ewa@sdcc3.UUCP (Eric Anderson) (03/23/86)
In article <30100045@ada-uts> hedger@ada-uts writes: > >A certain practice has developed in the synthesizer/electronic music >industry that disturbs me a great deal. For some reason, synthesizer/ >midi/recording equipment manufacturers feel that I(We) should pay them >for materials meant to induce us to buy their products. When was the last >time you saw a synth ad in Keyboard that didn't say 'for more information >about the xxx synth, send $1.00 to xyz keyboards'? If you simply write to a manufacturer and ask for information, perhaps along the lines of "I'm looking to buy a so-and-so, perhaps you could send me some information about yours...", many will gladly send you (free) a variety of literature. Any that don't are probably not worth your business. If you really want their equipment you're on your own. But keep in mind that their after-the-sale support may be no better than their before-the-sale support. Furthermore, many companies distribute demo tapes or records which cost a great deal more than literature. Were these tapes free, we could all enter the used-tape market and make lots of bucks. :-) >The point is, I think that we are in general, just too tolerant of this >kind of bullshit! Don't let yourselves be fooled, the manufacturers and >sellers of music hardware/software are making a pretty healthy profit. Of course they are. Everyone is out to make as much money as possible. Perhaps when selling bulk food you can make more money with discounts, but not with synths. The nature of the market is such that *most* people will tolerate the prices, so the manufacturers exploit them. >I say that as a group we musician/consumers should start demanding better >treatment. No more paying for advertising brouchures...no more waiting for >months for a particular product. How about if everyone stopped buy dx7's for >6 months....I'll bet Yamaha would find a way to deliver them then, wouldn't >they? Not likely. Yamaha would rather lose (briefly) a tiny portion of its sales than lose forever its control over the customer. Furthermore, you could never organize a world-wide boycot of the DX7. Many would see this as the perfect chance to get a low-price (due to overstock) DX7, and would be greatful to Yamaha for the chance. >keith hedger >ihnp4!inmet!ada-uts!hedger Eric Anderson, UC San Diego {elsewhere}!ihnp4!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc3!ewa Home: (619)453-7315 Work: (619)586-1201 White House: (202)456-1414