Four financial strategies to help music retailers survive the uncertain

S & K MUSIC STUDIO I BY JENNY DOMINE
COMMUNITY OF ROCK
Snake and Karen
Rock, co-owners of
S & K Music Studio
in Las Vegas,
understand the
meaning of financial crisis.
In December 2006, they
had the last remaining storefront
in an empty shopping
center. They had legal troubles
with the landlord and no
money. So they held a rally for
customers and employees to
announce they were closing
the studio. The crowd wouldn’t
hear of it.
“These people didn’t want
to see it go away,” Snake said.
During the next eight
months, with the help of volunteers
and the support of
MusiCares, a program that
provides assistance to musicians
with a financial or medical
crisis, the Rocks moved a
half mile down the road to a
new, 4,000-square-foot retail
space in a thriving shopping
center. During the new store’s
renovation, friends and customers
raised funds, worked
construction, painted interiors,
and donated furniture and
computers.
“They even fed us,” Snake
said. “People literally gave us
grocery money and gift cards.”
The Rocks held their grand
opening on Aug. 8, 2008. They
are currently finishing an inhouse
recording studio.
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
According to Snake and
Karen, the source of this
community support originated
from their early days in 2002
when Snake taught lessons out
of their home. Karen, with her
business background, and
Snake, a professional musician,
16 I MUSIC INC. I MAY 2009
partnered with charities and
businesses that resonated with
their family-focused mission.
Snake once recorded an
original song that was sold
during a fundraiser for the Las
Vegas police department. He
and Karen have sent students
into hospitals as strolling minstrels
and sponsored pet-adoption
fundraisers. And the
Rocks’ charitable efforts
became a two-way street in
their time of need.
These days, they continue
to build a sense of community
for students and their families
by holding regularly scheduled
events, such as open mic
nights and student concerts.
They also host a monthly rare
rock movie night featuring
concert footage of The Who,
Led Zeppelin and The Rolling
Stones, complete with popcorn
and candy.
“Karen devised a screen
that rolls down,” Snake said.
“We crank [the sound] through
our P.A. system. It’s really
cool.”
They’ve started renting out
their waiting room to yoga and
meditation classes and sell
classified space to local businesses
on their Web site and
in their student newsletter,
“Noteworthy.” The newsletter
keeps what Karen calls the “S
& K Family” connected. It
announces student-of-themonth
awards, birthdays,
workshops and event updates.
THE FAMILY THAT ROCKS
All the family-friendly activities,
a comfy sitting area
with couches and a café help
balance S & K’s other vibe as a
pure rock ’n’ roll shop with a
hard-rockin’ lesson program
Photo by Butch Padilla
S & K voice instructor
Frank DiMino (left) and
owner Snake Rock
Creativity and
community
bring S & K
Music Studio
back from the
brink
that offers guitar, bass, drum,
piano and voice instruction.
All the instructors have professional
rock resumes with
the looks and names to match.
“We walk a fine line with
that,” said Snake of the shop’s
rock atmosphere. “We are very
careful to keep it a safe environment.
Parents have to be
comfortable for their kids to be
taught by a guy named Snake.”
All 12 of S & K’s instructors
are required to have
Nevada state and FBI background
checks.
“Sometimes it makes the
difference between a sign-on
or not,” Snake said. “It
clinches it because [parents]
know we’re going to make
sure their kids are safe.”
Each instructor has a large
lesson studio. These range in
size from 7 by 7 feet to 10 by 7
feet to accommodate two drum
kits. The rooms are decorated
with the instructor’s personal
decor, showcasing their music
careers.
Snake filled his teaching
space with his collection of
Beatles memorabilia.
“We don’t want it to be the
standard, sterile, 4- by 4-foot
white room,” Karen said.
“I went through that as a
kid,” said Snake, recalling his
earliest guitar lessons. “This is
not your traditional music lesson.
We make it really fun.”
CREATIVE COLLECTIONS
While listening to an Idea
Center session at the
recent NAMM convention,
inspiration struck the Rocks
on how to apply their creativity
to collections.
Using the built-in camera on
a donated laptop and the help
of a former-student-turnedemployee,
Snake produced a
fun, musical commercial. He
plays The Beatles’ “Blackbird,”
while his employee laments the
challenges of collecting on pastdue
accounts. Snake suggests
that she simply ask late customers
to pay. The commercial
was distributed via e-mail.
“There is never an easy
way to go about [collections]
at times of recession,” Snake
said. “At first, we had just a
handful [of responses], but
then they came in droves the
week after that. Now we’re
using [commercials] to promote
our events.” MI