Examining the DJ Products Market
With John Powell , President of Pioneer DJ / AlphaTheta Music Americas
BY MICHAEL RAINE
Though he ’ s not Canadian , there was a point in John Powell ’ s MI and audio sales career where he says people could be forgiven for thinking he was . Now the president for Pioneer DJ in the Americas , the premier brand of Japan-based AlphaTheta Corporation , Powell joined the company in 2017 as senior vice president of sales following a lengthy tenure with Harman International . At Harman , Powell held a few executive sales titles , including director of sales for Canada and Latin America from 2001 to 2012 , followed by sales director for Harman International and finally VP of sales for the JBL Professional brand before making the move .
“ I love Canada and my mom was born in Canada , so I ’ ve got a lot of relatives there . I would often get jokingly accused of being
Canadian when I worked at Harman because I was there so often ,” he tells Canadian Music Trade . “ I ’ ve been all over Canada and managing sales in one form or another there since 2001 in the pro audio and MI-type business .”
Canadian Music Trade recently caught up with Powell over Zoom to discuss his work and gain insights on the DJ products market as we head into 2023 , as well as where he thinks this technology-forward product category is destined .
CMT : Unlike most American MI sales executives , you ’ ve spent significant time in Canada over the years , and been immersed in the Canadian MI market . So , in terms of sales and marketing , do you find Canada and the U . S . generally follow identical sales patterns or is the Canadian market significantly different to serve ?
JOHN POWELL
Powell : I mean , there ’ s far more similarities than differences . If you want to do a comparison , I say they ’ re maybe 80 % the same . Now , obviously that goes out the
24 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE