tion, signifi cantly increasing reli-ability and providing the best pos-sible connection using solder-free plug technology. Matched with the Lava Mini ELC low
capacitance cable, as part of the Lava Sol-der-Free Pedal Board Kit, this combina-tion is said to virtually eliminate signal loss and produce pure tone.
The Lava Solder-Free Pedal board kit with the Right Angle Lava Plug comes with 10 feet of Mini ELC cable, 10 each Right Angle Lava Plug, and a stripping tool. The kit retails for $89.95. The Right Angle Lava Plug can be purchased individually for $7.50 each, and Mini ELC cable can be purchased in bulk for $1.90 per foot. www.lavacable.com
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The Cube From EMGEMG, Inc. completes their new audio/video studio known as The Cube. The studio was constructed to provide content for EMG’s Web-based media player highlight-ing EMG’s endorsers, as well as a demonstration facility for the company’s products. Other music equipment manufacturers are being invited to utilize the facility for pre and post-production of video content. The core of the facility is the AVID Nitrous editing system, which is linked up to a system of HD cameras, pro-audio, and custom lighting systems. www.emginc.com
MMR_83 83 11/21/08 11:12:51 AM
84 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Find it in the Hot Newssection ofMMR’s Web site,
BreakingNews
Yamaha’s BSM SnaresDesigned in conjunction with Franz Schindlbeck of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Yamaha Frankfurt Percussion Atelier, the BSM-1450 is available in 14” x 5”, and the BSM-1465 is available in the 14” x 6.5” confi gurations.
The new BSM snares feature the pat-ented Berlin Combination Snare System. The ten inner cables provide a full snare sound at all levels up to fortissimo, while the three outer strands on each side pro-vide precise snare response at all levels down to pianissimo. Other features in-clude a shallow 1.8mm snare bed that provides even snare response at all dy-namic levels, a silent K-type strainer pro-ducing zero noise with smooth action for silent snare engagement, honey-lug cas-ings and six-ply maples shells. The BSM-1450 retails for $1,122 and the BSM-1465 for $1,146. Cases and stands are also available for the new snares.www.yamahapercussion.com
www.MMRmagazine.com
Irradiant’s LED Based Image ProjectorArchispot is Irradiant’s newly developed LED based, high output image projector.
It is designed to produce a visually stimulating, high-resolution projection of patterns, images, logos and messages.
The light source of the ArchiSpot is a 5W White SSLE, that when combined with its optical design, maximizes the optical effi ciency. The solid-state LED (SSLE) can last over 50,000 hours. Users can create their own transparencies or gobos via their home comput-ers, and then print them out themselves with a common laser printer onto transparency paper. The Ir-radiant ArchiSpot is designed to produce a sharp, bright and well focused image from an optimal distance of 8-12 feet away.
The Irradiant ArchiSpot offers a sleek design measuring 11” x 5.5” x 4.5” and has a weight of only three pounds. The Irradiant ArchiSpot carries a retail price of $89.99.www.irradianthq.com
MMR_84 84 11/21/08 11:12:57 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 85
Supplierscene
Steve Winwood Endorses Neumann/SennheiserSteve Winwood uses a Neumann KMS 105 vocal microphone for both his live performances and his studio work,
and he and his band upgraded their wireless personal moni-toring systems to Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2s for their recent tour of North America with Tom Petty and the Heartbreak-ers. On tour, ev-
eryone but Winwood’s drummer uses Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2 wireless per-sonal monitors. www.sennheiserusa.com
New Distributors for Elixir StringsDavitt & Hanser will be distributing Elixir Strings products, which will in-clude cables and electric, acoustic, bass, mandolin, and banjo strings. All Elixir Strings merchandise will be available in more than 3,500 independent stores and several authorized online dealers throughout the country.www.elixirstrings.com
Universal Percussion has expanded their selection to include the complete To-ca line of hand percussion instruments and accessories.Universal now carries
all popular models, including congas, djembes, cajons, and a wide variety of percussion toys.www.universalpercussion.com
Universal Percussion Now Distributing Toca Percussion
MMR_85 85 11/21/08 11:13:05 AM
86 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Kawai’s Insiders Kawai Insiders is the new Internet blog for Kawai digital piano owners. Hosted by Barry the Blogger (a.k.a. Barry Baker, Kawai’s concert artist), the Kawai Insid-ers blog will feature various how-to ar-ticles, tips, and tricks to help owners get the most out of their Kawai digital piano. The Kawai Insiders blog is part of an evolving Web site for Kawai digital pia-nos that features many audio and video demos, along with printed information and specifi cations for all Kawai digital pianos. www.kawaius.com/main_links/Blog/power_blog.html
Find Breaking News in the Hot News section ofMMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com
Pioneer Headphones Designed Specifi cally for DJs Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones are de-signed to improve sound quality and reliability for use in DJ environments and studios. Thick 35 Polyethylene Tere-phthalate (PET) diaphragm improves rigidity and strength needed for better lower frequency response. PET mate-rial used in the diaphragm also helps to dampen unwanted resonance. Wide fre-quency response with high clarity and detail results from a large 50mm driver.
Additionally, the headphones have an enclosed “over-ear” design with ear pads that seal around the user’s ears, reducing ambient noise and providing superior sound isolation for tracking in a loud club environment or a studio. The ear pad’s unique material, memory foam (Poly-urethane foam), provides a tight yet com-fortable seal, further enhancing sound reproduction especially in the mid to high frequency ranges. Retails for $450.www.pioneerprodj.com
MMR_86 86 11/21/08 11:13:09 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 87
Supplierscene
Together over 15,000 backing tracks!Give your customers the chance to perform with
a top notch band or orchestra. From Classical to Top 40 we have it all!
Visit our websites to hear audio samples: www.musicminusone.com
www.pocketsongs.com Also visit our dealer site for marketing tools
and shipping specials: www.mmogroup.com
Proud Distributors of MMOHal Leonard • Pro Sing • Music Sales • Charles Dumont
OSTW • Forsyth • Schott • Europa Music • Arpege Diffusion
Proud Distributors of Pocket SongsPro Sing • Atwood • East Coast • Ace • OSTW
Singers Choice • KDS • Lynns • Forsyth • Karaoke Paris
Contact Steve Rose - [email protected] Executive Blvd. • Elmsford, New York 10523-1325
ph: 914 592-1188 • fax: 914 592-3575
Gemstone and W. Schreiber ClarinetsGemstone Musical Instruments has part-nered German manufacturer Schreiber & Keilwerth for exclusive distribution rights in North and South America. Now dis-tributed exclusively by Gemstone, the W. Schreiber clarinet models 6012, 6025, and 6026 are available to Gemstone dealers.www.gemstonemusical.comwww.schreiberharmony.com
Numark’s PT-01USB The PT-01USB is a portable vinyl ar-chiving system that permits users to lis-ten to and transfer their vinyl records to digital MP3 fi les anywhere and anytime due to its rugged design and ability to run on either wall or battery power. An RCA line output is provided for simple con-nection to any DJ, PA, or stereo system. An auxiliary input allows conversion of audio from any cassette deck or other audio source. A monitoring speaker is built-in for standalone listening.
Numark’s EZ Vinyl Converter 2 soft-ware is included, and is a simple way to get audio from records into a PC-based iTunes music library. EZ Vinyl Convert-er 2 automatically separates individual tracks and comes with a free download of features Gracenote MusicID technology, which names tracks automatically. EZ Audio Creator 2 is also included for Mac users. PT-01USB also comes with Audac-ity software for assisting users with re-duction of clicks, pops and other noises in tracks. The price is $149.www.numark.com
Homero Chavez from Pomona, California has recently returned from a successful trip to Moscow, Russia, after headlining the Moscow Music Expo ‘08. Homero Chavez, the president of The Percussive Arts Soci-ety of California, was invited to the expo by Peace Musical and Sound Check Ltd. of Russia. At the event, he Chavez lectured on the percussion styles of the Caribbean and Latin America. Mr. Chavez introduced the ghost rhythm of the clave found in all Latin
American music genres. He also present-ed several Latin percussion instruments, which included bongos, maracas, congas, timbales, and shekere. Mr. Chavez dem-onstrated the methods of incorporating all these instruments and more onto the drum set. While in Moscow, he met with several renowned Russian drummers such as Anatoly Makurov, Javad- Zade, and Max Klotz. He also shared the performing stage with American drummer Dom Famularo.
Moscow Music Expo 2008
MMR_87 87 11/21/08 11:13:15 AM
88 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Supplierscene
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Tone Gear String CleanerThe String Cleaner by Tone Gear is said to extend the life and preserve the tone of guitar strings by removing harmful substances like sweat and oils and keeps strings strong. The revolutionary design allows for 360 degrees of cleaning pow-er. String Cleaner requires no solution, and there’s no possibility of it damaging frets. Featuring cleanable microfi ber pads, it saves money on new strings by prolonging the life and the tone of the string. It retails for $12.99. www.thestringcleaner.com
Benedetto Guitars Takes Top Honors for Excellence in International Trade On November 7, Ken Stewart, commis-sioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, announced that Savannah-based Benedetto Guitars won the second annual Georgia Featured Ex-port Product Award. The Georgia Fea-tured Export Product Award rewards small and medium-sized Georgia busi-nesses for their efforts to develop innova-tive products that will fi nd success in ex-port markets around the world. Entries are judged based on product innovation, market potential and international ex-port efforts.
Since establishing operations in Sa-vannah in July 2006, Benedetto Guitars has grown from four employees to over twenty full-time craftsmen and is now
producing and shipping over 40 hand-made instruments per month. www.benedettoguitars.com
MMR_88 88 11/21/08 11:13:22 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 89
Classifi edsBusiness Opportunities
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through the classifi ed pages of MMR. Call Maureen800-964-5150 ext 34
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BreakingNews
www.MMRmagazine.com
MMR_89 89 11/21/08 11:20:31 AM
90 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
Business Opportunities
For SaleMUSIC STORE FOR SALE
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MMR_90 90 11/21/08 11:20:39 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 91
Help Wanted Merchandise Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
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MMR_91 91 11/21/08 11:20:45 AM
92 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
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MMR_92 92 11/21/08 11:20:50 AM
DECEMBER 2008 MMR 93
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
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MMR_93 93 11/21/08 11:20:56 AM
94 MMR DECEMBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
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THE TUBA EXCHANGE1825 CHAPEL HILL RD.
DURHAM, NC 277071-800-869-8822
WWW.TUBAEXCHANGE.COM
Software
Used Band Instruments
Clarinets and utes from $50Alto Saxes from $250
Trumpets and Trombones from $100French Horns and Baritones from $395
Clarinets and Flute repad $69Alto Sax repad $149
Call Jimmy Hayes 800 559-4472
Used 4 Less Music
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(615) 256-2033fax (615) 255-2021 www.gruhn.com
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GRUHNGUITARS
What’s it worth?We buy, sell, trade, consign and appraise
fi ne guitars, banjos and mandolins.
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DECEMBER 2008 MMR 95
MMR_95 95 11/21/08 11:21:06 AM
Adindex
96 MMR DECEMBER 2008
COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE
AAccess Bags and Cases www.accessbagsandcases.com 52Ace Karaoke/Acesonic USA www.acekaraoke.com 42Al Cass. 84Alfred Publishing Co. www.alfred.com 59Allparts www.allparts.com 88Amati’s Fine Instruments www.Amatis.us 5America Longxing Inc. www.huntermusical.com 42American DJ Supply Inc. www.americandj.com 9American School of Piano Tuning www.piano-tuning.comAmerican Way Marketing LLC [email protected] 80Anderson Silver Plating 58ASC www.sejungusa.com 81
BJ.J. Babbitt Co. Inc. www.jjbabbitt.com 44Benedetto Guitars www.BenedettoGuitars.com 77
DD’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 18D’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 11Dunlop Manufacturing Inc. www.jimdunlop.com 28Dusty Strings www.dustystrings.com 55
EEasttwood Guitars www.eastwoodguitars.com 88EMD Music Inc. www.staggmusic.com 15
GGeorge L’s www.georgels.com 46Good for the Goose Products www.chopsaver.com 87Gulf Music Sales www.gulfmusicsalesonline.com 86
H/IHoshino (USA) Inc. www.ibanez.com, www.tama.com cov 2 Irradiant Inc. 55
KKawai America Corp. www.kawiausl.com cov 3 Ken Smith Basses Ltd. www.kensmithbasses.com 86Kyser Musical Products Inc. www.kysermusical.com 85
LLava Cable www.lavacable.com 45Levy’s Leathers www.levysleathers.com 54LM Productshers Ltd. www.LMProducts.com 54Lowrey Organ Co. www.lowrey.com 43
M/NMetropolitan Music Co. [email protected] 57NAMM www.namm.com 34-35National Educational Music Co. www.nemc.com 21National Music Funding www.nationalmusic.com 56
PP & D Wholesale www.PDWholesale.net 24Peace Musical Co. LLC www.peacedrum.com 39Pearl River Piano Group www.PearlRiverUSA.com 49Petrof USA www.petrof.com 19PianoDisc www.pianodisc.com 5Pioneer ProDJ www.pioneerprodj.com 23Pocket Songs www.pocketsongs.com 87
R/SReal de los Reyes www.realdelosreyes.com 28Saga Musical Instruments www.sagamusic.com 51Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 3Sennheiser Electronics www.sennheiserusa.com 29SHS International www.shsint.net 53Shubb Co. www.shubb.com 24SKB Corp. www.skbcases.com 25String Swing www.stringswing.com 50Sunlite Industrial Corp. www.sunlitedrum.com 50Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. www.cavanaughcompany.com 22
TTKL Products Corp. www.tkl.com 1ToneGear www.theStringCleaner.com 56
VV.J. Rendano www.vjrendano.com 83Vandoren www.dansr.com 48Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 20Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 47
WWittner GmbH & Co. KG www.wittner-gmbh.de 40Wyman Piano www.wymanpiano.com 84
YYamaha Corp. of America www.yamaha.com 13Young Chang www.youngchang.com 17
AD INDEX DECEMBER.indd 96 11/21/08 3:05:59 PM
conservatorio superior demusica de palma (spain)
ecole de musique (france)egå gymnasium (denmark)etta and joseph miller
performing arts centerikast gymnasium (denmark)interlochen center for the artskungsholm gymnasium (sweden)kyoto city university of artslaugalækjarskóli (iceland)
The Premier Piano of Japan
Shigeru Kawai Piano Company2055 E. University Drive
Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220www.shigerukawai.com
310-223-0900
t h e e d u c a t e d c h o i c e .
s h i g e r u p i a n o s s e l e c t e d b y :
listaháskóli islands (iceland)musashino academia musicae (japan)music academy mlinaric vladimir (slovenia)music school nova gorica (slovenia)music school slovenske konjice (slovenia)music school trebnje (slovenia)musikhochschule nürnberg-augsburg (germany)national center for the performing arts (china)national taipei university of educationnational taichung university of educationnational university of ireland maynoothnewington college
nordiska musikgymnasiet (sweden)norges musikkhøgskole (norway)
pacific union collegereinhardt college
scots college (australia)
seitoku university (japan)shanghai conservatory of musicshorter collegeshowa academia musicae (japan)staatliche hochschule für musik
freiburg (germany)taipei municipal university of educationtallinna muusikakeskkoolile (estonia)terni conservatory (italy)tokyo college of musictokyo gakugei universityuniversity of houstonuniversity of nevada - las vegasuniversity of western australiawaseda university (japan)westminster school atlantawheaton collegexi’an conservatory of music (china)
aichi prefectural universityof fine arts and music
american academy ofdramatic arts
beijing conservatorybrigham young universitybunkyo university (japan)the carrollwood cultural centercatholic fu jen universitychapman universitychinese cultural universityclarence valley conservatorium
(australia)clayton state universitythe colburn school
conservatory of musiccolumbia college chicagoconservatoire cuillera (spain)conservatoire de chalon sur
saône (france)conservatoire de
musique de québecconservatoire of liria (spain)conservatoire profesional de
valencia (spain)conservatoire st. brieuc (france)conservatoire superior
alicante (spain)conservatoire superior
castellon (spain)
MMR_COV3 COV3 11/21/08 10:44:23 AM
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MMR_COV4 COV4 11/21/08 10:44:29 AM