COVER STORIES
Music & Sound Award Nominees, Manufacturer Division
All 124 nominees in 31 categories are presented. Retailers: get ready to vote!
Get Ready to Believe
Although not an in-person event, NAMM’s Believe in Music Week intends to have something for everyone.
FEATURES
Special to the Retailer
Marketing has perhaps never been more important than at this moment. We enlist one of the foremost experts, Scott Robertson, who has worked with many top brands, as well as NAMM, to provide several tips and tricks.
Shine a Light
Durham, N.C.’s High Strung Violins and Guitars’ Lee Raymond plans to retire in 2021. But first, she provides some great anecdotes and information.
Under the Hood
Yamaha Corp. of America plans to take band and orchestra instruments to the next level with its YDS-150 digital saxophone.
INTERVIEWS
Five Minutes With
NUGEN CEO Paul Tapper takes us through the history of the company, explains how best to sell its products and offers his outlook for the future.
The Final Note
The best advice Souldier Straps’ founder Jen Tabor ever received: “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
MISSION REPORT
MI Spy
MI Spy wraps up the year with a visit to the Garden State. All four stores earned high grades, not only for products but for safety precautions as well.
COLUMNS
In the Trenches
Requests for returns have spiked during the pandemic. While Allen McBroom has talked about handling returns in the past, this time he shares some thoughts on avoiding returns.
Veddatorial
As an industry, we’ve done better than average coping with COVID-19, states Dan Vedda. However, while retailers’ myriad pivots have allowed them to maintain a semblance of our pre-COVID activity, dealers still lost a lot of school business, watched gig-less pros hunker down and wait, and seen cautious customers forego big-ticket purchases.