GOLIATH - Music Inc. Magazine

Music Retail Ph.D.
O ut
of all of the industry
magazines that come
through my door, none is more
anticipated than Music Inc. The
articles written by store owners,
managers, sales experts
and other industry people are
so valuable that we rip them
out and put them in a series of
binders, based on content
(inventory management, lessons,
promotions, management,
etc.). Over the years, this
has resulted in a substantial
resource of excellent information
— almost equivalent to a
Ph.D. in music retail.
Thank you, Music Inc., for
the great resources.
Donovan Bankhead
Springfield Music
Springfield, Mo.
How to Fight the
YouTube Rebuttal
I n
Pete Gamber’s excellent
May 2010 article, “Competing
With YouTube,” he brought up
a great subject about the Web
site causing a decrease in
music lesson sales. If your lesson
program has slowed due to
YouTube, then I’m sure your
print and video program has
suffered, as well.
On a daily basis, retailers
tell me that they are cutting
back on stocking videos and
DVDs, explaining that customers
often say, “Oh, I can
learn this from YouTube.” At
the same time, we have independent
retailers, such as First
Start Music in Citrus County,
Fla., who are selling our DVDs
in record quantity.
A little investigation has
gone a long way for us. Visit
YouTube and search a topic
you would like to learn. The
videos are limited to 10 minutes
and filmed in messy bedrooms.
The content of these
10 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2010
free lessons just doesn’t cut it.
The time spent on YouTube
searching through endless doit-yourself
videos, sifting
through wrong information
and learning bad habits can be
your lesson and media department’s
biggest ally.
We encourage our dealers
with the old saying, “If you
can’t beat ’em, join ’em” —
sort of. All of our retail
accounts are invited to play
our DVDs in-store. We send
full-content sample DVDs to
be played in their entirety on
the music store’s DVD player.
You may think this is counterproductive,
but not when you
consider the content on a professional
retail DVD versus a
homemade YouTube video. If a
potential buyer grabs a guitar
off the rack and sits down in
front of your TV screen, don’t
make the mistake of thinking
they are trying to get something
for free. Instead, consider
the deal closed. In comparison
to YouTube, a pro instructional
DVD will stand out as far
superior. I wouldn’t hand customers
a remote, so they can
rewind and fast forward, but I
would recommend you let
them sit there long enough to
sink their teeth in. Chances
are, they will purchase the
DVD that’s playing. Quite
often, they may add another
title from the same author or
the same series.
An inexpensive TV/DVD
setup in your store can be the
equivalent of adding Zig Ziglar
to your print and video sales
team. The quality of a professional
DVD method will put
the once-dreaded YouTube
rebuttal to rest every time.
Mark Sternal
MJS Music & Entertainment,
Crystal River, Fla.
A Piano Tech’s View
I received
my latest copy of
your magazine. I must say, my
head is still reeling in regards
to the “What Went Wrong
With the Piano Industry” article
(June 2009).
I am a piano technician of
37 years. In this well-written
article, manufacturers passed
the buck and blamed everyone
except themselves. Writer Greg
Billings only touched on the
piano technical support system,
but these people have spent
their lives dealing with the maladies
created by manufacturers.
It has been said that all manufacturing
has done for the
piano in the last century is
make it cheaper. The piano tech
is the last phase of manufacture.
My point is: Manufacturers
do not give a damn about anything
except the sale. I think
there is a real article in the
service people’s story.
Scott Colwes
Registered Piano Technician
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Correction
T he
“Quick Movers” article,
part of May 2010’s The
Source, listed the Washburn
WD10S guitar’s MAP as $119.
Its correct MAP is $199. Music
Inc. regrets the error.
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