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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000026.txt from 2005/07
From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] RE: Retailing new music
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:45:59 -0400
I'm most grateful to Harry for continuing the dialog on the issue of
retailing new music. I'd like to respond and clarify a couple of points.
>>PGF: We've had two sheet music retailers close shop in the last year in the
SF Bay
Area (Tupper & Reed, Byron & Hoyt). In talking to one of the store owners, I
was kind of shocked to hear that publishers often give retailers a sort of
"all or nothing" choice in carrying their product. (Welcome to the real
world,
Phil!) This sort of bullying seems like it may be backfiring, if by doing so
it
hampers efforts by the retailer to carry product it deems most relevant to
its customer base.<<
>HGS: Well, Phil, that's only hearing one side of it, the retailer's. And
knowing a little bit about the stores in question and the printed sheet
music industry in general, I'm sure it wasn't solely the publishers'
policies concerning dreaded "new issues" that caused those stores to
close. I think every year I've been in the printed sheet music industry,
some retailer cries out about the "injustices" of new publications from
the publishers. It's a knee jerk reaction usually meant to cover some
other problem. But, Mozart's Bassoon Concerto was a "new publication" at
some point. Same as Rite of Spring.<
PGF: I'm afraid in my first post I wrongly left the impression that a
retailer claimed that the "all or nothing" tactic was a reason for closing his shop.
This was careless writing on my part. He cited several other reasons, the
biggest being the lack of parking in downtown Berkeley. He points out that other
branches of his stores are doing reasonably well (where people can easily drive
and count on getting some parking).
The "all or nothing" tactic was just one aspect of the business that I
learned about during our conversation. I still think that sort of aggressiveness is
self-defeating, as it works to the detriment of some of the partners in the
"life cycle" of sheet music sales. In my mind, one should as much as possible
try to restrict oneself to WIN-WIN strategies, do what one can to help one's
partners, not win at their expense. Forcing a retailer to buy weak material that
they are not allowed to return (whether it is new music or marginal or
unpopular older music) weakens the retailer. AND, if a customer goes into a store and
a significant proportion of the material is marginal, that musician/consumer
is going to be all the less likely to be excited about being there and or
willing to take a risk on something that looks like it might be interesting.
I don't know enough about history to know if Mozart had trouble selling his
Bassoon Concerto. I seem to recall learning his era was a transitional period,
where public sales and public attendance of concerts was starting to become a
significant source of revenue for composers and performers. In any case,
"Mozart" is certainly now known as a "brand" that can has earned a great deal of
trust.
A lot of what has been written about the Stranvinsky "Rite of Spring" being
rejected initially is exaggeration. A bunch of college-age kids in attendance
hooted and hollered at the sexually suggestive choreography, and it served just
about everyone's interests to promote it as a great scandal. (Modern day
example of the usefulness of scandal: witness the incredible boost in sales for Al
Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them..." after the outcry and
lawsuits.) I recall in reading Pierre Monteux's autobiography (conductor for the
legendary first performance) that there was no problem with grumbling from
the musicians playing the work, nor any negatives from the individuals who
previewed the music before the first performance. From what I can tell, the "Rite"
made a great impression from the start and has always been recognized as major
cultural achievement.
I can see some composers being worried that a sheet-music retailer won't
carry their work if they don't have some claim to fame. But there truly IS a
hunger for new chamber music. As far as I can tell from subbing in various ongoing
amateur woodwind quintets and reading groups, they do get tired of playing the
same repertoire over and over.
>>PGF: Also, at least as far as my experience browsing the oboe bins for new
work, I
feel it is difficult to judge the quality of a new or unfamiliar work, and
this leads me to be very wary about taking risks with new pieces. It seems there
is a lot that could be done to create more of a comfort zone for customers
interested in occasionally trying out new works. <<
>HGS: You then need to find an enlightened retailer, one that offers
either a return privilege or on approval or perusal copies. I think
Trevco does this, perhaps Eble. Not too many offer this because it's a
service that has a cost to the dealer that is difficult to quantify, and
can take up a lot of time manage.<
PGF: That is good to know about TrevCo. I've had a great experience working
with them. They have been very encouraging of my own small efforts at
do-it-yourself composing and publishing. I think a return policy could be helpful, but
only would make sense if there was less likelihood of a return. It DOES add a
lot of expense in time and money for the retailer as well as wear and tear on
the product (and increases the possibility of copyright violation).
>>PGF: Some of my ideas (maybe some stores already do this): publisher could
provide
a .MP3 or .WAV file or something that could be listened to as an example of a
performance; small practice rooms or keyboards with headphones could be
provided for trying out music; at the least, the music itself could contain
written descriptions and/or endorsements. Concerning the latter, it seems like most
new music has almost no text at all, except maybe a list of University degrees
or Grants or Awards the composer has collected--not exactly the most helpful
or credible stamp of quality, I've found, as this often says vary little about
taste, more about ideology (IF one is familiar with the associated
institutions).<<
>HGS: Good idea, but who's going to make these files? The publisher? They
don't always have them or the ability to produce them. It's another
expense also, something publisher's don't need or want. Composer's might
have them. But then if either the dealer or the composer has an MP3 or
WAV file of their wonderful new composition, how to get it into the
hands of the retailer? And then, does the retailer have the equipment,
manpower, space, ability, etc. to make them available to the end user?
That's not to say some retailers don't offer this service, but it's
usually in the area of band or choral music, where in the US they sell
much more music than in the area of instrumental music, typically a very
small percentage of their sales.<
PGF: Either the publisher or the composer can expense it as advertising. I
think a lot of the time composers have sound files to support a new composition.
In playing with the "SF Composers' Chamber Orchestra" now for two season's,
I've received several files of synthesized renditions of the new works, and I
know the conductors of our group get to hear renditions of almost all the
works. Admittedly, these MIDI renditions are less than optimal. But as far as I
know, once we perform a work, the recordings of those performances are being
freely used for promotional purposes.
Almost any grant proposal for composers these days requires examples of
previous work--so I know that composers are already making recordings. To make a
compressed audio file from a recording is a simple task--ANYONE with a new PC
and no more than $300 in software can do it in maybe 15 minutes more than it
takes to play back the original recording. CD's are very inexpensive. Heck, I'd
do it for, say, $40 an hour, maybe charging a half-hour minimum. I'm sure it
would even be possible to find people willing to do it for less.
Thirdly, if a commercial recording already exists (often the case for work
that has reached the stage of sheet music publication), the opportunity for
partnership with the publishers of the audio CD becomes possible, as the exposure
at a sheet music retailer will make more people aware of the CD. This might be
especially beneficial for smaller labels, given the ability to pinpoint their
potential market. (I recall Forrests Music carries sheet music and will play
CDs upon customer request. The only thing missing: they haven't formally
organized this process--but they often just seem to know whether a given new work
of sheet music has been recorded and is in the store.)
How to listen to these files? It seems to me the prices of IPacs or whatever
these new players are has come down considerably. How difficult would it be
for a retailer to download music files from email or other Internet sources and
load them into a player or two?
It seems to me, most of the pieces of the puzzle are there, and the costs are
spread around between the different partners pretty equitably, and some of
the money (recording samples where commercial records are not yet available)
would go back into the pockets of musicians which has positive benefits for the
music industry in general.
But this is just one idea. There is also the idea of making available
keyboards and headphones or practice rooms. And there's the idea of putting more
information on the sheet music to help sell the music. Why is it books are covered
with reviews, endorsements, descriptions on the book-cover flaps, but sheet
music hardly ever has anything along these lines?
I suspect there is a degree to which people are reluctant to "promote"
classical music because it somehow "lowers" music to be worrying about something as
mundane as sales. But to reply to this, I would just point out that it isn't
money that sells the music, it's our love of the music itself. Money is just
the means of exchange, and "profit" a measure of how we value our time, energy
and initiative. I think the extra information would be useful, unless perhaps
the publisher feels like the less known about the work, the more likely a sale.
- Phil Freihofner
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