PRODUCT - Music Inc. Magazine

SElliNG To THE NoN-DJ
For Aaron Rathbone, vice president
and general manager of
Dirt Cheep Music in Smyrna, Ga.,
selling all-in-one units means
forgoing the word “economical”
altogether.
“We present the idea that
value is more important than
pure economy for the discerning
purchaser and then demonstrate
the value can exceed the price in
our product selection,” he said.
Rathbone said he had tremendous
success with the Numark
product family in 2010. He attributed
the popularity of the
company’s Mixtrack controller
to its contradictory construction:
a compact chassis with a proquality
feature set.
“DJ customers of all kinds
want smaller, lighter, easier
and more powerful products,”
Rathbone said. “They’re willing
to replace the idea of economy if
the idea is presented well.”
So what does it mean to sell
to a start-up DJ? It means overemphasizing
effortless assembly,
particularly when the new DJ
is a seasoned instrumentalist
looking to integrate the piece
into a pre-existing rig. And according
to Sweetwater Director
of Purchasing John Grabowski,
it means giving customers outof-the-box
convenience without
sacrificing quality.
“These customers prefer a
single integrated DJ system rather
than separate components, but
they still want well-designed features
with solid construction,”
Grabowski said.
For Fryman, it also means a
lot of hand-holding and troubleshooting.
His best-selling product
in this range, the Denon
DN-MC6000, comes with the
Virtual DJ lite software bundle.
By installing the latest version
of drivers and software free of
charge with purchases, Fryman
TREND SEGMENTS
ENTRY-LEVEL DJ GEAR
saves the customer — and himself
— an unnecessary stomachache.
“For years, we would charge
Stanton Group CEO Tim
Dowart said having seasoned
an upcharge if a guy wanted to DJs on staff can better qualify cus-
install it on a computer,” said tomers — even if they’re non-DJs.
Fryman, who now advertises the Such pros can also keep retail-
free service on his website. “Evers savvy on the ever-changing
eryone that took it home would advances in the DJ community.
TREND SEGMENTS
Bernie Fryman
Aaron Rathbone
bring us their laptops in three
days and say, ‘I want a refund.’
We wound up having to save the
sale and do it anyway. It’s a lot
easier to be the hero in the first
place. The other thing is if retailers
are installing the stuff there’s
some value added.”
Fryman advised retailers to
discuss controller/mixers with
quality sound cards. Though the
96-bit, USB-compatible devices
drive much of his business, he
said many amateur setups usually
aren’t equipped with DJappropriate
sound cards.
HEAD To THE PRoS
ENTRY-LEVEL DJ GEAR
“It is crucial to leverage active
and connected DJs that
understand the needs of your
customers and can offer you
valid buying advice,” Dowart
said. “Remember that quite a
lot of DJ products have crossover
relevance to non-DJ shoppers.”
The tightly knit DJ community
is fueled by hearsay and
brand identity. Newcomers often
request a specific piece of gear
at the recommendation of someone
else. Craig Merrick, owner
of Astro Audio Visual Lighting,
said he sells nearly 50 percent of
his DJ merchandise to entry-level
DJs. At his Glendale, Calif., dealership,
newbie misconceptions
about gear aren’t uncommon.
“When guys are neophytes
or totally unfamiliar with the
product, all they have to go by
is some friend,” Merrick said.
“One guy’s a sculptor and the
other guy’s a painter and another
guy’s a performance artist. It’s not
the same thing. Somebody can be
steered onto a product brand or
model that’s really good quality
but not necessarily for what they
want to do. You gotta get the right
thing for the right job. A qualified
salesperson can separate the hype
from what your real needs are.”
Hype isn’t always negative,
though. Brian Dillon, marketing
director at Pro Audio Star
in Brooklyn, N.Y., attributed the
success of one of the store’s bestsellers,
the Vestax Typhoon, to its
reputation among DJs. Employees
have ably related the hype to DJ
newcomers who were looking for
a reputable yet functional unit.
“The Vestax Typhoon was really
the trailblazer in this new
controller market,” Dillon said.
“There was an appeal because
the brand has a great boutique
following, and Vestax also really
represents DJ culture well. People
who use Vestax tend to be more
creative and into the technology
aspect of the product.”
But the advent of digital DJ
technology has led to accelerated
market changes. Hearsay in the
DJ community now travels and
dies more quickly.
“What might have previously
taken the market three to five
years to evolve now happens in
one to two,” Dowart said. “It’s
critical for retailers to partner
with innovative DJ companies
like Stanton to sustain category
relevance and increase customer
accessibility to new technologies.”
Sustaining category relevance
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