Recent

Excelcia Music Publishing and Wingert-Jones Publications Announce ‘Ready Sets’ for Concert Band

August 5, 2025

Get Ready to Rock The 2026 NAMM Show: NAMM Celebrates 125 Years with Five-Days of Music, Innovation and Industry Legacy

August 4, 2025

Jessica Tropea Joins Neutrik Americas as Customer Solutions Engineer

August 4, 2025

It’s Back to School Season: Is Your Store Ready?

August 5, 2025

Neil Potter Promoted to Director of National Sales at Allen & Heath USA

August 1, 2025

Sonique Drums Unveils Poly Pro Slim Snare Wire Straps

August 1, 2025

NAMM Announces New Leadership Teams For Women of NAMM and NAMM Young Professionals

July 30, 2025

Jeff Mulvihill Appointed Combo Drum and Concert Percussion Brand Manager for KHS America

July 29, 2025
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
  • Contact
MMR Magazine
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!
No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!
No Result
View All Result
MMR Magazine
No Result
View All Result

People Doing Interesting, Creative, and Strange Things…

Christian Wissmuller by Christian Wissmuller
March 16, 2015
in Editorial
0
939
SHARES
2.3k
VIEWS
Share on Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT

The release of Avid’s Pro Tools First, a free version of the widely used recording platform (also mentioned in Dan Daley’s “The Last Word” column this month) at the NAMM Show got me thinking.

With Garageband having been bundled into nearly every Apple laptop, Mac, and tablet for years now, and with plenty of free (or nearly free) recording and sequencing applications available for download, home recording – and the number of individuals with some degree of skill in this field – has absolutely blown up. I realize this isn’t news to anyone. Bear with me.

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but of my own musician friends I’m hard pressed to think of anyone who doesn’t engage in some degree of home-demoing or actual recording, and a handful even run semi-successful studios out of their basements. Additionally, of the 30 or so medium- to large scale recording studios that existed in Boston as recently as the late ‘90s (two of which I worked at), I can only think of nine in 2015. Access to software, online tutorials, and a wealth of information via search engine has created thousands of experts (and semi-experts) in a discipline that used to require years of schooling, internships, et cetera, and a lot of time and money.

If you’re a motivated self-starter with a little innate skill, life online can, in fact, make you smarter.

“The Internet in the 21st Century has become a humongous idea-making machine,” said author Clive Thompson in a BBC report from last June. “Never before have we been able to disseminate our ideas with so many people, all over the world. From instant messaging to social networks, every time a new technology has come along [we find] people doing interesting, creative, and strange things… People were using them in ways that helped them to think in different ways, to learn new things and to solve problems they couldn’t have solved before.”

There are two big takeaways (at least) for employers here – and this applies to both retailers and suppliers in the MI realm.

The first involves applying to your own business that same creative, self-motivated attitude that drove the home recording market and decimated the recorded music industry. Resources such as NAMM U and MMR’s own monthly “Small Business Matters” column are valuable and should absolutely be taken advantage of, but why stop there? The experts you learn from through such avenues have already pioneered and mastered the techniques and skills they’re sharing, but someone did “it” (whatever the “it” in question is) first – who says you or someone on your team can’t be the individual who hits upon the next “big idea?” Be resourceful with the tools available and you could very well come up with a game-changer with respect to marketing, inventory management, e-commerce – anything.

Secondly, as an employer, make sure you’re truly living in the present when it comes to hiring practices. I’d never suggest formal education isn’t vital, but long held notions with respect to “higher education” are falling by the wayside. Important caveat: there’s lots of misinformation on the web and plenty of sites with clear agendas. Just because there’s tons of “information” out there, doesn’t mean it’s all accurate, impartial, or reliable.

Still, the point remains.

A poll conducted by Gallup and Lumina Foundation released in late February of this year, “found 84 percent of business leaders said the amount of knowledge of potential hires is very important, while 28 percent said a candidate's college major is important, and just nine percent said where the candidate received his or her degree is very important.”

It’s nothing new for the sales clerk working the floor at your local guitar store to not have a Master’s degree, but it’s long been felt that management positions require some college background. These days, knowledge is everywhere for the taking – for both you and your potential employees – and “no college degree” does not necessarily equate to “no advanced skill sets.”

Any employee or potential employee could well be doing interesting, creative, and strange things that could help your business. As could you.

Tags: Christian WissmullerEditorial
Previous Post

LOUD Technologies Announces Two New Sales Directors

Next Post

European Beat: Yamaha Launches New-look Flagship Store

Related Posts

Current Issue

Bridging the Sound – Audio Interfaces and the Modern Musician’s Toolkit

April 25, 2025
Current Issue

Twang, Nostalgia, the Americana Boom – and Why Now is the Time to Take Advantage

March 25, 2025
Editorial

Enough with ‘It’s Back!’

March 25, 2025
Editorial

Is Your Store an ‘Experience Destination’?

January 9, 2025
Editorial

A New Year – and Potentially Plenty of Change – Awaits

March 25, 2025
Editorial

FOMO Can be Good for You!

December 17, 2024
Next Post

European Beat: Yamaha Launches New-look Flagship Store

Please login to join discussion
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Excelcia Music Publishing and Wingert-Jones Publications Announce ‘Ready Sets’ for Concert Band

August 5, 2025

Get Ready to Rock The 2026 NAMM Show: NAMM Celebrates 125 Years with Five-Days of Music, Innovation and Industry Legacy

August 4, 2025

It’s Back to School Season: Is Your Store Ready?

August 5, 2025
Tom Capo

KPODJ: The Gold Standard In Pro Audio Retail

January 26, 2017

Excelcia Music Publishing and Wingert-Jones Publications Announce ‘Ready Sets’ for Concert Band

Get Ready to Rock The 2026 NAMM Show: NAMM Celebrates 125 Years with Five-Days of Music, Innovation and Industry Legacy

Jessica Tropea Joins Neutrik Americas as Customer Solutions Engineer

It’s Back to School Season: Is Your Store Ready?

Excelcia Music Publishing and Wingert-Jones Publications Announce ‘Ready Sets’ for Concert Band

August 5, 2025

Get Ready to Rock The 2026 NAMM Show: NAMM Celebrates 125 Years with Five-Days of Music, Innovation and Industry Legacy

August 4, 2025

Jessica Tropea Joins Neutrik Americas as Customer Solutions Engineer

August 4, 2025

It’s Back to School Season: Is Your Store Ready?

August 5, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
The Latest News and Gear in Your Inbox - Sign Up Today!
  • August 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • July 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • June 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • May 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
  • April 2025

    Articles | Digital Issue
© 2005 - 2025 artistpro, LLC
7012 City Center Way, Suite 207
Fairview, Tennessee 37062
(800) 682-8114

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Now!
    • Subscribe Now!
  • Advertise
  • Email Press Releases!
  • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • MMR Global
    • Supplier Scene
    • Upfront
    • People
  • Awards
    • Dealers’ Choice Awards Ballot 2024
    • Don Johnson Award Winners Archive
  • Directory
  • Get Support!

© 2005 – 2024 artistpro, LLC 7012 City Center Way, Suite 207 Fairview, Tennessee 37062 (800) 682-8114

This is Modal Title

Click Me
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?