Our Friendly Neighborhood Music Store

[Dave Bryce]

With all of the gear talk that goes on around here, one of the things that I've always kind of wanted was to see if I could set up some sort of relationship with a curated music dealer - essentially our own local music store. It seems to me that it'd be cool to have a partner MPN members could contact if they wanted, identify themselves as MPN members and be treated as family....perhaps get a bit of a deal here and there...

 

This has been emphasized for me by the leaderboard banners we've been running, which have all linked back to manufacturer web sites. I think that's a bit goofy. I contend that the banners would be more useful to us if they clicked through to a place who sells and supports the product....maybe even with a demo video or two.

 

I thought long and hard about who would make a good partner for this. Obviously, they need to have a pretty heavy emphasis on keyboards - KC accounts for most of MPN's traffic. It would have to be someone I've known for a long time, because the most important aspect for me was that the potential partner would need to get why we're here, what we do here, and what makes MPN special. I also wanted a partner who still believes in the value of a local brick and mortar store and personal treatment.

 

For the last two years at NAMM, I've had really interesting discussions on the forums and internet communities in general with the guys from Kraft Music. Besides the fact that I've known Ben Kraft since I did Alesis clinics there in the 90s, they own a cool independent UBB community like ours called vdrums.com which is similar to KC in several ways - hence the discussions. We've been chatting back and forth about ideas for our respective communities, and we've come to realize that the possibility for the type of partnership I'm talking about could exist here.

 

So...we're gonna try a few things. The first thing will be to turn all the banners at the top of the forum over to the Kraft folks, who will seek out and partner with a few select manufacturers to co-op the banners with them. All banners will be clearly marked as sponsored by Kraft Music, and will click through to the relevant product page on their site. To be clear: this does not mean Kraft sales guys will be hanging out in the forums to pitch us stuff, nor will there be a Kraft forum or storefront or anything like that...although I imagine a few of them will probably join the forum discussion here and there just because they're geeks like us at heart.

 

We have a few other things we'd like to try as well, but we figure we'll give this a shot first and see how it goes. If you're not familiar with them and want to check them out, here's their web site.

 

We appreciate your patience and indulgence while we see how this works.

 

dB

[Michael Wright]

Cool idea dB!

[Dave Bryce]

I have a partner lined up in Australia too - my good friend Lewis Chiodo at AWave.

 

I'd like to find a partner in Canada and well as one in the UK. Those are the four countries are where the majority of our members reside.

 

dB

[KuruPrionz]

I think this is great.

We used to have some amazing music shops here in Bellingham.

 

Now, we have Guitar Center, one shop that is struggling to open having purchased a 40 year running local business and a small guitar repair shop that sells a few items on the side - I don't know if they are still open.

 

Phils Guitars was unbelievable, he started in the Bay Area, did business on the regular with rock stars he'd met down there and had ALL the cool stuff. Gone, age and poor health.

 

I support it, let's make this happen!!!! Cheers, Kuru

[CEB]

Kraft is good. They have been around for a longtime. Started out as a MIDI specialty shop in Milwaukee. I"ve bought a lot of stuff from them over the years. They always treated me well.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I am looking forward to working with Ben. This is exciting!

[Jwave]

Cool. Got my Casio PX5S from Kraft, then recently bought a Kurzweil PC4 from them (as did a friend). Good to know they have a history.

[timwat]

I bought my Nord Wave from Nova Musik back in 2012 - Nova was a synth offshoot store of Kraft Keyboards, and then got brought back under the Kraft umbrella, right? Good people.

 

Now, full disclosure, I've been loyal to another online retailer for decades (in Fort Wayne, cough cough), and they've treated me really well since the '90s. So this will be interesting.

[Doug Robinson]

+1

[miden]

I have a partner lined up in Australia too - my good friend Lewis Chiodo at AWave.

 

I'd like to find a partner in Canada and well as one in the UK. Those are the four countries are where the majority of our members reside.

.

 

dB

 

Nice guy!!

[nursers]

Such a great idea!

[lightbg]

Dave,

 

You might want to check your link in the first post - I click on it and it takes me right back to this thread on MPN.

 

Jake

[TommyRude]

sounds good, happy to steer my business where the KC community points

[Tom Williams]

Great move, Dave. And, welcome aboard, Kraft guys.

 

One niggle:

 

All banners will be clearly marked as sponsored by Kraft Music, and will click through to the relevant product page on their site. To be clear: this does not mean Kraft sales guys will not be hanging out in the forums to pitch us stuff, nor will there be a Kraft forum or storefront or anything like that...

 

That was a bit unclear, actually: Too many nots in there for me to untie.

 

Pedantically,

[Dave Bryce]

You might want to check your link in the first post - I click on it and it takes me right back to this thread on MPN.

 

All banners will be clearly marked as sponsored by Kraft Music, and will click through to the relevant product page on their site. To be clear: this does not mean Kraft sales guys will not be hanging out in the forums to pitch us stuff, nor will there be a Kraft forum or storefront or anything like that...

 

That was a bit unclear, actually: Too many nots in there for me to untie.

 

I'm awake - I swear...

 

Both fixed.

Thank you, gents!

 

dB

[hardware]

Bought my Physis K4 from them. Sweetwater & Kraft for me.

Don"t need deals, but rather a nice rapport in case I need a demo rental during repair, or a fast shipment to a preferred customer.

[Markyboard]

Very cool. I like Kraft Music as well. Assuming this isn't the same owner/family of the NE Patriots. Don't need no synth with deflated balls.

[Biggles]

Zero interest in buying anything from Kraft or any other USA based Company.

 

There is the whole Atlantic Ocean between them and me.

[nursers]

Zero interest in buying anything from Kraft or any other USA based Company.

 

There is the whole Atlantic Ocean between them and me.

 

Which would be why Dave said he was looking for an equivalent in the UK

[Threadslayer]

Assuming this isn't the same owner/family of the NE Patriots. Don't need no synth with deflated balls.

Is this an oblique reference to that little misunderstanding at the massage parlor?

[Dave Bryce]

Assuming this isn't the same owner/family of the NE Patriots. Don't need no synth with deflated balls.

Is this an oblique reference to that little misunderstanding at the massage parlor?

 

dB

[Adan]

I'm happy to give it a go. I've had good experiences with Kraft the couple times I dealt with them. Sweetwater has been my mainstay for years, and a big part of that is just feeling like a have a relationship with them. A lot of us have "our Sweetwater guy (or girl)" who we feel we know and trust. If I felt like I had the same sort of relationship with Kraft, I'd consider them on par with SW.

 

It's sad to me that I can't give a brick and mortor store the same sort of allegiance. Guitar Center SF is still the place I'm likely to go to lay hands on something, and I've known some of the guys in the Pro Audio there for years. But GC just doesn't inspire confidence the way Kraft and SW do.

 

Used to pop into Haight-Ashbury music once in a while until I got yelled at by a salesjerk for playing their keyboards without asking permission. I was like, dude, do I look like I camp on Haight? Never went back.

 

North of SF, Bananas at Large is a great store with great people. It's the sort of business I'd like to support but unfortunately they're just not very keyboards-focused.

[drawback]

We can debate any case for having strategic partnerships but they lead only one way.

 

So if it"s really about the money, I"d rather subscribe.

 

My 1.6¢ CDN

[Mighty Motif Max]

I'm happy to give it a go. I've had good experiences with Kraft the couple times I dealt with them. Sweetwater has been my mainstay for years, and a big part of that is just feeling like a have a relationship with them. A lot of us have "our Sweetwater guy (or girl)" who we feel we know and trust. If I felt like I had the same sort of relationship with Kraft, I'd consider them on par with SW.

 

It's sad to me that I can't give a brick and mortor store the same sort of allegiance. Guitar Center SF is still the place I'm likely to go to lay hands on something, and I've known some of the guys in the Pro Audio there for years. But GC just doesn't inspire confidence the way Kraft and SW do.

 

I"m a Guitar Center detractor. I"m sure some of them are good but I"ve never had good a experience with them. Not once in ten years. A good selection for testing out boards here, but you have to go in knowing everything already and be careful about damaged goods.

 

I"m a brick-and-mortar guy when possible, particularly now. Since we"re discussing retailers, The Music Connection in Forest Lake, Minnesota is the best. Even though I live almost five hours away, I will still buy from them over the phone and pay shipping. They"ve always been able to meet or beat online prices (except for specific retailer sales of course). I also have a good relationship with the owner and the manager and have for years (I started taking piano lessons there many years ago when I was five lol and got to know the staff pretty well). Owned by music directors and both the manager and owner are gigging keyboardists. They don"t always sell every brand I"m interested in however, so then I"ll go online (because we live so far out from any music stores). If I have to go online, I have used Sweetwater a fair amount, then B&H Photo Video. Sometimes Thomann in Germany if it"s worthwhile/items aren"t sold here.

 

For used gear, Music Connection does occasionally have some options. Second preference goes to the Music Go Round in Duluth, Minnesota. Third to the Music Go Round in Roseville, Minnesota. Both are independently owned.

 

 

I"ve never bought anything from Kraft, mainly because I never had a reason to and they didn"t have anything I couldn"t get from my favorites. And I wasn"t always a fan of some of the bundle pricing - it was possible to get the same for cheaper if I assembled them myself. But I"m glad to hear they"re good people.

[Mighty Motif Max]

My only concern is that this could turn into some kind of a partiality issue. It will be interesting to see how you guys implement this.

[Dave Bryce]

I don't foresee a partiality issue.

 

For the record, trying this was my idea, because I do think it could be cool to have a retail partner MPN members can contact if they wish and be recognized as a member of a valued community.

 

The Kraft guys aren't going to be setting up a store here, nor getting a forum. No one is going to force anyone to click the banners. Kraft guys aren't going to start threads about their store, push sales, etc. Their involvement with MPN is meant to be as a potential resource for those who like the idea. I fully expect that some will find they get more of the type of service they're used to at the place with whom they've been doing business for years.

 

It's an experiment. We'll see if it works. One of the reasons I do feel comfortable trying it though is that I have little doubt that if folks feel like it isn't working, y'all will let us know.

 

dB

[Biggles]

Zero interest in buying anything from Kraft or any other USA based Company.

 

There is the whole Atlantic Ocean between them and me.

 

Which would be why Dave said he was looking for an equivalent in the UK

 

 

We do not have distance constraints here in England.

 

I have about twenty music stores within one hours drive of me so unless it is one of these I will have no interest in buying from any store further away.

 

As it is a search for the cheapest price here in the UK will more than likely return one of the music stores near me.

[Moonglow]

I"ve never bought anything from Kraft, mainly because I never had a reason to...

Same here. The candy store is an easy drive from my doorstep. Cool idea though, dB!

[Music Bird]

Sadly, in my area (Northern Virginia) there aren"t any synth specific shops other than Guitar Center, a few pawn shops (like one called Royal Pawn), and some thrift shops.

I barely have found anything other than a Motif 6 but someone bought it before I could, and I already have an MX49 anyways.

I have known my music teacher from high school since I was in high school and he helped me get my MX49 and my Minilogue!

[Doerfler]

Sadly, in my area (Northern Virginia) there aren"t any synth specific shops

 

you are not very far from Wheaton, MD which has a store with one of the better keyboard departments in the Mid Atlantic area for the last 50 years. If you don't know which one I am referring to, send me a PM.

Full disclosure, I worked there for 10 years last century.