DANSR’s Mike Skinner

In the 10 years since Mike Skinner, Greg Greime, and Bill Gray founded Illinois-based DANSR Inc., the company has emerged as one of the major players in the world of B&O accessories. Rising to the challenge of overcoming the 2008 recession while still a very young organization, DANSR picked up distribution for Jones Double Reeds, Denis Wick brass products, and handles all of Vandoren’s U.S. operations. The company is focused on helping to expand market reach of Vandoren’s still-new (introduced in 2012) JUNO line of student-level reeds.

Whether it’s via NYC’s Vandoren Advisory Studio, Vando Jams, The Vandoren Emerging Artist Program, or the Vandoren Clarinet Ensemble Festival, the group takes to heart Vandoren president Bernard Van Doren’s maxim, “Stay close to musicians.”
President Mike Skinner recently spoke with MMR about DANSR’s initiatives to foster music making and music education, the philosophy behind the JUNO line, Vandoren’s upcoming 110th anniversary, and his expectations for the coming months.

MMR: DANSR has grown significantly in 10 years. How many are currently employed by the company and how is that distributed across the multiple brands?

MS: Let me give you the breakdown by group and location: DANSR’s Chicago office (marketing for Vandoren, Denis Wick, JUNO, and Jones Double Reeds) has five employees, the Champaign, Illinois location has 14 (sales, artist fulfillment, shipping and receiving, and accounting), and we have one full-time employee in New York managing our Vandoren Advisory studio and one part-time, with another part-time artist relations consultant stationed in Los Angeles. Jones Double Reeds in Spokane, Washington has 14 employees.

Can you describe the current HQ and production facilities? 
In Champaign, we have our administration and sales offices and our warehouse that handles all Vandoren, Denis Wick, and JUNO shipments. It’s about 15,000 square feet. The Spokane factory for Jones Double Reeds is about that same size.

Can you discuss the catalyst behind the launch of JUNO Reeds? What was the motivation, and what were the logistics behind getting the line off the ground?
JUNO has been a reed in the making for at least 20 years. Bernard Van Doren, the third-generation owner of Vandoren, and I had the discussion that fulfilling the entry level market with a high quality reed would not only be good business, but would benefit all the students who play them and the dealers who sell them.

He agreed and told me that when he could produce a high quality reed at the proper price point, he would. Now, 20 years later, the technology is there to do just that.

In terms of designing the reed and packaging it, Mr. Van Doren had all of that under control. He is a master at design, so the reed we first saw played beautifully with a rich tone and very precise articulation.

From the marketing side, our team that included Gary Winder, Bill Gray, and Greg Grieme started talking to band directors, parents, and dealers. We asked them how they selected entry-level reeds for their customer, student, son, or daughter. The most common response was, “The one that was the least expensive.” We were surprised that no one considered performance in their criteria – not even band directors. We heard that the assumption was that since beginners broke a lot of reeds, cost was the biggest issue.
JUNO was designed, as all Vandoren reeds, to perform – pure and simple. If it doesn’t play beautifully, it won’t make it into a package. So we were able to offer the various constituents a reed at an entry-level price and one that performed exceptionally well.

Significantly, you’ve chosen to not have JUNO product available online.
Well, the other aspect of the marketing process was we wanted to provide a product that school music dealers could support both from a performance and from a business perspective. JUNO is not available on the Internet for that reason. We wanted to strengthen the relationship between the school music dealer and the band director because, from our perspective, they need each other. Until you can find an online company that can repair a baritone sax the night before a big concert, school music dealers will be very important to the success of a band program.

What’s been the response to JUNO, thus far?
The response has been terrific! We have many school districts making a complete adoption of JUNO.

Can you talk a little about the “Emerging Artist” competition? What are the goals, and what’s been the reaction?
The VEA (Vandoren Emerging Artist) program is one of our labors of love. It’s a competition in three areas: classical clarinet, classical saxophone, and jazz. It’s open to young performers between 18 and 23. The performers submit recordings of the repertoire we require for that year – we post that at www.veacompetition.com. Vandoren artists then judge the performance audio submitted by contestants and select a winner in each category.

It’s our way of supporting young talent and it’s also a chance to get to know the next big stars. Our winners are now finishing CD projects, performing at major festivals, and taking positions with orchestras. It’s exciting to watch their progress. The winners perform new works we commission at the Music For All Chamber Music Festival in Indianapolis, as well as travel to Paris to meet the Vandoren team and visit other famous French music manufacturers. It’s been a great experience for us and I think the participants feel the same way.

Sounds great. Can you share what’s been going on with the Clarinet Ensemble Festival?
Sure. We are the leader in clarinet reeds and mouthpieces and we like to find as many ways as possible to support the clarinet community. Eight years ago, we looked around at what was offered and we found that clarinet ensembles – particularly clarinet choirs – were really underserved. We started the festival to celebrate clarinet ensembles. We’ve even commissioned works for clarinet choir along the way. We move the festival every year, so students in different areas can attend without excessive costs involved. We post all the information at www.vcef.us.

DANSR is clearly aware of the importance of music education to both the evolution and strength of music making, but also the MI industry. Can you expand on the company’s philosophy and attitude towards fostering emerging musicians?
It’s no secret that we need more musicians. The industry business model would not do very well if we did not see a steady influx of new musicians.  But that’s only part of the story. My very first job was as an instrumental music teacher. I saw first-hand how music impacts young students. We now have overpowering research showing the positive impact on students who are involved in music making. The NAMM initiatives on getting the word out to parents and other decision makers have been very important in raising awareness. We fully support that direction.

In 2011 we donated 50 cents for every box of reeds purchased. The customer merely had to go to a website and enter the code on the top of the box and we’d register that donation to the “Wanna Play” campaign.
Currently, we have a robust clinic program featuring Vandoren artists teaching, playing, and spreading the word about being involved in music.

Our basic philosophy is simple. We believe that music making can make a difference in everybody’s life and our job is to find as many ways as possible to support that.

Are there any significant product introductions – from any of the company’s lines – that you’d like to share information about?
We have two major announcements from Vandoren – but at this time we can’t talk about them. But they’re both exceptional products – and worth the wait.

We’ve spent the last year upgrading the process and machines at Jones Double Reeds. Jake Swartz, our new general manager, has implemented some significant improvements that will allow us to expand to deliver more quickly.

JUNO is still very new and we continue to add more dealers to the dealer list. We hired industry veteran Mike Zucek to manage sales for JUNO. Mike’s 30-plus years in the industry – many with Rico and Yamaha – has made him a great addition to the team.
We have new Denis Wick products coming, as well, but we’re not ready to announce them just yet.

Are there any other upcoming initiatives, events, or just general “news” that you’d like to discuss?
Other than a slew of great products, Vandoren begins its 110th year in business [in 2015]. We’re planning a few surprises as the year progresses. The Vandoren story is amazing and we want to make sure all our customers – retail and consumer – get to know Mr. Van Doren and the rest of his team.

How would interested dealers not currently carrying DANSR products best go about partnering with the company?
First, we have a great distribution network – we use the best distributors out there to ensure maximum coverage. You can get Vandoren, Denis Wick, and Jones Double Reeds through KMC, Conn-Selmer, Harris-Teller, Yamaha, St. Louis Music, and KHS America. I certainly hope dealers know that our products are very accessible. However, my one question to anyone who isn’t carrying Vandoren, Denis Wick, Jones, or Juno, is: Why aren’t you carrying these products? Our goal has been to provide the market with high value, legacy brands that perform at a high level every single day. Aren’t those the types of products you want for your customers?

Finally, what are your expectations for the coming months, both as it pertains to DANSR and to the industry, as a whole?
For DANSR, we see continued growth based on new products and the growth in JUNO. We like to look at a lot of factors to gauge the industry. Since we are in school music, we see some sort of stability in school budgets as states get their budgets under control. We are cautiously optimistic that the upward trends – albeit slower than anyone likes – will continue.