As audio manufacturers continue to build stronger connections with contemporary music culture, EI Editor Daniel J Sait asks whether integrators should follow their lead and take their message to the places where people’s passions already live?
Something interesting is happening in the audio industry. Increasingly, manufacturers are looking beyond the familiar confines of the Hi-Fi show, demonstration room and traditional enthusiast audience and finding ways to connect themselves directly with contemporary music culture.
Monitor Audio and Armour Home have both been exploring this territory and, most recently, Chord Company invited touring bands Blue Nation and MeMe Detroit into its Wiltshire factory to build instrument cables and rewire their pedalboards. L-Acoustics has also been building bridges between the equipment and the culture by investing in Djaayz, a DJ booking platform.
There is an obvious marketing benefit, but something more interesting is happening. These companies are recognising that if your business ultimately exists because people love music, perhaps you should spend more time where that love of music actually happens. So should the install/AV community think along similar lines?
Our industry is extremely good at talking to itself. We attend the exhibitions, visit the distributors and discuss products, technologies and projects with people who already understand what professional AV integration can deliver. All necessary, of course. But how often are we taking that message outside our own circle?
Perhaps manufacturers engaging with contemporary music culture should encourage integrators to think about where their next customers might come from.
EI has spoken to quite a few installers over the years who have taken innovative approaches to reaching new customers by attending events that may not immediately seem obviously fruitful. Some have targeted people with interests completely unrelated to AV, such as sporting events, but EI can’t help thinking we are missing a trick if we don’t try to get to where music fans are more obviously congregating.
Perhaps we need to make more people who are already passionate about music aware of what professionally installed AV can do for them. That’s an important distinction. There are millions of people who would never describe themselves as audiophiles but care deeply about music. They buy vinyl, attend gigs and festivals, follow artists, collect special editions and spend serious money pursuing that passion.
Many have no idea what a properly designed listening room, discreet whole-home audio system or genuinely great two-channel setup could add to their enjoyment. Out of my circle of gig-going friends I can’t think of too many who have anything that most in our sector would term a ‘decent’ system. So how do we reach them?
A few options might be building a relationship with an independent record shop or a local recording studio. Maybe support a local music venue or small festival. You never know who is going to turn up at these things. Paul Hartnoll, co-founder of techno legends Orbital, recently played a mini festival just down the road from EI’s rural home. The event itself was packed full of music fans, some of whom were clearly in income brackets of interest to our sector.
Perhaps invite a musician into your demonstration space and hold an album listening evening, or work with a record retailer on a vinyl night where visitors can hear familiar recordings reproduced through a genuinely exceptional system.
Imagine hearing a local artist perform acoustically before listening to the studio recording through a carefully designed system, perhaps with the artist or recording engineer explaining what listeners should be hearing. Suddenly, the demonstration isn’t about speakers, amplifiers or cables. It’s about music. And that’s the point.
Making movie magic
The same thinking could extend beyond music. Film enthusiasts and gamer communities are both groups built around passions that overlap naturally with what our industry does. Instead of waiting for these people to discover us, perhaps integrators should be finding credible ways to become part of those communities.
Authenticity is important. The best partnerships create something worthwhile for everyone involved and demonstrate expertise without turning every interaction into a sales pitch.
There is another benefit too. Integrators are always looking for stronger ways to explain their value. Putting technology into the context of something people already love can be far more powerful than explaining specifications or demonstrating a control interface.
For years, our industry has debated how to attract new customers and broaden its appeal. Perhaps we’ve been looking at the problem from the wrong direction.
The next generation of customers are already passionate about everything our systems ultimately deliver – music, movies, entertainment and experiences. They simply don’t know much about us yet. Maybe it’s time we stopped waiting for them to discover us and went to meet them instead.