Len Fehskens wrote:

>What is a correct market analysis of the classical recordings
>business?

The current situation is that chain stores just extend to the classical
category the same market philosophy employed for the pop/rock/country
categories.  The foundation for the latter categories revolves around
"maximizing the number of customers." Therefore, based on this "generalist"
approach, the key components are "location" and "the average."

This is totally wrong for the classical category which is a "specialist"
one.  The appropriate foundation for this market is to "maximize the amount
of music bought by the customer." Location and the average no longer hold
center court.  Now, store appeal becomes very important - the longer a
customer is in the store, the more the customer buys.  Even more important
is to know your customers and what their preferences are - anticipate
correctly what your customers want.  To maximize sales in the classical
category, there must be a relatively high percentage of non-mainstream
recordings.  This is risky since you don't want to end up with stacks of
recordings nobody wants; hence, know your customers.

So, why don't the chains differentiate their marketing strategy among
generalist and specialist categories?  They don't consider it worth the
effort due to the small impact of classical sales compared to the other
categories.  Also, in defense of the chains, it's not easy to have more
than one marketing philosophy under one roof.  That's a prime reason why
an owner-occupied classical shop can do a much better job for the
classical music customer.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]