Q. What path brought you to Merchandising Manager at Sweetwater?
I had been working for Mars Music for over five years before its demise, first in store management, then at marsmusic.com - where I eventually managed all of the technology categories (i.e. keyboards, DJ, recording, live sound). I had always admired Sweetwater’s reputation in the marketplace and their focus on technology, so when I found myself seeking new opportunities, Sweetwater was at the top of a very short list of MI companies that I was interested in working for. I came to Fort Wayne for an interview, and everything fell into place.
Q. Do you have a musical background?
Yes, I started playing piano by ear at age 4, then later took piano lessons for 5 years. Finally got my first synth (a used Juno-106) just before I graduated High School. I never played professionally or in a band, but I’ve always enjoyed playing and producing as a hobby. I’m also very interested in the history behind synthesizers and manufacturers, and the people behind them.
Q. How do you like living in Fort Wayne?
I like Fort Wayne - it’s a big enough city without being too big. As cliché as it sounds, it truly has been a great place to raise our two kids. Fort Wayne’s a great combination of amenities like the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, several top-notch minor-league sports teams, and Sweetwater (of course), with low cost of living, great schools, and short commutes with nonexistent traffic.
Q. What are some of the things you like to do here in Fort Wayne?
I’m an avid road cyclist, so I really love the fact that we have countless low-traffic roads to ride on and a large, well-established bike club to ride with. And when I do want to get out of town, there are 7 other major cities close enough for a day trip or weekend away.
Q. If you were to put your finger on it, why has Sweetwater been so successful?
It’s really quite simple. Sweetwater has always provided one-on-one, expert, personalized service to all of its customers, along with the “Sweetwater Difference,” which really means doing that extra something for our customers, something beyond what a customer would normally expect from a retailer. The more we stick to those basics, the more customers we continue to win over.
Q. Has your software business experienced similar growth?
Yes, as Sweetwater’s business has grown, our software sales have grown too, though the trend with software continues to be that more and more functionality is available for less money than ever before.
Q. How long have you been selling software digitally?
We have been selling software digitally for more than 11 years now - we started in 2005.
Q. How has XCHANGE fit into the Sweetwater system?
XCHANGE is one of a few different vendor systems that are fully integrated with Sweetwater’s inventory/order fulfillment systems to make whatever XCHANGE sku’s that we choose to carry always readily available for Sweetwater Sales Engineers to sell and deliver to our customers. In other words, when Sweetwater sells an XCHANGE program or plug-in, our system requests a license from XCHANGE, and the XCHANGE system delivers it on demand so that we can immediately fulfill our customer’s order.
Q. What has been some of the challenges with XCHANGE?
In the past there were times that a manufacturer underestimated an aggressive promotion and XCHANGE ran out of license codes, but it seems like this rarely happens any more. We also rely on XCHANGE vendors to keep their product information and pricing up to date, and to do so in a way that Sweetwater is properly notified about upcoming promotions, price changes, and new products.
Q. Would you say that XCHANGE has had an impact of your software sales?
Absolutely! I’ve lost count of the number of manufacturers who have made the switch from boxed software to XCHANGE, and our business with all of these manufacturers is far more agile now. They no longer have to manufacture boxes and media for all of the different versions and upgrade paths, and none of us have to deal with the labor and expenses related to shipping those boxes from manufacturers, to distributors, to dealers, and to customers. And of course we never lose a sale for being out of stock on an XCHANGE title because they’re always in stock.
Q. What features do you want to see in XCHANGE?
I want to be able to check the registration status of a license code so that we are able to quickly take care of a customer who may have purchased incompatible software. I’d also love for XCHANGE to never ever run out of license codes. And, while not specifically an XCHANGE feature, I do want to see manufacturers fully utilize the sales potential of their dealers by promoting their products through those dealers (rather than direct) and directing their customers to all their dealers have to offer.
Q. What is your outlook for future software business?
It’s an interesting time in software - several manufacturers are trying different models like annual or even monthly subscriptions - but the vast majority of our business is still driven by music makers whowant to own their software like they always have. Time will tell how much this will change as the next generation, who grew up in the world of app stores and streaming music subscriptions, comes of age. One thing’s for sure, anyone producing music today will have to have software.