Q. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and work history?
I am primarily a musician, recording artist and producer from India. I have traveled and performed at festivals all over the world. I had a company called Music Design from 1984 to 1998 and produced Radio and TV commercials. I immigrated to the USA in 1999. I worked for Sam Ash from 2000 to 2005 and held two positions – Customer Service Manager and Senior Department Manager of Technology at their Store on Sunset Blvd. In 2015, I was offered a position at Guitar Center Corporate as a Technology Buyer. I managed their software and keyboard controller assortment as Category Manager from 2005 to 2016 and purchased for their 280 stores and 4 online properties. I joined EastWest as Vice President of Sales in 2016 and I’m presently still with EastWest.
Q. I see that you are titled as a professional musician and composer, have you been working on any personal music during COVID19?
Yes, I have been working to complete the second Freakquency album for MomentMusic (www.momentmusic.net). It’s an experimental project that combines electronica with Jazz. It’s nearly ready and we plan to release it this fall.
Q. What would be your top 3 reasons for EastWest’s prominent success? Especially for Hollywood Choirs?
I attribute the success of EastWest to Doug Rogers who owns the company. He is an experienced and an award winning producer who has over 30 years’ experience in producing sample based virtual instruments. His work has won multiple awards in the industry including the TEC Award for Hollywood Choirs. He spares no expense and assembles the best team for the project on hand, from the musicians to the recording engineers. He owns one of the best recording studios in the world, EastWest Studios, and all our projects are recorded in these hallowed rooms.
Q. How has digital sales of software grown over the years for EastWest?
EastWest has seen exceptional growth in the past 4 years. We now offer our entire catalog as digital downloads including our Diamond and Platinum titles.
Q. How did you first hear about XCHANGE?
As Category Manager for Software at Guitar Center, I was dealing with a lot of boxed software and the issues that come with such merchandise. Obsolescence of the stock on hand, returns, damaged goods and an inability to stock all brands and software products because of purchasing budgets etc. If I was dealing with these issues at one of the largest MI sales organizations, I knew that every other sales organization was facing the same issues. The software industry needed a new business model to survive. I had an idea to create a Software Escrow House where all vendors stocked their licenses. Dealers and resellers could purchase licenses from there and only when they had a sale, thereby enabling them to carry all software titles and pay for only what they sold. I spoke with Ray Williams about my idea and requested him to consider heading this effort. XCHANGE was born and the rest is history. XCHANGE has revolutionized how software is bought and sold. I will be forever thankful to Ray for believing in my ideas and creating XCHANGE. It has saved the music software industry and allowed it to thrive. The integration with different online sales platforms has allowed resellers to automate software sales and the new reporting tools have given vendors better insights to their business.
Q. How has XCHANGE impacted your business?
XCHANGE has allowed EastWest to offer our entire catalog as digital downloads to resellers. Our licenses are generated on demand and are available 24 hours to our approved resellers. We have seen tremendous growth and recommend XCHANGE to anyone making or selling music software.
Q. What is one feature that you use the most on XCHANGE?
The promo creation tools, and the reporting tools are what I use most frequently to drive and manage the business.
Q. What have been some of the challenges with XCHANGE?
XCHANGE works best when resellers adopt their API and automate sales. This is sometimes an issue, as some resellers do not have the IT prowess to do so. I’ve been in discussion with XCHANGE to offer a turnkey solution for these resellers. This would help EastWest immensely, especially in the subscription side of our business.
Q. What features would you like to see in XCHANGE that currently do not exist?
The new reporting tools like the Success Report are a great help. It needs refining but it’s a step in the right direction. The Modify Values Tool in the promotion creation section is confusing and needs explanation. These didn’t exist before 2020 and the XCHANGE team has done an exceptional job in addressing these vendor needs. XCHANGE has everything needed to manage and run a software business.
Q. What is your outlook on the future for software business especially during the pandemic?
EastWest has had incredible growth in the first quarter of 2020 and the second quarter is showing similar growth. We have supported the Stay at Home initiative with a 60% off sale to help musicians and producers who are confined to their homes and studios to make music. It has been very successful for us. I believe the MI industry is healthy and doing very well during the pandemic, specially the online resellers.
Q. Any last shout outs or words of encouragement would you like to mention to our readers?
There is no better time to make music! The software tools available today, make it possible for all musicians and producers to create professional sounding tracks to share with the world. Everyone needs software and software is king! I urge all resellers to support software sales as there is no other way to record and share music today.