Greetings from the Land of Sky Blue Waters! We’re excited for the 2018 RPMDA convention, being held here in Minneapolis next Spring!
First of all, thanks again to everyone who voted for Sheet Music Day at this past year’s Best Ideas RPMDA Convention session. I really think this idea has a lot of potential as a great promotion for everyone in the print music industry.
We’ve had a lot of discussions about this idea, and I think everyone understands that the turnaround time was a little too short for a big, comprehensive 2017 event, and working out all of the logistics and processes and responsibilities and products and well, everything, is going to take a lot of time and effort, especially for our Commercial Members, if they want to support it.
I know that there are already a lot of promotional days and “holidays” on the calendar, and national promotions for music in general and music education and lots of other related events, but I think if we look at Record Store Day as an example, and really focus on our retailers and products, this could be really successful.
The message to the general public is “Sheet music still exists, it is still being used, it is still important, and we are still here!”
Also, I did say in my pitch for the idea that Schmitt Music is moving forward with Sheet Music Day, to be observed on August 5, 2017 and we are doing just that.
Here’s what I’ve got so far: Our marketing team is developing a logo and branding for the event. I am hoping to add some Facebook and 
other social media support as well, under the branding of Sheet Music Day and #sheetmusicday. If you would like to use the same logo and branding for your own Sheet Music Day promotions, we are happy to share. (I am really hoping at least one of our Canadian friends will join us, so we can keep “International” in the name of the day!)
We’ll be doing some special one-day promotional pricing on our favorite local sheet music artists like Prince (of course), Bob Dylan, Bon Iver, and Lorie Line (who has a couple of new titles coming out this summer) and more. If you have local artists you’d like to promote, maybe you can ask them to stop in and play that day?
We’ll be giving away a copy of “Visions of Music” by RPMDA member Tony Walas (Harris Teller) at every one of our stores on Sheet Music Day, as well as having copies for sale. (Great book, by the way, if you haven’t ordered a copy for yourself yet.)
I’ve got a couple other ideas in the works, but my favorite by far is promoting our in-store, digital sheet music vendors. We’ll be posting signs in the store that read “What Song Do You Want to Play Today? Thousands of Titles Available Instantly” and offering 1 digital title FREE with any purchase of $10 or more.
Let’s get some print music into every customer’s hands that day!
What will International Sheet Music Day look like next year? Well, that’s up to everyone involved with RPMDA, including you. Feel free to share your thoughts on International Sheet Music Day with me or one or all of the RPMDA board members.
The best part of this “Best Idea” is that it is intended to benefit everyone involved in the print music industry by generating some awareness, hopefully, some excitement, and definitely some sales!
Thanks, and Happy (International) Sheet Music Day!
Elliott Wessel, Schmitt Music
With a three-month-old at home, I’m usually up around 5am on the couch with baby and bottle in hand. Usually the local news is running. I’m surprised by how many “National X Days” there actually are. National Chicken Wing day was this past Saturday, for example.
I’m happy to see this is happening. Like Record Store Day, it lends itself well to the idea that you need a (physical) trophy to celebrate the holiday and has the same kind of hunting for treasure aspect.