It’s the time of year for saving money!
I’ve written here in the past about the Music Matters seminars
hosted by high-end specialty shops throughout the country. And while I’ve
thoroughly enjoyed the events I’ve attended, I’ve always felt that these
evening were primarily preaching to the already converted. What the high-performance audio industry
needs is a way to bring in new blood, not merely the same old pacemakers.
A few days ago I received an announcement from Sonos about
their “‘Expression’ curatorial partnership with W magazine” for a series of art/photography/film
events at the Sonos Studio in L.A. during September and October. And while some
gearheads may see little connection between photo art projects and audio, every
person who comes to one of the shows is a potential new customer for
Sonos. And unlike most audio shows where
folks are barraged by other maker’s gear, at this venue there’s no competition
for Sonos’ message.
Will Sonos see results in their bottom line from this series of
events? Well, it certainly can’t hurt. Combined with the fact that their
primary competition, Logitech Squeezebox, has ceased production, Sonos should
expect continued sales growth of their simple, reliable, and very decent
sounding wireless multi-room solutions.
And don’t hate Sonos because many of
their sales are to non-audiophiles who just want easy-to-access decent-sounding
music throughout their homes, because once they’ve taken a first step, who
knows where it may lead…
