VISIONARY - Music Inc. Magazine
VISIONARY - Music Inc. Magazine
VISIONARY - Music Inc. Magazine
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The clouds of the recession<br />
have lifted<br />
from the print music<br />
industry.<br />
Case in point: the<br />
2011 Retail Print <strong>Music</strong> Dealers<br />
Association (RPMDA) convention,<br />
where upbeat news filled the<br />
Hyatt Regency Tampa’s exhibit<br />
hall from April 27–30.<br />
“I’ve spoken with dealers at<br />
this show who are flat or even a<br />
little up in print sales — 10, 15<br />
and upwards of 20 percent,” said<br />
Kevin Hackinson, vice president<br />
of publisher FJH <strong>Music</strong>. “That’s<br />
a great sign.”<br />
Anna Letiec, general manager<br />
of Alphonse Leduc, even said this<br />
year’s RPMDA set a record for<br />
her publishing company. “In three<br />
years, this is the highest number<br />
of orders we’ve received.”<br />
That doesn’t mean business<br />
is easy.<br />
Letiec, for one, drove traffic to<br />
her booth with a generous dealer<br />
coupon. At print retailers across<br />
34 I MUSIC INC. I JULY 2011<br />
RETAIL PRINT MUSIC DEALERS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION I BY ZACH PHILLIPS<br />
Print in the Post-<br />
Recession Era<br />
At RPMDA, the<br />
print industry<br />
prepared for<br />
life after the<br />
downturn<br />
North America, it’s much of the<br />
same. The post-recession world<br />
yields a tougher climate for independent<br />
print dealers, with challenges<br />
ranging from the digital<br />
revolution to ramped-up online<br />
competition. And yet many are<br />
finding opportunity. The following<br />
pages are filled with a treasure<br />
trove of proven ideas for driving<br />
business — promotional strategies,<br />
sales tactics and booming<br />
product categories. (The review<br />
of RPMDA’s “Best Ideas” session<br />
alone delivers seven winners.)<br />
In terms of new product, publishers<br />
were especially excited<br />
about children’s guitar methods.<br />
Antonio Ferranti, Alfred’s director<br />
of sales, national accounts,<br />
said that his company’s Kid’s Guitar<br />
Course ranks among the top<br />
five books Alfred has ever published,<br />
in terms of overall sales.<br />
Alfred has since launched a full<br />
range of methods for children.<br />
“The response has been unbelievable,”<br />
Ferranti said. “It<br />
surprised even us.”<br />
Fellow mega print publisher<br />
Hal Leonard has also found a<br />
best-seller in its Guitar For Kids<br />
book. Like Alfred, it’s expanding<br />
the line into all instrument<br />
categories. (See page 39 to learn<br />
more about how Hal Leonard is<br />
capitalizing on this market.)<br />
Doug Lady, the company’s<br />
senior vice president, also mentioned<br />
that, a year after its inception,<br />
Hal Leonard’s Full-Line<br />
Internet Partners program passed<br />
along more than $9.5 million in<br />
sales to retailers. The program<br />
sends a customer’s order from the<br />
Hal website to the online shopping<br />
cart at a participating dealer,<br />
who fulfills the order.<br />
And maybe RPMDA’s overall<br />
attendance signaled improvement<br />
in the market. This year’s convention<br />
brought in 215 print professionals,<br />
a 7-percent increase<br />
from last year. This included<br />
more than 30 first-time attendees.<br />
“I thought that this RPMDA<br />
was especially good,” said Rick<br />
Valentine, general manager of<br />
Dowling <strong>Music</strong> in Houston. He<br />
added that he especially loved the<br />
seminar “Ownership Thinking,”<br />
presented by Brad Hams. “I have<br />
turned that session into a series<br />
of staff meetings.”<br />
The 2012 RPMDA convention<br />
will be held May 2–5 in Los<br />
Angeles.<br />
1. Alphonse Leduc’s Kimberly Frattasio (left)<br />
and Anna Letiec<br />
2. Beacock <strong>Music</strong>’s Gayle Beacock, who also<br />
serves as RPMDA’s current president, lends<br />
her musical talents to the convention’s<br />
awards banquet. The event featured a choir<br />
made up of RPMDA members.<br />
3. From left: Dowling <strong>Music</strong>’s Rick Valentine,<br />
Carl Fischer’s Diana Macedonio, Dowling<br />
<strong>Music</strong>’s James Li and Carl Fischer’s Chris<br />
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