Classic Banjo Music Store

[Hal Allert]

Hello everyone. For the past year, I have endeavored to make available a lot of music that, up to this time, was lost to public listening. When I was contemplating this service, I queried the community about how they would like to obtain this music-single downloads, bundled downloads, or hard copy CDs. The overwhelming response (a handful of you) said that single downloads was the way to go. Though the single download was the most used method, the total response to these rare collections of music has been very underwhelming.

The purpose of the store was to keep classic banjo alive for future generations as well as to provide new music outlets for the existing players. The same old songs get re-played over and over, due to what I wrongly assumed was availability. My hope was to inject some new music ideas into this very small community. I was wrong on that account as well. It seems that you are all content with the status quo.

Because there are over 100 products (songs) in this catalog, the ISP hosting the store had to charge me for the deluxe package. This amounted to $500 USD per year. The store did not make more than $300 USD in the year that it has been activated. If the revenues from the store had been more than the $500, I wouldn't feel so badly about renewing the store for another year. But, that is a lot of money just so there can be several downloads a month. In fact, no one has purchased anything for over 3 months. I have found cheaper and even free storefronts on the internet but the amount of work to recreate what I had done before doesn't seem to justify re-creating it again.

As of October 13, the store will not be available for single or bundled downloads. I will make the catalog available on the Classic Banjo website only as hardcopy CDs. I will continue to add new products to this catalog so they can still be ordered but it will necessitate changing to check or money order as a form of payment. I don't like having to do this but to keep this music available leaves me no choice.

I will continue the infrequent podcasts for a while but these may cease as well. I was happy to see some support out there but, unfortunately, it was not enough. You have until October 13 to download any individual songs or bundles. I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

[thereallyniceman]

This is bad news!  Hal, I know how you feel. Attempting to promote the style and get others involved is an uphill struggle. I posted links to your store on the front page and hoped this would promote you. We have thousands of hits per month, but only some regulars post comment.

 

PLEASE EVERYONE, SUPPORT HAL'S SITE AND HELP THIS SITE WITH CONTENT COMMENT AND SUGGESTIONS. 

  AS THE OLD SAYING GOES... IF YOU DON'T USE IT YOU WILL LOSE IT!

[Jody Stecher]

Hal, as you know I have been a fairly good customer at your site. Maybe my experience might explain why you don't get more sales. I am uniformly happy with all the recordings I bought, happy with the price, and happy with the personal email messages we exchanged in the course of my being a customer. On the other hand the Store part of your website is not easy to use and can be quite confusing. I realize that this is a template and that you didn't set it up to be user unfriendly. My guess is that some potential customers came to your site hoping to buy something, found that the process didn't work and just gave up. For instance I just now went to your site to see what individual solos are available. One page announces there are 175 but when a customer clicks on what appears to be the only option to access these 175 recordings all one sees are 2 of them, Concert Polka and Transatlantic Medley.

http://shop.classicbanjo.com/Music_c2.htm

Eventually one works out that what appear to be bundled downloads higher up the page turn out to be themed single downloads. Another example: individual recordings by certain artists that are available in bundled downloads don't always seem to be available as individual downloads and vice versa. I had that experience and a quick and easy email exchange with you cleared it all up.  But others might just throw up their hands and give up.

You have made a lot of rare music available. I can't guarantee that easier access would result in better sales. It couldn't hurt though.

 

[Hal Allert]

I checked the link, Jody, and I agree with what you said. I did not like the store front from the start because you couldn't sample songs and it was difficult to maneuver around the site. I didn't think I had any options. That was my mistake. But some people did purchase music, such as yourself. I appreciate the support you gave to the endeavor.  I wish my ISP had informed me that I didn't have to use their storefront and that others were out there.

I wish I could do it over; I would use an open source store front that allowed me to customize itself. But thanks again for the support.

Jody Stecher said:

Hal, as you know I have been a fairly good customer at your site. Maybe my experience might explain why you don't get more sales. I am uniformly happy with all the recordings I bought, happy with the price, and happy with the personal email messages we exchanged in the course of my being a customer. On the other hand the Store part of your website is not easy to use and can be quite confusing. I realize that this is a template and that you didn't set it up to be user unfriendly. My guess is that some potential customers came to your site hoping to buy something, found that the process didn't work and just gave up. For instance I just now went to your site to see what individual solos are available. One page announces there are 175 but when a customer clicks on what appears to be the only option to access these 175 recordings all one sees are 2 of them, Concert Polka and Transatlantic Medley.

http://shop.classicbanjo.com/Music_c2.htm

Eventually one works out that what appear to be bundled downloads higher up the page turn out to be themed single downloads. Another example: individual recordings by certain artists that are available in bundled downloads don't always seem to be available as individual downloads and vice versa. I had that experience and a quick and easy email exchange with you cleared it all up.  But others might just throw up their hands and give up.

You have made a lot of rare music available. I can't guarantee that easier access would result in better sales. It couldn't hurt though.

 

[Dave Houle]

Hi Hal,

I'm sorry to see the classic banjo store go. I do understand since interest in the store doesn't justify the $500 a year expense. I myself have only ordered once, but enjoy the recordings I have purchased immensely.

I was wondering if you've thought of a homegrown solution that won't cost you so much, such as offering digital downloads via PayPal with a delivery method via a free file transfer service. The store front doesn't have to be fancy, just a simple splash page with the recording listing with prices and payment info. I really think that the digital download method is very preferred and will be the most attractive option to potential buyers, both logistically and financially.

Classic banjo is a niche within a niche but thanks to the great efforts of people such as yourself and Ian, etc, material has been made much more accessible to the people who love it, are somewhat interested in it and those who are starting to explore it.

Thanks,
Dave

[Hal Allert]

Thanks to those of you who have responded to my obituary. In the short term, I am going to offer only CDs of the music with more CDs to come. I will investigate your suggestion, Dave. I really haven't talked with PayPal about doing the selling myself. Everything had been done automatically through them. It might be too much work to keep a handle on it but I would prefer to sell individual downloads also. Just hang in there and buy an occasional CD or two just so I know someone out there wants this opportunity.

 

BTW, the store will close tomorrow, the 13th so if you are thinking of getting more music your time is running out.

[Hal Allert]

Good news, friends. I have been able to extend the life of the store for an additional month until November 13. I hope to get a more permanent setup for the store in that time. This doesn't mean you are off the hook, please purchase some of this music while you can. Thanks