Guitar Workshop Plus Announces 2018 Program & Artist Lineup
Guitar Workshop Plus has announced the 2018 program with an artist lineup that includes rock virtuosos Paul Gilbert ( Mr . Big , Racer X ), Tosin Abasi ( Animals as Leaders ), and Nita Strauss ( Alice Cooper , solo ), along with blues veteran Duke Robillard ( solo , Fabulous Thunderbirds ), bassist Rhonda Smith ( Jeff Beck , Prince ), country legend Albert Lee ( Eric Clapton , Emmylou Harris ), and more .
In addition to all the regular classes , special seminars including Modern Rock Guitar , Still Got the Blues , Acoustic Expressions , The Art of Country Guitar , Groove Academy ( for Bass ), Virtuoso Rock , Rockin ’ the Blues , and more have been added to the course options .
This year ’ s Toronto session takes place from July 23-28 . Other sessions include : San Diego from June 17-22 ; Nashville from July 15-20 ; and Seattle from Aug . 19-24 . The 2018 schedules , details , and scholarship information are all available at www . guitarworkshopplus . com .
PRINT & EDUCATIONAL
Canadian Music Trade surveyed MI store owners and managers to find out their opinions and identify current sales trends with regards to print / educational media . Here are the results …
Does your store have a print / educational media department ?
How vital is your print / educational media department to overall store operations ?
It is a critical part of our store ’ s operations and |
performance |
23 % |
It is important but not vital |
31 % |
It is less significant than most or all other |
departments |
38 % |
It is not significant at all |
8 % |
Which of the following groups of customers is the largest purchaser of print / educational media products at your store ?
Students taking classes |
54 % |
Self-learning students |
8 % |
Music teachers |
23 % |
Houses of worship / choirs |
0 % |
Other |
15 % |
Only 16 % said their print / educational media department ’ s sales performance improved in 2017 compared to 2016 …
62 % said it stayed about the same
23 % expect their print / educational media department ’ s sales performance to improve in 2018 while 31 % expect it to slightly worsen
46 % sell the most print / educational media material for piano / keyboard , while 23 % say guitar / bass is their biggest category
SPEAKING OUT What are your thoughts on the future health of the print / educational media market ?
“ Strong but it ’ s a niche industry . You have to know the product and know your customers . That takes time and commitment , or you can buy the wrong things and sit on them .”
“ Method books will continue to sell , but popular music will decline . There are so many other ways to get that music instantly !”
“ Going downhill . Too many free guitar tabs , music , and free instruction videos on the internet . The phone and Facebook are taking too much of people ’ s time .”
“ A lot of information is now available online , so we are seeing [ fewer ] customers inquiring about print materials .”
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE 15