bOrN iN The uSA! - Music & Sound Retailer

industryJacob Javits Convention CenterNews Briefs:• Fender celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of LeoFender.• eMedia Music Corp. is now distributing the Guitar Lab series ofguitar instruction DVDs. They will be available this month.• Big & Rich member Big Kenny appeared at Mt. View ElementarySchool in Antioch, Tenn., to present 20 of the 140 Guild acousticguitars donated to the school via Little Kids Rock. The childrenperformed songs for Big Kenny and presented him with an awardfor his generosity and support.• C.F. Martin partnered with the Musical Instrument Museum,which is set to open in Phoenix in 2010. The company helped to createa 150-sq.-ft. workbench exhibit “illustrating the tools, techniques,and meticulous craftsmanship employed to create world-classguitars at the Martin factory.”• Taylor Guitars opened a new Factory Service Center at thecompany’s El Cajon, Calif., location. The Service Center offers fourcomprehensive guitar maintenance packages: Refresh, Revive,Renew and Rejuvenate.Let the PublicDecideBarnes & Mullins announced thefuture launch of the ML1, which is aguitar with an interesting twist. Thepublic will help decide what it lookslike and what bells and whistles ithas. The company has teamed upwith guitarist Rob Chapman, whowill let thousands of YouTube followersdecide on the facets of thesignature guitar. Chapman’s videosreceive about 10,000 hits per day.ART Turns 25Yorkville Sound is celebratingthe 25th anniversary ofits Applied Research andTechnology division. Sinceits creation in 1984, AppliedResearch and Technology hascreated products for recordingstudios, nightclubs, churches,and more. Its product offeringsincludes vacuum tube preamplifiers,compressors, channelstrips graphic equalizers, andpower conditioners.AES Set for Next MonthThe 127th Audio Engineering Society show, known as AES, willtake place from Oct. 9 to 12 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center inNew York City. A calendar of events can be viewed at www.aes.org/events/127. The live sound events to take place will include ways toreduce a tour’s carbon footprint, a White Spaces update, and “PracticalAdvice For Wireless System Users.”Instruments May Makea Great InvestmentIf you’re looking for another way to sell high-end instruments, itmight work to try to lure collectors in. In these tough economic times,investors have been shying away from stocks and moving toward musicalinstruments. Collectors stormed a Christie’s musical instrumentauction in New York City to a record of more than $2.5 million in salesearlier this year. An auction record being set this year definitely sayssomething. The auction was so successful that Christie’s has scheduledanother musical instrument auction on Oct. 9.Avid Loss GrowsAvid Technology lost $15.9 million,or 43 cents per share, for itsfiscal second quarter ending June30. The figure compares to a loss of$10.4 million, or 28 cents per share,during the same period in 2008.Revenues also dropped. The parentof M-Audio and Digidesign reported$150.5 million in revenues, comparedto $222.9 million last year.“We made a number of strategicand operational improvementsin the first half of 2009, whichhave resulted in gross marginimprovement and reduced operatingcosts on a sequential andannual basis,” said Gary Greenfield,Avid’s chairman and CEO.“…We remain confident that ourcontinued efforts to improveour operations have positionedus to take advantage of growthopportunities when the economyimproves.” september 2009