Music Trades back issues from November 2005:
Much more than a trade paper.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2005; ... I was flabbergasted to read your very flattering story about me at age 90 and I wanted to thank you for taking the trouble to do this. You make me sound wonderful--almost like an obituary but I don't have ...
In praise of NAMM leadership.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2005; ... The election of Dennis Houlihan as chairman of NAMM is a monumental event. Never before has a manufacturer lead what was originally a dealers organization. In fact, the suppliers have traditionally been NAMM's customers. NAMM sells space at trade shows to the suppliers and delivers dealers ...
Thanks for industry support.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2005; ... All of us who were born and raised in New Orleans have been made well aware of the power of hurricanes. Most of us have developed a weird combination of sell-dependency and inter-dependency. For the most part, it was considered bad form to evacuate or ask for any "serious" help. How wrong ...
Should mail order sales be taxed?(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2005; ... Despite having a very strong internet presence, which lends itself to opposing your letter, I am all for requiring sales tax on internet and catalog purchases. My sales tax concerns are not limited, however, to catalogs and the internet. My piano stores are in a metropolitan area, where ...
Marketplace realities demand new approach to map policies: with fixed costs the same on all merchandise, a sliding pricing scale makes sense.(GUEST EDITORIAL)
Nov 01, 2005; ... Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policies arose as a way to simultaneously address the needs of both suppliers and their retailers. For retailers, by limiting the level of advertised discounts, MAP was intended to stave off the kind of race-to-the-bottom price wars that devastate ...
Quarterly retail sales data.(Market Intelligence)
Nov 01, 2005 ... <Pre> QUARTERLY RETAIL SALES DATA EST.DOLLAR VOLUME FROM SAME % CHANGE FROMEST. 2004-2005 ...
Market intelligence.
Nov 01, 2005 ... AMERICAN CONSUMERS MAY BE defying predictions that they would cut spending after Hurricane Katrina pushed up gasoline prices and undercut confidence, according to music dealers reporting to The Music Trades magazine third quarter retail sales survey. For the three-month period ending ...
Quarterly retail sales by region.(Market Intelligence)
Nov 01, 2005 ... <Pre> QUARTERLY RETAIL SALES BY REGION WEST TOTAL STORE SALES 3.2% Fretted Instruments2.2% Instrument Amplifiers -.5% Sound Products 4.3% MIDI Products 2.6% Percussion Products2.5% Recording Equipment1.9% Printed ...
Spending on music programs edges up.(Industry Briefings)
Nov 01, 2005 ... The Instrumentalist magazine reports that funding for the average school music program advanced 4.5% in 2005, versus the previous year. Funding from tax revenues increased 2% while fund-raising proceeds ...
Chinese classical pianist enjoys rock star status.(Industry Briefings)
Nov 01, 2005 ... Yundi Li, the 22-year-old Chinese pianist who recently won the International Chopin Competition, is acclaimed in musical circles for his soulful interpretations of Liszt, Chopin, and other great Romantic composers. In China, however, he enjoys extraordinary celebrity: His recitals are sold ...
Modeling software analyzes vibration.(Industry Briefings)
Nov 01, 2005 ... If a musical instrument has never been built before, how can you know what it will sound like? That's the question UC Berkeley graduate student Cynthia Bruyns is answering with Vibration Lab, software she's designing to simulate the sound of any percussive instrument, real or imagined, in ...
Is music good for the heart?(Industry Briefings)
Nov 01, 2005 ... For musicians trained to synchronize breathing with musical phrases, listening or playing music provides exceptional stress relief, according to a new study released by scientists from the University of Pavia and the University of Oxford. The group studied breathing and circulation in 24 ...
Music and insurance, strange bedfellows.(EDITORIAL)
Nov 01, 2005; ... The music industry and the life insurance business don't seem to have much in common. But they're similar in one critical respect; both rely heavily on creative sales and promotion. With most mass consumer items, from automobiles to laundry detergent, marketers can predict sales in any ...
$136 million Gibson transaction reflects power of trademarks: Bank Of America secured loans against Gibson, Epiphone, and Baldwin names.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... TRADEMARKS AND BRAND names don't appear on balance sheets, but they are increasingly viewed as critical assets, especially now that manufacturing facilities are shifting from country to country at an accelerating pace. But how do you go about placing a value on an internationally ...
FreeHand Systems goes public through acquisition.(FLASH)
Nov 01, 2005 ... FREEHAND SYSTEMS, INC., the maker of digital sheet music delivery sytems, has been acquired by U.S. Environmental, Inc. The acquisition was primarily a means for Freehand to rapidly go public. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined companies immediately change their name to ...
Forum members attend two-day open house.(Ernie Ball)
Nov 01, 2005 ... MORE THAN 160 Ernie Ball Music Man Forum members attended the first-ever Ernie Ball Music Man Open House September 16 and 17 at San Luis Obispo, California. The event celebrated the rising popularity of the Ernie Ball Forum, featured on the company's website, www.ernieball.com/forum. ...
Eminence speaker opens first Chinese plant.
Nov 01, 2005 ... EMINENCE SPEAKER HAS established Eminence Dongguan in the Chinese province of Guangdong. Dongguan is strategically located 56 miles from Shenzhen to the south and 31 miles from Guangzhou to the north. It is only 62 miles from Hong Kong. The location is ideal for exporting and for shipping ...
First Act opens Boston retail guitar showroom.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... FIRST ACT CELEBRATED THE grand opening of its first retail guitar store, The First Act Guitar Studio, on September 9. The gala event featured a performance by Paul Westerberg, founder of legendary rock band The Replacements. Located at 745 Boylston Street in Boston's trendy Back Bay ...
Violinist Chieyn Tan signs as endorser.(Shadow Electronics)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SHADOW ELECTRONICS HAS signed violinst Chien Tan as an endorser. A native of Nova Scotia, Canada, Chien played the piano, ukulele, and recorder before finally settling on violin at the age of ten. She received her undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. When Chien first ...
Technote keyboard launched by ex Technics software engineers.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... TECHNOTE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS might seem like a new name in the music industry--but it isn't. It produced most of the software and accessories for Technics over the last 14 years. The company is based in Tampa, Florida, and changed the direction of its business earlier this year by ...
Pickup guru honored by Duquesne Univ.(Seymour Duncan)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SEYMOUR W. DUNCAN, pickup guru and co-principal of Seymour Duncan Pickups, Santa Barbara, California, was given the "Outstanding Achievement in Guitar Electronics" award on July 26 by Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The award was in recognition of his 30-plus years of ...
Contest celebrates Yamaha's ten millionth wind instrument.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... YAMAHA'S BAND & ORCHESTRAL Division is celebrating the milestone production of its ten millionth wind instrument with an essay contest to thank the schools and educators who have supported the company through the years. A first prize of $20,000 in Yamaha wind instruments and a second prize ...
Samick sends guitars to U.S. troops in Iraq.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SAMICK MUSIC CORP. provided four Greg Bennett Design guitars to U.S. troops in Iraq by way of its dealer, Columbia River Music in The Dalles, Oregon, and store owner Greg Weast. The guitars were greatly appreciated and brought joy ...
Canadian dealers & coast music hosted.(Vic Firth)
Nov 01, 2005 ... VIC FIRTH RECENTLY hosted its exclusive Canadian distributor, Coast Music, and its key Canadian dealers at the Vic Firth manufacturing plant in Newport, Maine. The 48 guests from more than 20 dealers enjoyed an evening with Vic Firth management and production team employees. The ...
Roland outfits music lab at Berklee.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... ROLAND RECENTLY SUPPORTED Berklee College of Music by providing the school with some prize-winning Roland products. Founded in 1945, Berklee is the world's largest independent music college and the premier institution for the study of contemporary music. The college's 3,800 ...
Bassist Mark Mendoza to tour U.K. with G&L.(G&L Musical)
Nov 01, 2005 ... BASSIST MARK "THE ANIMAL" Mendoza, a G&L/BBE endorser, will be touring the U.K. in November with his Twisted Sister bandmates in the company of Alice Cooper. He will be sporting three custom-finished G&L L-1500 basses; two of these are painted by New York graffiti artists, while a third is ...
Co-sponsors concert in the Bronx.(Latin Percussion)
Nov 01, 2005 ... LATIN PERCUSSION, the world's leading manufacturer of Latin and ethnic percussion instruments, recently co-sponsored a concert featuring longtime LP artist George Delgado and his band. The joyous and crowded innercity neighborhood event recalled founder Martin Cohen's becoming a fixture of ...
Distribution deal for Watson-Guptill Catalog.(Hal Leonard)
Nov 01, 2005 ... HAL LEONARD has negotiated an agreement with Watson-Guptill Publications to exclusively distribute selected reference titles to the music trade. The deal, which took effect on October 1st, was negotiated by Brad Smith, senior sales and marketing manager for Hal Leonard, and Lori Horak, ...
Publicly traded industry firms.(Share Price)
Nov 01, 2005 ... <Pre> PUBLICLY TRADED INDUSTRY FIRMSPRICE AS OF P/EOCTOBER 12, RATIO 2005 Allen Organ Corp.$62.50 15.38 Apple Computer Inc. $49.20 41.00 ...
B&J to distribute Antigua Winds in Canada.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... ANTIGUA WINDS HAS named B&J Music, a Kaman company, as its exclusive distributor in Canada. "We are pleased to announce our alliance with B&J," stated Joe Ramotowski, president of Antigua Winds. "Antigua Winds has grown into an internationally recognized brand in recent years, and B&J has ...
Company holds first "Premier Drum Day".(Premier Percussion)
Nov 01, 2005 ... PREMIER PERCUSSION, based in the U.K., recently organized its first "Premier Drum Day," which provided a mix of product training, new product launches, and day-only specials. The event took place on September 9 at the Walker Stadium in Leicester, England. In attendance were many of the ...
Zildjian hosts New York artist session.(INDUSTRY FOREFRONT)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE AVEDIS ZILDJIAN Company recently hosted a get-together for a number of its East Coast artists and friends. Held on September 27 at Studio Instrument Rentals (S.I.R.) in Manhattan, the fourth annual event provided a convenient, relaxed setting for the artists to socialize with each ...
Hurricane Katrina devastates gulf coast music retailers: in aftermath of epic natural disaster, retailers predict a long rebuilding process, but remain optimistic.(Retailer Update)
Nov 01, 2005 ... HURRICANE KATRINA was largest natural disaster ever to hit the U.S. Heart-rending broadcast images of the destruction, of lives lost and families torn asunder, and harrowing tales of survival elicited the nation's sympathy and charity as well as questions about the government's response ...
Neal Peart tour starts in Boston store.(Daddy's Junky Music)
Nov 01, 2005 ... DADDY'S JUNKY MUSIC was recently honored to be the first stop on the much anticipated Neil Peart drum set tour, "The Voyage of the S.S. Professor." The highlight of the event, sponsored by Sabian, DW, Remo, and Pro Mark, was Peart's longtime drum tech Lorne Wheaton who spent time ...
Joly named sr. vice-president.(Musician's Friend)
Nov 01, 2005 ... GENE JOLY HAS been appointed senior vice-president of merchandising at Musician's Friend. Effective immediately, he assumes responsibility for all merchandising functions at Musician's Friend. He will lead the continual development of merchandising strategies, product assortments, and ...
Margaret Rosinski named sales associate.(Cooper Music)
Nov 01, 2005 ... MUSIC INDUSTRY VETERAN Margaret Rosinski has been appointed a sales associate at Cooper Music Co. of Atlanta, one of Georgia's oldest and largest piano dealers. She will be responsible for the sale of acoustic and digital pianos and church organs. She will also handle marketing and ...
Stanton's Music's Jim Strouse honored by Hal Leonard for "Lifetime of Achievement".(RETAILER UPDATE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... AT THE END OF A UNIQUE sales meeting on the morning of September 14th, Hal Leonard President Larry Morton presented Stanton's Music Chairman of the Board Jim Strouse with a plaque honoring him as the first-ever recipient of the Hal Leonard Lifetime Achievement Award. Stanton's ...
Sound of Music celebrates 21st year.(RETAILER UPDATE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SOUND OF MUSIC in Kokomo, Indiana, is currently celebrating 21 years in business. The full-line music store provides service and products to beginners and professionals alike. Owner and President John Rosborough started the store in the summer of 1984. Sound of Music has continued to grow ...
Business 2.0 details inner workings of Guitar Center.(RETAILER UPDATE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... A LENGTHY FEATURE ON Guitar Center in the July issue of Business 2.0 offered an inside look into the workings of the industry's largest retailer. From compensating salespeople to motivating store managers, author Paul Sloan provided a sharply focused portrait of the fast growing business. ...
Where's your next customer coming from? You don't have to take big newspaper ads and blanket the airwaves to generate store traffic. Take a lesson from other industries and try a combination of personal notes, coldcalls, and email blasts next time sales slow down.(BOB POPYK ON SELLING)
Nov 01, 2005; ... If you've been in the music business for any length of time, you've probably noticed that every once in a while things start to get a little slow. It s not gangbusters |every day of the week, every week of the year. Maybe it s the weather, the economy, vacations, the season, or any number ...
Roland charts a bright future for the organ market: top Atelier organ dealers travel to Las Vegas for two-day presentation.(INDUSTRY MARKETING)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE MESSAGE PRESENTED by Roland management to top Atelier organ dealers gathered at a luxury resort in Las Vegas for two days last month could not have been more straightforward. "The time is right for growth in the organ market, and we're committing our full financial and marketing ...
Ranking the industry's websites: everyone's got one, but who is getting the traffic?(Internet Survey)
Nov 01, 2005 ... At this point, virtually every enterprise and a surprisingly large number of individuals have a website. In this issue of The Music Trades, to cite but one example, over 90% of all ads contain a web address. Websites within the music products industry run the gamut from a simple home page ...
School music: state of the union.
Nov 01, 2005 ... Is the glass half full or half empty? Despite disheartening reports of mass-merchants flooding the market with cheap horns, school budgets under siege, and declining student interest in band and orchestral programs, a cross section of school music retailers are surprisingly upbeat about ...
The Original Swab Company: Dave on sax mutes.
Nov 01, 2005 ... This, Dudes and Dudettes, is not a donut ... I is a highly 'phisticated thingamagig, I use it to "chill" my 'phone. I just drop it in my bell flat or straight up ... and then when I blow, I'm in better "tune" with my ...
Taking the school bull by the horns: how Rieman's forceful advocacy has benefited Iowa music programs.(SCHOOL MUSIC: State Of The Union)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THREE YEARS AGO THE STATE of music education in Des Moines was "just terrible" according to Frank Rieman Music president and CEO Paul Rieman. Running the seven-store business his father started in 1950, Paul has learned a thing or two about the school music biz in central Iowa. He recalls ...
Piano promotions that work! Despite rising oil prices, concern about a housing bubble, and unease about the nation's economic prospects, creative retailers continue to find ways to encourage customers to buy pianos. Six retailers outline the promotional strategies that are driving their business.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... The piano business seems to revolve around--some would even say survive on--all things special. It takes special sales, special events, and special promotions to drive customers into stores and motivate them to open their checkbooks. "Ordinary" day-to-day business simply doesn't deliver ...
Mixing pianos and fine art: how Manny Perez uses fine paintings to attract an upscale clientele to his Coral Gables, Florida, store.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... PIANO & ART GALERIA enjoys numerous intrinsic marketing assets. In addition to instruments made by Baldwin, Bosendorfer, George Steck, Petrol, Schimmel, and Young Chang, CEO Manny Perez displays and sells select works of fine art. "Visual art and fine pianos are excellent cross-promoters," ...
Creative Christmas greeting generates player sales: how Daye Music uses a holiday song CD to pull in customers for a surprisingly small expenditure.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... LAST YEAR DAYE MUSIC capitalized on the Naples, Florida, area's strong market for player pianos. At the end of October, leading into the 2004 Christmas shopping season, the store sent a holiday greeting card to about 50 individuals on its player piano prospect list. Each card included a ...
Private sale promos work even with wary consumers: heavy direct mail yields powerful results.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE MID-SOUTH'S largest piano and school band store, Amro Music, was founded in 1921 and is operated by the third and fourth generation of the Averwater family. According to Amro Music Vice-President Rick Jefferies, general floor traffic is down and public response to established ...
"Slightly used": Prosser Piano appeals to value-conscious customers with offer of unique opportunity.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... PROSSER PIANO MOUNTED a "Slightly Used" Steinway promotion last February in connection with the high-profile Virginia Waring International Piano Competition. Steinway shipped about 20 Steinway pianos for use in the competition, which was held between January 10 and February 5 at College of ...
"Factory selection": the promise of unlimited selection proves an irresistible draw for piano buyers.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST successful and respected music dealers, College Park, Maryland-based Jordan Kitt's Music won "top dealer" awards from Kawai, Lowrey, Roland, and Samick at this year's winter NAMM show. In addition, Jordan Kitt's is the biggest Kawai dealer in America--a distinction ...
Doctor in the house: Schmitt Music taps physician talent to raise money and stimulate sales.(HOW TO MOVE PIANOS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SCHMITT MUSIC'S Sioux Falls, South Dakota, store has hosted a number of events that achieved stellar results for its modest-sized market of 130,000 people in town and 250,000 within an 80-mile radius. In March 2005 Keyboard Manager R. Scott Schoppert oversaw Schmitt's second annual concert ...
Yamaha realigns PAC division sales team.(PEOPLE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... YAMAHA CORPORATION OF AMERICA has announced new appointments and promotions within its Pro Audio & Combo (PAC) Division. The updates include newly created and re-assigned district manager and supervisory positions as part of a recent effort to increase the company's field resources and ...
Mark Reynolds new product manager.(Pro-Mark)
Nov 01, 2005 ... MARK REYNOLDS HAS joined ProMark as the company's new product manager. The appointment was announced jointly by Maury Brochstein, Pro-Mark president, and Jim Rupp, owner/president of Columbus Pro Percussion. Reynolds has previously been Columbus Pro Percussion's sales specialist. ...
Frank Huffman joins as regional sales mgr.(Wyman Piano)
Nov 01, 2005 ... FRANK HUFFMAN, a music industry veteran with over 40 years of experience at both the wholesale and the retail level, has joined Wyman Piano Company as a regional sales manager. He held key sales management positions at Wurlitzer and later at Samick. He spent a number of his 17 years at ...
Founder honored for lifetime achievement.(John Hornby Skewes)
Nov 01, 2005 ... JOHN H. SKEWES, who founded the musical instrument distribution company John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. of Leeds, England, in 1965, received an industry Life Achievement Award at the Music Industries Association's Annual Awards Dinner held at the Savoy Hotel, London, on September 14. ...
Newly formed buffet USA sets sales & marketing team.(PEOPLE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... BUFFET CRAMPON USA, Inc., has announced new positions for eight employees and new hires. The company is the sole U.S. distributor for Buffet Crampon SAS, one of the world's leading woodwind instrument manufacturers. It also distributes Keilwerth saxophones and is the selling agent for ...
John Patton new Shanghai operation g.m.: Steinway Pianos.(PEOPLE)
Nov 01, 2005 ... JOHN PATTON HAS been appointed general manager of Steinway Piano Shanghai Co., established last year to market Steinway & Sons and Steinway-designed Boston and Essex pianos throughout China, the world's fastest-growing piano market. Patton has also been named vice-president of ...
Yamaha P140 digital pianos combines compact size & styling.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... YAMAHA'S NEW P140 Series of contemporary digital pianos offers a range of models with the right features and realistic touch and tone. Consumers in the market for a compact, contemporary-looking, piano-focused instrument have new options with the P140 Series. Two models, P140 and P140S ...
Takamine's Brazilian rosewood OM-style guitar.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... TAKAMINE'S EF75J OM-STYLES guitar is made with an AAA Sitka sprice top with solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides. This new and very limited model is another example of the superb art and craft of guitar making that Takamine is well known for. This collector-level guitar is ...
Symphony series brass mouthpiece: Schilke.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE SCHILKE COMPANY has unveiled the new Symphony Series brass mouthpieces for trumpet, comet, and trombone. Utilizing concepts from the standard Schilke mouthpiece line, the Symphony Series models are conceptually conceived to meet the demands of the modern orchestral player. ...
Electro-Harmonix DVD demos top pedals.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... Electro-Harmonix has released a new DVD that provides a professionally produced look at how to make the most of a wide range of E-H effects gear. Twenty-one of the groundbreaking company's most popular pedals get the star treatment, with clear, thoughtful demonstrations by Sheryl Crow ...
Two new series aimed at young musicians: Santorella Publications.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... SANTORELLA PUBLICATIONS HAS issued two new series targeting the under-served youth musician market, ages 6-12. Let's Play Jazz Piano & More by Jay Latulippe is the first series of its kind. It simultaneously teaches children how to play piano while subtly yet methodically ...
Moral white line for growing church market: U.S. Music Corporation.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE OSCAR SCHMIDT division of U.S. Music Corporation has introduced its new Moral White line of instruments. This line includes a white electric mandolin and a white acoustic-electric thin-body guitar. Tom Ferrone, manager of the Oscar Schmidt division, commented, "We at Oscar ...
Universal chromatic tuner: Planet Waves.(PRODUCT NEWS)
Nov 01, 2005 ... THE NEW UNIVERSAL Chromatic Tuner from Planet Waves has a built-in stand that doubles as a bracket to hang the tuner from an acoustic guitar's soundhole. The bracket simply folds backwards for use as a stand with any instrument, from mandolins to tubas. The tuner uses either its built-in ...