Lamenting the Poor, Overloaded Home Page “It seems to me that a home page is the most important page on a site, but sometimes it’s the worst page,” observes Tim Ash. How can this be? It’s natural to appreciate its importance when putting a site together, especially one for a musical instrument retail store. But [...]
Location, location, location! Location matters when it comes to buying and selling real estate, but: how about a tradeshow? Well, the answer to that depends on who you talk to. This year, the Music Industries Association of Canada (MIAC), along with Pro Audio and Lighting (PAL), hosted its annual convention, which was moved from their longtime location at Toronto’s Pearson Airport to downtown Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre – Canada’s largest exhibition and convention center. In addition to the change in venue, the dates for the show were also moved. Instead of the traditional late August timeframe, this year’s show was held on May 18 and 19.
“I used to think the whole ‘Mom and Pop’ set up was a bad thing,” says Gary Forkum. “But I don’t any more.” Fork’s Drum Closet is nestled in funky downtown neighborhood of Music City U.S.A. (that’s Nashville to you). On the one hand, it is made up of what has made the MI industry great: Mom and dad, bro and sis, working in (mostly) harmony. On the other hand, an early embrace of the Internet, including selling on it, coupled with an aggressive marketing and promotion and a willingness to try new things sets it apart from the cliché.
Quoting Yogi Berra, “its Déjà vu all over again” as for the third consecutive year, MMR’s dealer tally reveals little overall movement in the number of music dealer store fronts, showing a marginal net increase from 7,981 store fronts in 2009 to a present day count of 7,993. On a state-by-state count, 21 states registered a gain and 27 states recorded a loss of units, with three remaining the same as last year. The largest gains were in Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. States experiencing the greatest unit loss were Alabama, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, and Rhode Island.
They are playing the blues, but not necessarily singing the blues. For the MI industry, the Chicago area proves a microcosm of the good, bad, and the ugly aspects of making a living peddling musical instruments these days. Many make note of the city’s rich tradition of great music. Still, the Great Recession has hit Chicago harder than most cities, and the state it resides in has the dubious distinction of facing the worst projected state budget gap for 2011.
