The past few years have had our collective heads spinning - navigating an unprecedented pandemic, dealing with supply chain issues the likes of which we’ve never seen before, and trying to make sense of the real economic outlook for the musical instrument and professional audio trade. But through all this turmoil, one thing stands out in my mind, and that is the power of … [Read more...]
Category: Trends
Making Sense of the Musical Instrument and Pro Audio Business in 2023
In the past couple of weeks, I have engaged numerous suppliers and other industry professionals in a conversation about what this New Year brings us. The most thoughtful among them agree that the current dynamics must improve before we see anything remotely resembling “normalcy,” or what we thought was typical in B.C. (before COVID). Many vendors are looking at 2019 numbers as … [Read more...]
A Lifetime of Memories in the Musical Instrument Trade
Our family reached a milestone this past month, making the difficult decision to downsize to a smaller home. The kids are all grown, grandchildren have arrived, and after 25 years the enormity of the property we have lived at finally led us to this moment of mixed emotions. A bit stressful as well, with machinations in the mortgage markets causing heartburn, and the sheer task … [Read more...]
Finding Buoyancy in a Sea of Inventory
It wasn’t long ago that the supply of musical instruments, especially acoustic and electric guitars, was seemingly non-existent. COVID had driven everyone indoors and many turned to music, making the best use of the time spent quarantined. This extended to home recording equipment, and anything to do with setting up a live streaming event on Facebook. Meanwhile, the factories … [Read more...]
The Future of Trade Shows in the Musical Instrument and Pro Audio Business
After a two-year hiatus and a subsequent delay in January of 2022, the NAMM Show will once again open its doors in Anaheim in early June. Word is that this will be a smaller event than in previous years, as many vendors have chosen to pass. For my own part, I am not attending due to health reasons, and only a handful of my Reflex Marketing suppliers will have booths. Our … [Read more...]
Making a sound investment during turbulent times…
Uncertainty drives markets crazy, along with their participants. When there is little sense of continuity in any area of business, personal, political, or professional life, the temptation is there to hold off on investing in a new venture. For some, the idea of plunging head-first into uncharted territory when the world is in turmoil may sound counterintuitive at the very … [Read more...]
Dealing with Change When Things Keep Changing…
Turn and face the strange… Without question, we are living in turbulent times. Uncertainty abounds, and it appears this may indeed be the much-ballyhooed “new normal”. A world where the ground shifts under your feet daily, and the tectonic plates of our culture violently press against each other, creating massive change. Not sure about you, but in my six decades on this … [Read more...]
Innovation by Music Brands in a Post-Quarantine World…
As the nation starts to slowly reopen, how can manufacturers pitch in? Across the United States, bricks and mortar musical instrument retailers begin the process of reopening their stores to the public, albeit quite differently depending on which state they reside in. The past few months have been particularly difficult times for dealers that do not have a significant … [Read more...]
The Three R’s – Resilient, Resourceful and Relentless
Challenging times call for creative measures At the beginning of April, I must admit it appeared that everything was collapsing. Here in my home state of Pennsylvania, we had been on “lockdown” for about two weeks and our business, understandably, had slowed tremendously. The daily headlines and near-panic from some quarters was quite unnerving, and there seemed to be no … [Read more...]
Time is on your side…
Taking advantage of an extended period working from home Most of us in the musical instrument and pro audio trade are in the same COVID-19 boat, regardless of our role. We are mostly working from our abodes, trying to make sense of the situation at hand, and otherwise assessing what appears to be a rather bleak picture. Suppliers, rep firms and retailers are adjusting to an … [Read more...]