In conversation with
Sachin Das & Kishore Das
- Directors at Musee Musical
Sachin Das Kishore Das
As a company , what did you do to engage with your customers through the lockdown ?
We hosted a lot of webinars for the teaching community and also helped them to understand the transition and concept of Hybrid learning . We certainly remained connected with our customers through our social media channels by conducting trivia quizzes and other forms of engagement to keep the spirit of music live .
Tell us about any new product additions across brands during this year .
We are now representing KNA pickups which are quite exclusive with high quality design for Guitars and Violins . We have introduced Hannabach Strings for our classical guitar enthusiast and professionals and also Corelli strings for our string players community .
Challenges you faced in terms of educating / reaching your network .
Thanks to social media and our channel partner Score solutions , we were able to stay connected with the community . I think as a society , this pandemic has brought to light both the benefits and shortcomings of technology .
How do you think the industry can recover from the pandemic hit ?
I think it will take another years time for the industry to reach the pre pandemic levels as we have been hit both from the demand as well as the supply side once the lockdowns were relaxed . Customers are still wary about spending on non-essential products and with the Music and entertainment industry being the most hit as there were no performances or learning activity happening . Things have just started to gain momentum and we hope that the new year brings in the cheer .
In terms of revenue , what percentage was impacted when compared to last year vs this year ?
Though the demand started to pick up once the lockdowns were lifted . Non production and non availability of logistics for imports and movement of goods have been a quite a challenge . Most of the major brands are slowly building up their inventory levels and hopefully by early next year , supplies can possibly resume to propel sales . Since the first quarter of the year has been a total washout , it is certainly no where close to last years sale but we hope at the end of the year we atleast reach our “ COVID forecasts ’.
What type of products saw an increase in demand during this time ?
Surprisingly , Digital and upright pianos demand peaked and we were not able to meet the demand . There was also a peak in demand for Grand Pianos . The pandemic has propelled a lot of demand on the Home studio products and there was a good demand for mics , soundcards and other home studio products .
Any suggestions to the state or central government to help industry move forward .
We are an industry which is still largely unorganized and is not recognized as an industry by the Government . At Musee , we are now jointly organizing a International seminar on Music along with the Tamilnadu Music and Fine Arts university in the end of December . We hope the political circles could hear some of the demands of musicians , artists and the industry ..
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