COVER STORIES
Guitars’ Greatest Year
One positive of the pandemic was a wave of new guitar players, with dollar sales rising an incredible 15 percent in 2020 vs. 2019, according to MI SalesTrak.
Plugging Into Higher Sales
Guitar amp manufacturers have seen sales rise in lockstep with guitars, and diversity is the name of the game in the PA speaker market.
FEATURES
MSR Anniversary: Fender
Fender’s storied history reached the 75-year plateau this year. We look at some of the company’s highlights in this special three-page section.
Shine a Light
Ray’s Midbell Music is the thriving descendant of a multi-store chain that started more than 80 years ago, when Jess Midaugh and Sam Campbell combined their talents, and their names, to create the original Mid-Bell Music Co.
Under the Hood
To answer the increasing demand for audio streaming and recording solutions at home, in the studio or anywhere, Shure unveiled the MV7 podcast microphone, the company’s first hybrid XLR/USB microphone.
MSR Special
We offer an interview with Joel Menchey, expected to take the reigns as NAMM chairman in July.
INTERVIEWS
Five Minutes With
Gibson CEO “JC” Curleigh talks about NAMM’s virtual Believe in Music Week, the company’s acquisition of Mesa/Boogie, how to keep new guitar players brought on by the pandemic, and more.
MISSION REPORT
MI Spy
MI Spy is still awaiting full COVID-19 vaccination, so he/she reports virtually on two stores in El Paso, Texas and two stores from Las Cruces, N.M.
COLUMNS
In the Trenches
If the customers at your store don’t currently speak a variety of languages, that will likely change sooner rather than later, says Allen McBroom. Here is his advice to better communicate with these customers at your store.
Veddatorial
The Lesson Academy model has expanded throughout the country, sometimes led by extraordinary educators who love teaching but have no affinity for retail, but also, unfortunately, sometimes led by people who have no affinity for education, either, states Dan Vedda.
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