Before I started working in
the musical-instrument
business, I played in a rock
band called Non-Fiction that
had both indie and major-label
record deals. Compared to some
signed bands, we really didn’t
accomplish all that much, but
we did manage to put out three
critically acclaimed albums,
got our music played on the
radio and on MTV, and toured
all over the U.S. and Europe
before we called it quits.
I remember speaking to a
record-industry guru during
that time who equated the success
of a band to a giant jigsaw
puzzle. He explained that you
need several critical marketing
“pieces” assembled in the right
place and at the right time in
order to create the complete
picture of success.
For a band, these pieces used
to consist of great music, wide-range
distribution through
record stores, radio and MTV
airplay, consistent touring
(preferably opening for a well-known
headliner), and publicity
in the form of exposure in
magazines and other media.
Nowadays, a few of these
requirements have changed—or
at least shifted their level of
importance—but we’ll get into
that in a future column.
Unfortunately for Non-
Fiction, we had all the pieces,
but they were assembled so
haphazardly that the full picture
never took form. Our
major-label CD came out
before our managers could
land a booking agent, so by the
time we got a support slot on
a tour, all the radio and retail
promotions for the record were
already over. The label also
spent way too much money on
a video that they couldn’t get
onto MTV. More than a year
later, our guitarist called in a
favor that got us some spins on
Headbangers Ball, but by that
time our label had gone belly-up
and the band had pretty
much imploded. As they say,
timing is everything.
Having worked in the guitar
effects industry for 15+
years, I’ve noticed that it shares
some striking similarities with
the record industry. As with
a band, marketing a successful
guitar effect is like putting
together a jigsaw puzzle, and
it’s necessary to have specific
pieces of this marketing
puzzle in place to score a “hit”
with a stompbox. While the
actual pieces may vary slightly
between the two industries,
they are close enough to effectively
mirror one another.
Just as music has various
genres, there are different types
of guitar effects with their own
particular sounds, and some of
these categories of effects have
decidedly more appeal than others.
Based on sales data for the
various brands that we’ve distributed,
overdrive pedals consistently
come in at the top of
the food chain, year after year.
Let’s call them the pop music of
the pedal industry—they’re easy
on the ears and carry a broad
appeal, but they also play to
a fickle audience whose tastes
change almost daily.
As a rule, an overdrive sells
better than a chorus pedal or
octave divider—assuming,
of course, that it’s a quality
product (though sometimes
even that doesn’t matter). In
my experience, how well a
given pedal sells correlates to
what class of device it belongs
to. Though it seems obvious,
not everyone markets stompboxes
with this in mind. For
example, I’m puzzled (pun
intended) by a certain boutique
builder’s emphasis on advertising
its new phaser. As amazing
as I’m sure it is, I doubt it’s
going to outsell the overdrives
or boosters in their line. They
seem to be pointing a lot of
marketing dollars at a fairly
small segment of the market.
So, the broader the appeal
of the pedal, the better chance
it will sell well—wow, now
there’s a complex formula!
Please note: I’m not trying to
discourage builders from making
the absolute craziest and
most esoteric pedals imaginable.
Bring ’em on! However,
I would equate these types of
effects to the indie bands and
record labels of the ’80s and
’90s that had a more focused
appeal and therefore a much
smaller, niche audience.
Of course, an indie band
can go on to become the
next Nirvana, and boutique
pedals can likewise become
mainstream. This has happened
with brands like Z.Vex,
Fulltone, and Way Huge. All
three were virtually unknown
10 or 15 years ago, while today
they are household names (at
least in guitarists’ households).
Effect popularity can also
change based on the type of
music that’s currently popular,
which reveals an interesting
symbiosis that exists between
these two industries. A good
example of this is the compressor:
As country music (and
hot Tele picking) has moved
into the mainstream over the
past 10 years, compressors
have seen a renewed popularity
and markedly increased sales.
Compressors rank in the top
three effect types, according to
our company sales data.
In my next State of the
Stomp installment, we’ll
explore some of the more
specific pieces of the “effect
success” puzzle and discover
how they continue to mirror
the record industry. We’ll also
discuss how this formula has
changed over time with the
advent of new technologies.
See you next time.
Kevin Bolembach
is the President and
founder of Godlyke, Inc.
- the U.S.distributor for
many well-know boutique
effect brands
Including Maxon,
Guyatone, EMMA and Providence.