V E D D AT O R I A L
FEELING HOPEFUL By Dan Vedda
I’ve seen an uptick in our activity, despite summer surges in the pandemic. Certainly, it isn’t the back-to-school rush we’re used to, scrambling for rentals, repairs and marching supplies. It’s more a product of grim determination: marching practice without the guarantee of a football season, instrument refurbishing to be ready for whatever scraps of band and orchestra are available, and the sanity balm of music whether or not a formal program exists. That last reason is the one that makes me hopeful, because it illustrates that people want to and will play music whether or not a traditional outlet is available. Over the last couple of weeks, we have signed up students complete with rentals and supplies because a percentage of kids — and their parents — want music activity, and they will search for it if the school doesn’t provide it. I’ve even had adult students try an additional instrument just because they have the interest and time. Of course, non-school instruments like guitar, ukulele and piano aren’t affected by cancellations as much. While remote learning is sometimes the preferred format, there still seems to be plenty of interest in these instruments. Sometimes, the cancellations even drive families to us, like the kids starting guitar because they were looking forward to the school’s now-postponed guitar unit. Parents are doing what they can to stave off disappointment; we’re trying to help. If your market is more rural or urban than ours, you may have a different set of challenges, which is why I’ve been stressing the need for us to be creative. By definition, this means we have to come up with new approaches, and yes, they need to be tailored to the situation. Grasping at straws isn’t creative, it’s desperate. Our industry has faced this much turmoil before. If you’re at all a student of MI history, you know the story of the disruption that radio and talking pictures wreaked on music products in the first third of the 20th century. (Solution: diversify to carry radios and phonographs and jumpstart the national school band program). You know we survived the 36
Great Depression and the shutdown of instrument manufacturing during World War II. (Solution: private and group lessons, financing and hard-core repairing of even trash-picked instrument carcasses.) When rock ‘n’ roll bum-rushed the big bands, innovative dealers pivoted to carry guitars, amps and drum sets. It was unthinkable to many stores, but it was the path to success for those who understood the opportunity. The list goes on through the second half of the century, with synthesizers, DJ equipment, software and even ukuleles. Now, post-millennium, COVID-19 is our biggest checkpoint. Creative businesses have begun to pivot again. I’ve seen virtual birthday parties hosted by a lesson academy, complete with faculty performances via Zoom. I’ve noticed small, COVID-safe ensemble classes that
meet in a carefully controlled setting. You may have come up with a new twist that helps fuel your business. The key is to act, figure out what works and turn on the proverbial dime when you need to. Putting everything in stasis “until this blows over” is a template for failure, because the ripples from this will fan out through the rest of our lives. Just what do you think will happen when flu season starts? And come November, everything will hit the fan for better or worse, no matter the outcome of the elections. Don’t expect “normal” or even “new normal” to show up for the next year. This is like the volcanic eruption that sends enough dust into the atmosphere to change the climate. So, what can we do while looking for opportunities and inspiration? There are two things I am pushing hardest on, no SEPTEMBER 2020