Module 7: Music Marketing, Merchandising, and Retail

Objective: Understand that music marketing, merchandising, and retail is more than working in a retail
music store

The music and entertainment world is huge and complex. There is interrelation between all parts of the
music and entertainment industry

Types of music retail stores

1. Combo Stores
a. Majority of inventory include typical “combo” instruments
i. Guitars, drums, keyboards
b. The rest of the inventory usually include accessories
i. Guitar straps, picks, sticks, etc.
2. School Music (Band and Orchestra) Stores
a. Serves the needs of students, families, and teachers involved in supporting local school
music programs
i. Instruments
ii. Instrument repair
iii. Accessories
iv. Music
b. Concentrates on wind, brass, strings, and percussion instruments
c. Also sells accessories for said instruments
d. Also sells print music that school music programs would find useful
3. Full-line store
a. Tries to supply musical needs of all customers
i. Combination of combo stores and school music stores
b. Combines elements of sales and service
4. Print Music store
a. Sells only print music
i. Includes sheet music, folios, band/orchestra/choral
ii. Piano teaching methods and repertoire
iii. Other educational materials
5. Piano store
a. Specializes in a wide range of piano products
i. Sometimes a single brand is represented
b. Limited accessories
6. Specialty stores
a. Focuses on one instrument or instrument group
i. Guitar, strings, bows, drums, saxophones, brass, etc.

There are many variations on these types of stores, it depends on the location and needs of a
community. There are also many pros and cons to each type of store

Someone who wants to open a music store must decide which type has the best chance of thriving in a
particular community based on demographics
Music retail is a serious business just as any other business, but it is a game in the way that there are
parameters that all participants must operate within, when it comes to the retail world

Marketing and merchandising

 Music marketing includes elements that focus attention on the existence of and possibilities
within a retail establishment
 Music merchandising involves tools and concepts that help potential buyers to complete a
transaction once they are aware of the business
o Marketing brings people to the store and merchandising helps them buy once they are
in

Marketing

 Advertising
o Print advertising
 Attract the viewer with a striking image, colors, or layout and then give enough
information about the product/service to entice the reader to learn more
 Choosing and executing a balance between competing components of graphic
design, ensuring the proper subject is highlighted, including enough text without
overloading the viewers
 Ads must be designed with knowledge of who the target audience is for that
advertisement
o Television and radio advertising sometime still offers retail store exposure to a
community that might not be aware of its existence
o Advertising is expensive
 Radio and television advertising does not typically offer a dependable return on
investment except for special sales events or campaigns during the holiday
seasons
 Targeted mailings
o Single post-cards, a sales brochure, or catalog mailed or delivered to a particular
demographic of potential customers
o Coverage can be based on past customers, store visitors, residents of a particular area,
referrals from past customers, and areas that there are many potential customers
o The goal is to network a particular group of promising potential customers rather than a
random group of people
o Sales or offers of loyalty discounts with a short date range make it easy for a retailer to
see if their mailings are working in the short term
 Logos and store branding
o Branding includes logos, colors, fonts, and other physical identifiers of a business
o Branding efforts show what kind of image a company wants to show to the public as
well as what the company stands for and who they are
 Strengthens associations between businesses and customers
 McDonalds, KFC, Nike
 Digital marketing
 o Digital marketing efforts have an advantage over print, radio, and television marketing
outlets because of analytics
o All outlets are aimed at selling but do so from many different approaches
 Making customers aware of a company’s online presence
 Bring attention to offerings of used, vintage, trade-ins, and other “hard to
move” merchandise
o Mechanisms are easier for a customer’s search
 Social media
 Websites
 Forums/blogs
 Amazon
 eBay and other online websites such as amazon marketplace and Facebook
marketplace
 apps
 search engines

There are more marketing outlets today including traditional, physical, and digital. The game is still
similar as to before technology advances. Failure to get the public to know you exist makes your
business almost meaningless

Merchandising

 The physical environment of the store

 How products are displayed and presented play a role in the successes on businesses over other
businesses
o includes traffic pattern, displays, and signage

Service

 most customers will forget about a price difference if we feel better about the overall
experience- how we are served has an impact on buying decisions
o music retailers can offer these as service opportunities:
 repair departments
 follow up technical questions
 private lessons
 rental instruments
 step-up programs

Process of selling

 Retail stores rely on sales of goods and services to survive- there is a process of selling
1. Qualifying the buyer
a. Can seem manipulative, but does not need to be
b. Trying to learn the motivations of a potential customer to determine how we can help
2. Educate/sell
3. The “ask”
 a. There comes a point where the salesperson needs to know if the customer is going to
purchase
4. The follow-up
a. Foster the relationship that began during the selling/buying process

Finding and training the right employees

 The keys to ensuring that everything will work are the employees in any business
o Musicians
 Often need regular employment and knowledgeable
o Teachers
 Part-time employees
 Knowledgeable and self-motivated
 Often already have community connections
 Retired teachers
o Music students
 High school and University
 Interested and advocates for a store’s activities and programs
 These are all knowledgeable musicians who value involvement in music and arts

Stocking a store and how to pay for it- The goal is to make more money than you spend

 Some stores analyze in broad forms such as goods vs. accessories and some break the analysis
into departments including combo, percussion, technology, piano, band instruments, etc. Some
break it down to instrumental categories
o Return on Investment

Cost of goods sold divided by inventory value equals inventory turns

“It’s not about how much you make… but, how much you KEEP that defines those businesses that
succeed and those that fail”