NAMM 2013 Breakfast – Yamaha, Sarah McLachlan & Randy Jackson

anuary 24, 2013, NAMM, Anaheim, CA—Joe Lamond from NAMM talked about the organization’s directions and focus. They are offering more educational courses for the various segments in the industry, with emphasis on the retailers.

The Washington D.C. gridlock shows the need for leadership and for people to come together, daring to achieve greatness. The music products business is seeing variable sales growth, dependent upon the segment and region. Now is the time for people and companies to show their courage of convictions and be decisive.

One example is Yamaha. Tak Tanaka, CEO of Yamaha, talked about the coming 125th anniversary of the company and what the company has done to get through both good and bad times. One key component is the understanding and desire to be tops in dealer service.

The changes in technology increase the need for information, and the company needs dealers to help transmit the values of Yamaha’s instruments and make contacts with the local musicians. They ask the retailers to provide feedback to the company. Producing high quality products helps them be successful, but still needs to connect with customers to do better.

DX7 era?
Record labels moved into synthesis about 30 years ago. The digital technologies changed what is possible with inputs from the technology. This technology created a confluence of fashion and good sound. The early instruments could produce 60 simultaneous sounds, had memory cards for storing settings, and MIDI to connect with other instruments and computers.

New tools for artists?
Yes, the new instruments led the way for change and improvements.

Nathan East started using Yamaha products 30 years ago. He stays with the company because their products offer good performance. He signed with the Yamaha label and likes to associate with the high standards of the company and its accessibility.

Partners help the performers ?
East learned that as good as they are, they have to let their humility match their talent and continue to strive for excellence.

Sarah McLachlan is one of the pioneer women in music. She started Lilith Fair because she didn’t want to do a whole concert by herself and thought thatat that time many women were involved with music. She got push-back from the promoters, who incorrectly said that a concert series could not be successful with only women performers. McLachlin pushed through and built a team that provided support and innovation to make the series work.

Her advice is to follow your heart. Keep your integrity and vision, and learn from failures. Keep going and persevere and do things in music. The driver is to do what makes you feel good.

Larry Thomas from Fender wanted to create a Disneyland for musicians, and support the kids who grew up to not lose their big dreams. A series of mentors helped him develop a focus on retail and prepare for growth. He changed the first store from a part time effort to a full 7-day outlet, increased operating hours, and expanded selections. He got products from jobber and importers.

In his 35 years with the company, he has been through 7 depressions, so there are always tough times. Mentors have an obligation to be helpful. The details of retail require studies of markets, retail, buy-sell techniques and technologies, and always try to improve. At the same time, the learner has to be open to information and mentoring, and work on meeting people who have been there.

When Fender was approaching an IPO, the economy and industry outlooks were not good, so he called it off. The pressures from the bankers were to quit, while the other people wanted to see the IPO succeed.

He loves guitars and in the past 2.5 years, he has been involved in releasing over 300 new products. He tries to supply his vision on improving the customer experience to the design teams. Life is short, so you have to try to leave when the crowd is still clapping. Fender was not his second career, but a change from retirement. He tries to be the custodian for the brand.

Chuck Surack from Sweetwater Sound is a tested leader. He started selling instruments from the back of a VW bus, then started recording, and eventually built a garage studio. He got involved with the K250 synthesizer and worked to develop larger libraries of sounds for the instrument. He created sounds and samples for artists like Stevie Wonder and Kenny Rogers.

His work in sound libraries eventually led to becoming a dealer in software sound development tools and hardware. The company has grown in revenues and in people, and has moved into other categories than just sounds to increase selections and skews. Keys to success are doing it correctly and doing the right thing. These characteristics lead to repeat business.

For the company, new hires go through 13 weeks of training in all phases of the company to learn how to understand customer needs. The training includes 300 classes and 80 teachers and must be completed before a new hire is allowed to even answer the phone. Money is not his biggest motivator, but enjoying work and setting standards of excellence.

Leadership, as Sarah noted, involves always trying to improve and to compare yourself with the best, even if they are not in your same industry. These steps lead to self-affirmation. All business is based upon customer service in any industry—even in areas like cars, flight training, etc.,–and unfortunately, customer service is becoming a lost art in most industries.

Ben Kraft from Kraft Music started after college by noting that commerce was changing to more on-line functions. The challenge was to evolve e-commerce in an environment that made it hard to change the stores. After building a website, he bought his father’s store and started expanding on-line offerings. New leadership challenges included inventory management and competitive analysis.

Randy Jackson was awarded a lifetime achievement award from NAMM. He started in music in Louisiana with a garage band where there is a rich music environment. His mentors expanded his range of musical styles and association with performing artists added other aspects to his abilities.

From the beginning, NAMM presented possibilities and a dream. After working with Journey, he worked sessions and settled down. This led to eventually becoming an A&R person and an arbitrator of taste between the artist and the consumer. One key to success in this end of the business is to not underestimate the public. Too many A&R people are trying for the perfectly packaged act, or to an act like something else that works.

When he started in American Idol, he wanted to being the position of making decisions. Idol is not the Gong Show, where people are rejected, but a showcase for talent. He talked a lot about the ills of the music business with Simon Cowell and looked for ways to introduce new artists to the public. His community experiences affects all of his work.

All of the labels hated this change in the industry. They didn’t like the involvement and lost the sense of the essence of a hit. Idol is a short cut to the top and helps starting out artists avoid the slog through the gritty parts of the road to fame. Success stories of people with a dream are highlighted by Idol, and these stories lead others to work on fulfilling their dreams.