Hal Leonard, Music Sales Form New Venture
Hal Leonard chairman and CEO Keith Mardak and Music Sales Group chairman and Managing Director Robert Wise have joined forces to form Music Sales America (MSA). According to a press release on www.halleonard.com, MSA “will produce publications that Hal Leonard will exclusively distribute throughout North America. As part of the long-term deal, Hal Leonard will also gain exclusive distribution rights to the entire catalog of Music Sales Corporation, and the publishers it represents. Barrie Edwards will remain the president of the U.S.-based Music Sales Corporation.”

“This development represents the latest chapter in the long and successful history of Hal Leonard and Music Sales working together,” said Wise. “The formation of MSA will allow us to expand the volume, availability and distribution of Music Sales product in North America. Hal Leonard is not only our proven partner, but also the print publisher with the most extensive distribution network.”

Said Mardak: “Music Sales is the largest print publisher in Europe, with a distinguished history and a vigorous output of new titles. We are thrilled with this new deal, which will help two thriving and distinctive publishers create new products and make the most efficient, cost-effective use of their respective resources.”

Guitars Built Ford Tough
Waylon Ford has entered the guitar manufacturing arena. The co-founder of niche guitar company, Halo Guitars, Ford has gone off on his own to form Ford Guitars. The company will be exhibiting for the first time next month at Summer NAMM. “I started a new company because I wanted to build guitars and do things I’ve always wanted to without any politics involved,” said Ford. “I want to bring forth guitars for the modern day musician. I’m going to use advanced building techniques to produce guitars.”

Ford is searching for dealers to sell his products. All guitars will be made-to-order from Ford’s Houston factory. Even though guitars are made-to-order, Ford Guitars will showcase two products at NAMM. “I will have a standard line of guitars if somebody just calls up and wants one,” Ford said. “It will have a mahogany body, flame-maple top, etc.

“Nothing is done overseas,” he added. “Everything will be made in Houston. It will take 30 to 70 days to make a guitar.”

Ford has hired five employees already. He plans to hire an additional five employees in the near future. Ford Guitars—all electric models—will retail from between $1,000 and about $1,800 each.

Did Ford worry about the state of the economy and if $1,000-plus guitars would sell today? “Of course, it’s a concern,” he said. “But I found musicians are still willing to order made-in-the USA guitars over $1,000 as long as it’s a good product. Starting at $1,000 is a good reasonable for a handmade USA guitar. We’re not talking about guitars retailing for $3,000. It’s still a lower-price guitar.”

Ford Guitars will offer several benefits for your customers. First is the company’s lifetime limited warranty on electronics and hardware. The warranty follows the guitar, not the owner. Therefore, if your customer sells the guitar to someone else, the warranty stands.

A unique benefit is Ford Guitars will be sending customers progress reports. “Once a customer purchases a guitar, we will send videos once a week to show them the process and progress of us making their guitar,” said Ford.

Can’t Buy Me Strings, Picks…Until Now
Planet Waves and The Beatles can indeed “Work it Out.”

The D’Addario brand launched the first officially licensed Beatles guitar straps and picks. Planet Waves launched eight different straps. Each strap, available now in sizes up to 52 inches, represents a different segment of the Beatles’ career.

The picks, available soon, come in 10-packs, with five different pick designs housed in each. D’Addario is also providing stores with hangtags, strap and pick displays, and five-foot standing displays.

That’s in addition to a huge advertising campaign and the launch of www.planetwaves.com/beatles. Brian Vance, D’Addario’s product manager, said Planet Waves signed an agreement with The Beatles that lasts until the end of 2011, with the possibility for a renewal. “I’m a huge Beatles fan. I’ve been one since I was 12 years old,” said D’Addario founder and CEO Jim D’Addario. “I played guitar because of them and played in a Beatles cover band. We spent months narrowing down which graphics to use. We decided on album covers.”

Digitech’s Big Promotion Underway
Digitech is making a huge push to help dealers sell its RP1000 multi-effect processor. The goal is to show that the RP1000 works with stomp boxes and has a dedicated amp loop. “We’re going to help dealers drive sales of this product as hard as we possibly can,” said Jason Lamb marketing and artist relations manager for Digitech, part of Harman Music Group. “We will be giving big POP displays to the dealers. We even hope this will trickle down to sales of our RP500, which just had a facelift as well.”

The promotion lasts through Aug. 31. It will involve tons of prize giveaways including its TimeBender specialty pedal product. TimeBender uses 10 delay functions and allows end users to add harmonies to the delays.

N2IT Sues M-Audio over Torq
N2IT Holding, B.V., the patent holder of Final Scratch, is suing M-Audio for alleged patent infringement. N2IT claims M-Audio’s Torq Conectiv product “functions the same” as Final Scratch. N2IT is seeking an injunction preventing sales and marketing of Torq Conectiv and seeks punitive damages. Final Scratch is designed to allow DJs to use a time-coded record on a record player to manually control and play digital music from a computer. The lawsuit was filed on April 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Norfolk, Va.

The Music & Sound Retailer was not able to get a response from M-Audio as of this posting.

Digidesign Unveils SC48
Avid Technology unveiled the Digidesign VENUE SC48 during a press conference in New York City on May 5. The digital console, available now, is geared toward mid-sized live sound settings, utilizes TDM plug-ins, runs on VENUE-D-Show software, and retails for $26,495. “We wanted to bring live sound to a wider audience,” said Sheldon Radford, Avid’s senior product manager, live sound audio product management. “Bottom Line: It can look great and be reliable, but we had to make sure the sound quality was great. Just because we lowered the price (from previous VENUE products) doesn’t mean we lowered sound quality. The SC48 will be great for houses of worship and night clubs. It’s the first digital mixing console for live sound that includes Pro Tools.”

Robert Scovill, Avid’s senior market specialist for VENUE Live Sound Sales, explained many of the bells and whistles of the console and re-lived many of his experiences including the 2008 Super Bowl when he mixed for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. “This is our first fully-integrated solution,” said Scovill. “All I/O. Everything is included in the actual console frame.”

MXL Offers May Rebate
MXL Microphones, the professional audio division of Marshall Electronics, announced a rebate program on its tube microphone, the V69 Mogami Edition Tube (V69M EDT). Part of the company’s 10-year anniversary celebration, the program includes a $50 instant in-store rebate for V69M EDT microphones purchased during the month of May 2009. “We want every artist and musician to experience what it’s like to own this masterfully engineered tube microphone,” said Jim Mona, national sales manager, Pro Audio Division. “It’s one thing to offer 10 or 20 dollars but when you get into the 50 dollar range, you get peoples’ attention.” The $50 instant in-store rebate on the V69M EDT will run from May 1, 2009 to May 31, 2009. Rebates are valid only at participating authorized MXL retailers. More information on the MXL V69M EDT Rebate can be found at www.mxlmics.com

Pearl Announces New Promotion
Pearl is now offering a free 8”x7” or 10”x8” tom with the purchase of a new Vision Series drumset (VX, VSX, Vision Birch or Vision Maple) with mounting hardware. Running through July 31, customers can download the offer coupon from www.pearldrum.com and mail it in with their original receipt to receive their free drum. This offer will only be available through authorized Pearl dealers.

After July 31, and for the rest of 2009, Vision drumsets will ship to stores with the free add-on tom. Vision 5-piece shell packs starting at $1,329.00 List.

Digidesign Unveils SC48
Avid Technology unveiled the Digidesign VENUE SC48 during a press conference in New York City on May 5. The digital console, available now, is geared toward mid-sized live sound settings, utilizes TDM plug-ins, runs on VENUE-D-Show software, and retails for $26,495. “We wanted to bring live sound to a wider audience,” said Sheldon Radford, Avid’s senior product manager, live sound audio product management. “Bottom Line: It can look great and be reliable, but we had to make sure the sound quality was great. Just because we lowered the price (from previous VENUE products) doesn’t mean we lowered sound quality. The SC48 will be great for houses of worship and night clubs. It’s the first digital mixing console for live sound that includes Pro Tools.”
Robert Scovill, Avid’s senior market specialist for VENUE Live Sound Sales, explained many of the bells and whistles of the console and re-lived many of his experiences including the 2008 Super Bowl when he mixed for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. “This is our first fully-integrated solution,” said Scovill. “All I/O. Everything is included in the actual console frame.”

GC Enters Lesson Biz
Guitar Center held a grand opening on April 16 for GC Studios, which offers musicians with rehearsal space and lessons on guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, vocals, and Pro Tools. GC Studios opened on Owensmouth Ave. in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Deatherage Faces More Legal Woes
In addition to the charges of insurance fraud and forgery that already face Thomas Lee Deatherage, the former High Sierra Music Company owner could now have to pay $2 million in fines and spend up to 60 years in prison. Deatherage was indicted by a federal grand jury in Reno, Nev., after pleading guilty to using fraudulent documents in his father’s name to get loans for his business. Deatherage will be sentenced in July.

Kevin Bacon, left with brother Michael Bacon, right and Yoko Ono, center, at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

New Advocacy, Education Efforts at NAMM
NAMM hosted its first Virtual Advocacy Day, giving members a chance to participate in NAMM’s annual advocacy efforts in Washington D.C. A live webcast lasted the whole day, with the day’s agenda available online. Among those participating in briefings were Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper, Democratic Leadership Council CEO and founder Al From, and Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report. All of the presentations were also archived for later viewing.

In other NAMM news, NAMM kicked off its Wanna Play? Week on May 4 with an appearance by Yoko Ono and the Bacon Brothers at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. Wanna Play? Week encompassed a variety of events and initiatives aimed at building awareness for the benefits of playing music, including a short film contest and the launch of an iPhone application that features a game to test player’s “musicality,” as well as a music store locator to help people who “are looking to take the next step toward playing a real instrument.”

Peavey Takes Initiative
Peavey implemented a Lean Manufacturing Initiative at its 33 facilities. “By embracing lean practices, we can better understand the flow of production from plant to plant and come up with more efficient ways of doing business,” said Courtland Gray, Peavey’s chief operating officer. “Our goals are to apply skills efficiently, deploy freed resources where needed, and ultimately become more competitive.”

Warwick CEO Steve Couchman holds the Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker.

Thin Mint
Warwick Audio Technologies developed the “Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker,” a speaker that is only 0.25mm thick. According to Britain’s Daily Mail, the loudspeaker resembles a sheet of tin foil. It “uses a bendy laminate made up of thin, conducting and insulating materials, which when vibrated by an electrical signal produces a clearer, crisper noise,” according to the newspaper.

Economy Takes Out Ace
The brutal economy has claimed the life of yet another MI store. Ace Music Superstore, who for 35 years was a key component of Dayton, Ohio’s, Belmont District, shut its doors in late April. Store owners Larry and Caroline Brandenburg plan to sell the building, but will pass on many store items to their son, who owns a separate MI store, reported television station WHIO.

Todd Trent Opens Drum Oasis
Todd Trent, former president of Ontario, Calif.’s, Ontario Music, opened up Todd Trent’s Drum Oasis, a new music store 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The store offers sales, rentals, lessons, repairs, and restorations. “Throughout my career I’ve had the good fortune to be able to visit many of the world’s greatest drum shops and I’ve seen not only what it takes to be successful but also what a professional drum shop can bring to the drumming community it serves,” said Trent. “My goal is make Drum Oasis that comfortable stop along the road for local and traveling drummers.”

Fire Away
Owensboro Music Center presented the Owensboro Fire Department with five Samick Greg Bennett guitars, one for each of its five firehouses. Dean Markley added a year’s supply of guitar strings for each guitar and an Ultra Sound Acoustic Guitar amplifier to the offering, which was made during NAMM’s Wanna Play? Week. “It just seemed natural that the stations could use these guitars to provide some stress relief for the city’s firefighters,” said store owner Gordy Wilcher.

Alto Hits New Notes
Alto Music updated the pro audio departments of two of its locations. The store installed a fully-operational control and live room for customers to demo audio gear like microphones, preamps, compressors, and effects processors in what Alto Music calls “a real world studio situation.” The customers can record these demos onto a CD to take home and listen to how the different gear combinations sounded.

The store also became Rain Recording’s first official Rain Authorized Integrator. After completing a certification process, Alto Music can now custom configure Rain computers for its customers with a process that includes integrating Rain audio workstations with audio production software and hardware, according to Rain.

Via Promoted
D’Addario & Company tapped David Via to fill the role of vice president of sales and marketing. He’s been at the company since 2006, and previously held positions at companies like Yamaha Corporation of America, Sabian, SKB Corporation, and the Percussive Arts Society. In addition, Via is an experienced adjunct professor of music business and percussion.

Steading, Haas Join Sennheiser
Sennheiser’s professional products sales team welcomed two new members: Patrick Steading and Scott Haas, both serving as area sales managers. Steading handles North Carolina-, South Carolina-, and Georgia-based accounts; Haas handles those in the Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee territories.

Moses Levy

Yamaha Hires Three
Three new hires joined Yamaha Corporation of America’s Keyboard Division. Mark Barrett and Moses Levy now serve as district sales managers. Barrett’s territory includes North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. He brings 12 years of experience to the role, including sales positions at Wilmington Piano Company and Taylor Music Co., and management positions at The Steinway Piano Gallery and Ward Brodt Music Mall. Levy handles the Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky territories. His 14-year industry tenure includes time as a sales associate at California’s Keyboard Concepts and two years as Yamaha’s West Coast Costco program manager.
David Pocock was also tapped to be the new academic and institutional sales representative. He works with academic and institutional relations, Keyboard Division district managers, and Yamaha dealers to “develop and implement an academic and institutional Keyboard Division sales strategy.”