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ConventionTV@NAMM 2011 20
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Music & Sound Awards
INSIDE NAMM 2011
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Table of Contents
Digital Issue Download
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Class is in Session
We feature many of the new, hot companies that exhibited at NAMM in January.
Gibson
Indictments Likely
Gibson Guitar is expected to face charges due to alleged illegal wood imports.
NRF Talks Jobs,
Jobs and More Jobs
The key to retailers' success for 2011 is, you guessed it, jobs. But a lot more was discussed at the 100th NRF Annual Convention.
It’s a Record!
We give you a huge review of last month’s NAMM show. Were retailers and manufacturers optimistic for the rest of this year?
MSR Exclusive Interview
Zildjian and Vic Firth have teamed up to form a percussion powerhouse. We met with Craigie Zildjian and Vic Firth at NAMM to give you all of the details about the merger.Music Group's Master Plan
We get an exclusive look at the future of The Music Group, parent of Behringer, Bugera and more. We get an exclusive look at product launches, as well!Knock it Off With the Knockoffs!
Counterfeit products are killing the MI industry. But one company is fighting back big time. We’ll tell you how badly knockoffs could affect the industry if left unchecked.Music & Sound Award Nominees
We release the full list of nominees for Music & Sound Awards. See if your favorite product, person or company is nominated.
Taylor-Made For Europe
Taylor Guitars will sell all of its products directly to dealers in Europe beginning on Jan. 1. Find out why the big change was made and where Taylor’s European headquarters will be. We interview Brian Swerdfeger about it first.We Cover it All!
For the second time, we honor instruments that get zero or little press...
A ‘Super’ Party on Kent Island
Experience PRS loaded up on celebrities, new products and much more. Get the full scoop...
‘Father of RMM’ Passes
Karl Bruhn, a tireless music industry devotee, mentored many and made awareness of health and wellness together a lifelong initiative.
Don’t ‘Skip’ this Story!
Skip’s Music Celebrates 30th Anniversary of its Special Event
I Just Wanna Bang
on the Drums All Day
Your One-Stop Shop For The Holidays!
Heathcare Provision Could
Be a Nightmare
America the Beautiful
Not Doubting Thomas
Mendello Retires, Thomas Named Fender CEO
Music City Mystery
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-The Latest, Industry, Dealers, People and Product Buzz and Showcases.
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NAMM in Photos
A lot happened at NAMM in January to say the least. We capture plenty of it within our three-page NAMM photo collage.
The Music & Sound
Independent Retailer
We cover the sad passing of two prominent retailers and another named the "Citizen of the Year."
Music & Sound Award
Dealer Winners
Our list of dealer winners for the 25th Music & Sound Awards.
Music & Sound Award Manufacturer Winners
Our list of manufacturer winners. And, this time, we got them to provide comments on the victories.
Five Minutes With
Learn tons about Yamaha with Takuya (Tak) Nakata, president of the company's USA division.
MI Spy
Spy took a long flight from the cold of New York to the less cold, but quite windy, San Francisco.
Appraisal Scene Investigation
Rebecca Apodaca takes another look at the legendary guitar builder R.C. Allen.
Sales Guru
Unfortunately, Gene Fresco couldn't attend NAMM for health reasons. But he does have great information about a topic he hasn't covered before. He will help you get into your own head and make you believe. Believe what? Gene will tell you.
Business & Marketing
Carl Mandelbaum will present tips on how to develop your Web site.
Veddatorial
Dan Vedda did attend NAMM. He has a lot of thoughts to share about the show.
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Sharon Hennessey: Loves our industry, you will find out. She'll also tell you why she ultimately decided to join The Music People! And yes, she will definitely fill you in on her goals as a new NAMM board member.
Carla Alger: Being in the music industry is definitely the most exciting opportunity Carla Alger, chief financial officer at Two Old Hippies, has ever had. Find out why.
Dawn Werk:Dawn Werk, Alpha Books’ director of marketing, heads a group that is responsible for 450 non-fiction books. Now that’s a lot! Music is a small, but very important, part of that catalog.
Sonia Vallis: Sonia Vallis might be an only child, but she grew up with a sibling that has now become like another child to her.-
Catherine Polk
Cyndi Fritz
Janet Deering
Kathy How
Sarah Heil
Sue Avant |
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FROM HERO TO ETERNITY?
Will "Guitar Hero" Bring Customers Into Your Stores? |
| By Brian Berk |
[January 2008 - Page 1] |
Copies of "Guitar Hero" are selling faster than you can sing the chorus to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." That's certainly great news for Activision, whose Red Octane division manufacturers the three-game series. In fact, CNBC reported Activision is on track to have its most profitable year ever. "We didn't expect this demand," said Activision CEO Robert Kotick on the Nov. 27 edition of the CNBC program Fast Money. "'Guitar Hero' was even featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Even my mom sees 'Guitar Hero' on TV."
The news got even better for the "Guitar Hero" manufacturer when French media company Vivendi announced on Dec. 2 it would purchase Activision for $27.50 a share, and merge its video games unit with Activision's. The $9.85 billion deal will give Vivendi a 52 percent stake in the new company, which will be called Activision Blizzard.
Massive "Guitar Hero" sales are also good news for the music industry. After all, the more people involved in music, the better, right? But the key question is, is this good news for MI? The answer is "yes."
Before we explain, let's get rid of the legal-style mumbo jumbo. In no way are our findings scientific or statistically significant. We only interviewed eight people. In addition, we spoke to people who visit "Guitar Hero" forums on the game's Web site. Hence, we only interviewed avid players. Results could be different if we interviewed passive "Guitar Hero" participants.
But, on the plus side, we only interviewed people who played no musical instrument whatsoever before purchasing any of the three "Guitar Hero" games (or a fourth title in the series, "Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s"). That whittled a long list of potential interviewees down to only eight. However, this allows us to truly find out if non-musicians will go to stores to buy gear solely based on playing the video games, which is truly what we wanted to find out and what is most important to MI. We interviewed a random group of people who responded to a Web site forum posting and they are not related to each other nor are involved in our industry.
Out of the eight people we spoke to across North America, all eight said they are heavily considering buying musical instruments or have already done so because of "Guitar Hero." All said playing the video game was the ONLY reason they plan to purchase MI products, perhaps at your store. Also fascinating is the fact that not all of the people we interviewed are pimply-faced teenagers. Ages run a wide gamut.
The paramount reason why these respondents want to purchase MI products: confidence. Previously, they thought it was too hard to play an instrument. But thanks to their success playing "Guitar Hero," they think they can become at least adequate players. And because each of the respondents was so adamant about at least strongly considering purchasing MI products, we believe the results would translate favorably if a much larger study were conducted. Also, on the positive side, our results are objective. Unlike some studies funded by companies or organizations, ours was not. In fact, we decided to write this story completely on our own and nobody even recommended we do so. Only after compiling the results did we contact other parties for comment.
OK, enough of the legal-ese. Let's get to our interviewees. All eight people said they liked "Guitar Hero" the most because of the music. All said they thought the music selections were tremendous and the ability to rock out in their living room like their rock idols sure doesn't hurt either.
Let's Get Rocking
Our first respondent was Jonathan Gan, 30, of New Britain, Conn. He has played all three versions of "Guitar Hero." "Not being terribly musically talented, it's great to pretend for a couple of hours a day that I'm up on stage rocking out," Gan said.
Although he doesn't plan to buy a guitar, he said the only reasons are because his father always played guitar and wanted him to follow in his footsteps. "I want to be different, so I plan to get a piano. I really like classical music in addition to [rock]. There's just something about the piano I like.
"The [game] has encouraged that," he added. "Even though I know I'm only playing a piece of plastic and pushing some buttons, it's still a feeling of satisfaction when the song's over."
Kevin Myers, 22, from Smyrna, Ga., has played the video games since "Guitar Hero 2" became available for Xbox 360. He has all three versions, and even the "Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s" version. The reason why Myers originally bought the game was because, "I love music. It's probably my favorite hobby. But I didn't have the patience to play a [real] guitar. A lot of my friends play the guitar and the learning curve on the actual guitar is out of control. With my personality, I couldn't sit around playing a guitar for six years with the first three being awful at it. With 'Guitar Hero,' you can be really good within three weeks."
But surprisingly, despite the previous comment, Myers is now seriously contemplating buying an instrument. "In the past, I said, 'OK, I'll never be good at it,'" said Myers. "But now it's something I'm really looking into. My friends who play guitar say 'Guitar Hero' actually helps them with their finger work. They say playing the crazy solos [on the game] improves their finger strength.
"When I played the game, I thought, this is really fun," continued Myers. "Now how cool would it be if this were a real instrument? When you play a real instrument, the sky's the limit. I'm considering buying a bass because it has four strings compared to six on an [electric] guitar. I want to start out with the least number of strings. I plan to go into a store in the very near future."
Bossier City, La.'s, Kevin Warren, 20, was next to sing "Guitar Hero's" praises. Warren has played versions one, two, and three of the game for a year. "My friend plays guitar and I asked to borrow one of his since I've been playing the game," said Warren. "It's inspired me to delve into playing the real guitar. It's hard to learn how to play guitar, but I'm interested in trying. Actually, I'm not only interested in getting a guitar. Another one of my friends owns a drum set and I'm interested in playing the drums also.
"I always thought guitars were cool before," he said. "But after playing the game, it makes me want to play the real guitar and the actual songs [featured] in the game."
Jeffrey Hill is such a huge fan of "Guitar Hero" that he pre-ordered two of the games directly from Red Octane. The 44 year old serves in the U.S. Navy and is stationed in San Diego. Hill first learned about "Guitar Hero" when watching VH1. He has played all three versions, as well as the '80s game. "We have 'Guitar Hero' parties at my house," said Hill. "My friends come over. They're all addicted to it. We play all night long."
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