April, 2013 - Music & Sound Retailer

ADVERTORIAL • APRIL 2013visit us online at www.namm.orgNote from JonCelebrating the Passion of Music Retail“Retailers are truly the backbone of our industry because, in most cases,they are the ones who first get people hooked on making music.”We work in a great industry—one that I’ve been in all mylife. I got my first job in a music retail shop when I was 15.In 1989, I opened my own store. It was a tiny place, butwe kept growing and eventually grew out of it. Now we havethree full-line stores and a pro audio showroom, and we’restill expanding. These years of experience have taught methat you never stop growing.So it’s great that NAMM is recognizing retailers with theTop 100 Dealer Awards—acknowledging the people whotake care of customers face-to-face and help them get theirfirst instrument. Retailers are truly the backbone of ourindustry because, in most cases, they are the ones who firstget people hooked on making music.Summer NAMM is a great place to celebrate our business.The last summer show was one of the best NAMM tradeshows I’ve been to as far as networking and meeting withmy contacts. A lot of people look at it like it’s a sleepyshow—and it’s obviously smaller than the winter show—but you really have some quality time to get things donethere. It’s also a great music town to get the juices flowingand keep focused on why we’re in this business in the firstplace. I would encourage everybody to go to Nashville andbe a part of this.Of course, last year’s show was special for Alto Music.When I heard our name called as Dealer of the Year, itwas a real surprise and an honor. The whole event waswell done and the presentation was excellent. It wasalso exciting being in a room with other retailers in ourindustry—learning from other people and really celebratingwhat we do every day.While our day-to-day business keeps us pretty busy, it didn’ttake long at all to submit our store in the Top 100 and sharewhat we think we do well—and it was obviously worth it.We continue making the most of this honor by using it in allof our marketing––putting the Dealer of the Year logo on ourwebsite, on Facebook, and really anywhere we can brand ourcompany. We’re proud to share this with our customers.I hope you that you’ll take the time to throw your store’sname in the ring for this year’s Top 100 and make the tripto Nashville. It’s a win-win for your business . . . and forour industry.Jon HaberOwner • Alto MusicNAMM News April 2013NAMM News is published by NAMM. To keep up-to-date on thelatest breaking industry news, sign up for our NAMM News e-newsletterat info@namm.org.