Complimenting My Guitar…

On Sunday, WalMart complimented my guitar, while Target did not.  Those who have heard me play would probably ask “why anyone would compliment my guitar?” No I am not talking about the “nice playing” type of compliment, but rather the idea of selling complimentary products.  This concept was illustrated to me over the weekend as I made trips to both big box retailers.  Allow me to explain.

Sunday morning the family and I headed to Target to pick up some groceries.  We typically pick up the stuff in cans and boxes at Target because it is substantially cheaper that anywhere else - not to mention Target often  has some cool new items to check out.   Well, as we made our way through the store, I remembered that I was in need of a new guitar cord.  The old one shorted out.  So, knowing that they have a few instruments in the back corner of the store, I assumed that surely they would have what I needed.  Alas I was mistaken…

Now the point of this post is not about Target, WalMart, or any other specific retailer.  I just use them to illustrate a point about something I observed.  Target had amplifiers, keyboards, electric guitars, tuners, and even guitar effects pedals, but they did not have a guitar cord.  This would seem to be an assumptive sale for anyone purchasing any of the aforementioned products, as they all require cords to work.  Thus Target is not only leaving easy money on the table by not carrying guitar cords, they are going to force me to go elsewhere to get it.

Now I have personally have a guitar, but if I were in the market for a low end, new guitar, such as the ones they stock, I would now be forced to comparison shop with Target.  Even if I bought the guitar and amplifier at Taret, the need for a cord would take me to another store.  The other store would then have the opportunity through pricing, salesmanship, and promotion to talk me out of the Target purchase.   Suppose I drove around the corner to Guitar Center and discovered a better guitar for less, a more sophisticated amplifier for roughly the same amount, and the cord that I needed to make them work.  Now, suppose the sales professional is good enough to ask what the cord is for, and I tell him about my experience.  If that person were smart they could say something like - “Why don’t you buy the same guitar and amp here and I’ll throw in the cord for free - just return the other one for a refund at Target.”  Now they built customer loyalty, made a sale, and screwed the competition in the process.

Back to my story about Sunday.  The family and I had to run an errand later in the day that took us to WalMart - somewhere I rarely visit.  Again, I thought to look for the guitar cord, assuming that if Target sold instruments, so would WalMart.  I found some instruments in the Toy Section and there along side them was a guitar cord… which I bought.

Admittedly it was a convenience purchase.  I buy most musical gear at a music store.  Still, this story highlights the importance of complimentary products.  What do you sell that requires a complimentary product to make it work.  Could you offer something additional to keep people from going elsewhere?

3 Free Tools for Great Music on the Web

I love music.  I have spent a good portion of my life writing, singing, playing, and listenting to it.  Regardless of the genre, great music is something I value highly.  So, discovering new music I enjoy and rediscovering long forgotten old favorites from earlier in my life makes me happy.

When I was a young college student, many moons ago, I would spend hours flipping through the racks at CD Connection, searching for that little known Pearl Jam bootleg, or the side project that Mark Arm did, or the CD with Phish jamming with Santana, etc…  Most of my friends did the same thing, and as a result life was filled with great new tunes.  Time was more abundant, and music was a central part of my daily life.  However, with work, family, and the other responsibilities that come with adulthood, it is not as easy as it once was to find great tunes. The internet makes all of that easier.  Here are 3 sites that can help you find great music in a flash.

Pandora - I have written about this site before, but it is worth mentioning again.  Pandora is amazing.  To begin using it, you name your “radio station” (you can have several if you like) and you enter the name of a band or a song you like.  From there Pandora will play that song or artist, and others with similar musical characteristics.  You can rate them based on your preferences, and as you do Pandora learns about you.  Using something called the music genome project, Pandora determines what characteristics you like about music.  It is not just who you like, but what you like and why.  This allows Pandora to regularly surprise you with new music you enjoy, as well as giving it an eery ability to pull classics from the archives that at one time would have been in your favorites.  You can share your station with others, read information about the bands and songs, and link directly to itunes and amazon to make purchases.  I have been using Pandora for several years now, and I am still amazed by its ability to surprise me with great new discoveries.

Songza - Songza is a search engine for music.  Go there, type in a band name or a song title, and it returns numerous results of music tracks.  This is great for the times when you hear that song, but can’t remember the name exactly.  Or, when your nephew or niece, being young and still cool, is kind enough to drop the names of some cool new band they just saw in concert.  Songza is a great tool for researching potential new favorites.  It is also great for when you have a particular song stuck in your head, or the guy in the cube next to you says “no I’ve never heard that song,” and you are desperate to hear it.  Songza puts specific titles right there at your fingertips.

Musicovery - This is a recent find for me, as my brother in law Chad forwarded a link to me.  Musicovery gives you the ability to choose the genres of music you feel like hearing, the time frame or era in which it was recorded, the mood you are in (positive v dark) and (energetic v calm), and the relative popularity of the music it chooses.  This allows you to build a very customized radio station on the fly, based on how you feel at that specific time.  It has a great catalog of tracks, and was amazingly in-tune with what I “felt like listening to.”  It has a very cool interface, and delivers a very engaging user experience.  It is different from Pandora, in that it is more malleable, but it offers less surprise as a tradeoff.  I see it as a great compliment to Pandora, depending on how engaged you want to be in the selection process.  Musicovery also links directly into Amazon, making it easy to buy tracks that you want to own.

Give these sites a shot, and let me know what you think.  Know of other great sites?  Share your knowledge with us by leaving a comment.

Songza: Search Engine Meets Jukebox

Hey music fans. Check out Songza, a web 2.0 style search tool for music. Type in an artist or song name and songza will deliver a listing of search results linking to audio files. It then gives you a number of options including playing the track, embeding it in your web site, or ranking the result. It seems to have an amazing depth of content. I tried to play “stump the band” and was not successful. Virtually everything I entered in Songza returned a result similar to or precisely in line with what I was seeking. It does limit the result to 45 links, but I am sure that some creative search techniques and careful keyword choices can serve to remedy that. This makes a nice compliment to another of my online faves Pandora. Give them both a look… and a listen.

Songza - The music search engine & internet jukebox. Listen. Now.

Jack’s Back: Sleep Through the Static

In the Christmas gift exchange at my former employer, Hafenbrack Marketing, I got a Best Buy gift card for $20.00. A very nice gift indeed. My initial urge was to just go and blow it as quickly as possible on the first shiny object that caught my attention - my typical modus operandi. Luckily, before I had a chance to spend so very foolishly, I found out that Jack Johnson’s next album was going to be released on February 5th. So, I decided that I would try to wait it out. Amazingly enough, I succeeded - cashing in my gift card yesterday morning for Jack’s latest album, Sleep Through the Static. It was totally worth the wait. Suffice it to say, that if you like Jack’s music, you will enjoy this one. Sleeping Through the Static features 14 tracks ranging from light and bouncy to serious and somber. I am particularly fond of the opening track “All at Once.” Throughout the album, the melodies are simple yet strong, the lyrics are meaningful and heartfelt, the arrangements are minimal, and the songs are beautiful. This one will be the soundtrack to my commute for weeks to come. Thanks Jack for sharing your amazing talents with the world.

Jack Johnson Music - music

U23D4FUN

The list of concerts I have been to is long, but surprisingly does not include U2. Sadly, I have never been able to catch the “Irish Band from Dublin City, Ireland” live and in person. I hope to one day rectify that, but in the mean time - good news. U2 is releasing U23D, an IMAX production capturing a show at the Luxor in Las Vegas from the band’s most recent tour. (I think a friend of mine went to this show, so I am interested to get feedback on the movie versus the actual concert.) Thus far, the movie version of the concert is getting excellent reviews. U2 has such an amazing catalog of songs that one would count on the music being solid, but apparently the visual experience is, to paraphrase from Bono, “even better than the real thing,” or at least pretty close. The film is set to be released on January 23rd. A trip to this film may prove to be a good Valentines Day present for the Mrs. - also a long time fan of the band.
Listening Post: U2 3D Brings Hyperreal Arena Rock to the Multiplex
U2 3D