With that said, if you had the chance to run the music industry for a day, what would you change? This question elicited perhaps the most interesting answers. As one retailer responded, “[I would] preach to someone about how mass marketing will kill the soul of the MI industry.”
As another put it: “I would level the playing field so that a bricks-and-mortar store has an equal chance to service the customer.”
Said a third retailer, “[I would] look out for the independent dealers who made the suppliers and manufacturers what they are today.”
“I would develop a fantastic/exciting TV promotion to inspire people to take up or bring them back to the benefits of playing music,” responded another retailer.
Speaking on a hot topic, a fifth retailer said, “MAP prices need to be higher (we’re not selling tires here so kill that ‘give it away’ mentality). And secondly, sell every brand to anyone who wants it. Competition is good!”
“Make MAP have a high enough margin for all dealers to make a profit and enforce it!” said a sixth retailer.
Responded another retailer, “I’d squash the asinine expectation of manufacturers that dealers must purchase ever-escalating amounts of products when there are still unsold products from last year and the year before that are still lingering on the walls.”
Another retailer said he/she would eliminate discounting. “Everything should go back to full list, at least double manufacturer price, with no discounting allowed. I would also re-establish 50-mile (minimum) territories, enforce them strictly, and not allow Internet sales in an area that has a dealer for that specific product.”
Another respondent took another approach however. “The dynamics have changed so much that there is no going back. [We can] only work toward partnerships that are more profitable for both the retailer and manufacturer.”
When we conducted this interview in January, we also surveyed you about our magazine. Check our editor letter in upcoming issues for information about this part of the survey and new story ideas and/or columns to be implemented based on this research.
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Class of 2007
New Companies and Products Make the Grade at NAMM
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