Let Present-Day Realities Shape Your Business

“The global EDM business had a value of $6.9 billion last year, up 12 percent from $6.2 billion in 2013, according to the IMS [International Music Summit]Business Report 2015,” noted Glenn Peoples in a report filed for Billboard magazine on May 22nd of this year. He continues, “North America alone is estimated to represent roughly 29 percent, or $2 billion, of the global market.”

Now, how much of that net worth $2 billion in 2014 was directly relevant to MI retail? Glancing again at data provided by the IMS shows that “sales of DJ Software & Hardware, DJ earnings from additional sources and value of other platforms such as Soundcloud” amounted to roughly $75 million. Unfortunately that metric is not broken down further to highlight just DJ gear sales, but let’s just hazard a fairly safe guess that we’re still talking in the tens of millions of dollars range. While Peoples goes on to concede that EDM’s growth has slowed of late, those are still some fairly hefty numbers. Factor in, also, that these recently shared stats deal only with Electronic Dance music – meaning that sales of DJ gear for more “traditional” gigs (think weddings, dances, et cetera) aren’t represented at all – and suddenly you’re talking even bigger bucks.

The point? Well, based on the results of this month’s MMR survey, it would seem at first glance that a good number of dealers are leaving potential money on the table by not carrying gear relevant to these emerging markets. Only just over 50 percent (51.2%) of the respondents to our poll indicate that their stores carry both DJ & Lighting equipment – with only 1% saying that, of those two product categories, they only carry DJ gear.

What’s the obstacle that’s scaring off retailers, then? “We can’t keep up with the challenging DJ category,” concedes Anthony Mantova of Eureka, California’s Matnova’s Two Street Music. “The wildly changing demand, coupled with the insanely small profit margins is a barrier for most brick-and-mortar stores. There are few manufacturers willing to share profit on actual DJ gear.”

A fair point, to be sure, but selling “DJ gear” is about more than just selling controllers and turntables. As Washington Music Center’s (Wheaton, Maryland) Randy White observes: “If you don’t sell DJ equipment, you lose the opportunity to sell all the other essentials: lighting, cables, wireless and wired mics, cases.”

That’s a lot of accessory and others sales – some fairly big-ticket items – which you’re possibly missing out on if your store chooses not to dive into the DJ market.

So what’s the solution? The answer will vary dependent on the region in which you operate, the skill sets of yourself and your staff, the amount of available square footage in your store, and many other factors, but there likely is a way to tap into potential profits from this market segment. If you don’t know much about DJing or electronic dance music, or if customers in your area are (so far as you can surmise) not as into EDM or other gateways to DJ equipment sales, maybe you go small: a few software packages and maybe one controller, to see if you can use that fledgling DJ department to drum up those add-on gear sales Randy White mentioned. Maybe you have a staffer who is fully immersed in DJing and EDM who could quarterback a new department in your store, using his knowledge and local connections to establish yours as “the” store in town to go to for all things DJ-related.

As the Billboard article further notes, “In 2013, the United States accounted for 40 percent, or $139 million, of the $350-million market for DJ products sales and grew 19 percent from $120 million in 2014.”

This is a growing subculture and if you don’t capitalize on what’s truly popular today  – not on what was popular in 1973 or 1992, but in 2015 – one of your competitors will. The main points are these: be aware of what’s going on in the market and don’t be afraid to tread into uncharted waters. Kids can’t buy the products they want at your store if you don’t carry them.