Welcome to the Retail Print Music Dealers Association The 2017 convention will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 26-April 29, at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Atlanta Downtown. Our convention program is organized in a three track program format, which features sessions targeted for the novice print music employees, print buyers or managers, and owners… Continue Reading
Educating the Tech-Savvy Student
By John Mlynczak Today’s tech-savvy student has an entire internet full of ways to learn music. From YouTube to community sharing websites and subscription services, self-learning has never been more accessible. As an added bonus, students can search for and learn music twenty-four hours a day in the comfort of their own home using up their… Continue Reading
Have You Heard the News?
by David Jahnke, Senior Vice President of National Sales, Hal Leonard It started with a press release: MILWAUKEE – Hal Leonard, the world’s largest publisher of printed music, announced that they have acquired Sheet Music Plus, the leading e-commerce website for music publications. Sheet Music Plus will continue to operate as an independent business led… Continue Reading
Thank You, RPMDA
by Ruby Beeston, Best In Music Dear RPMDA Friends, In the fall of 1989, I was a piano teacher and an opportunity came to me. I was offered a small back storage space (6X9) for free in Keith Jorgensen Music, located in a mall to provide sheet music service and to increase traffic for the… Continue Reading
Our First Visit to RPMDA
by Jacqueline Ashley In April my husband and I, owner of Wentzville Music, LLC, had the opportunity to attend RPMDA’s convention in St. Louis. Being that this was our first time, we were both apprehensive and unsure what to expect, but were excited. Just getting a few days away from the store, even in the… Continue Reading
MPA Internet Update and a Paradigm Change
by Lauren Keiser, Kieser-Southern Music Co. UPDATE: The MPA/USA, in coordination with the NMPA, has eliminated 27,643 illegal URL postings and shut down 186 pirate sites since the ICMP (International Confederation of Music Publishers) started their Anti-Theft program three years ago. The MPA/UK is handling Europe and MPAJ (Japan) is handling the Pacific Rim in… Continue Reading
Visual Merchandising by Popular Brand: Make the Most of Your Rack!
by Elliott Wessel, Print Music Product Manager, Schmitt Music Co. In the print music industry there are two ways to organize the product: the right way and the wrong way. Which is the right way and which is the wrong way is still under discussion, even here at Schmitt Music, even after 120 years in… Continue Reading
A Valentine to RPMDA
by Madeleine Crouch When I moved to the Dallas area in 1979 armed with a degree in music and some piano teaching experience under my belt, it was January and not the best time to pick up a lot of students. I’m not sure why I thought of it, but I looked up music stores… Continue Reading
DIY Marketing for the Store and More
by Jenny Van Pelt, Lorenz Publishing Just like any do-it-yourself project, marketing your store is infinitely easier when you have the right tools for the job ready to go at a moment’s notice. Think about the last time you had to fix something around the house – whatever little thing needed attention probably took two… Continue Reading
Dorothy Award Winners
by Dan Del Fiorentino Since 1999, NAMM has been proudly involved with documenting the history of RPMDA and its members. As of right now the NAMM Oral History collection contains over 80 past and current members of RPMDA within the collection. AND thanks to your suggestions that number is growing. Within this list of our… Continue Reading
NAMM Convention Update (A Print Music Perspective)
by Mike Watson, Remenyi House of Music For print music specialists, one of the advantages of attending a large-scale trade show is the perspective it can bring to our own niche market, along with a valuable opportunity to monitor developments in the larger music products industry. The 2016 NAMM Show (held January 21-24) boasted 101,736… Continue Reading
The Frankfurt International Music Fair
Dear RPMDA friends, Happy New Year from Germany! Last year many of you showed great interest in hearing about the Frankfurt International Music Fair. So your German publisher colleagues would like to remind you that it’s gradually coming up to that time of year again. The first Frankfurt International Music Fair took place in 1980.… Continue Reading
RPMDA, Where Stealing is Encouraged
by Kevin Cranley That sounds like a pretty outrageous thing to hear from an association that vigorously promotes copyrights and their protection. Obviously I’m not talking intellectual property here. What I mean is the sharing of ideas and the open discussions about how to keep our sector of this industry strong and vibrant. I remember… Continue Reading