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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | I found this fascinating reading and if you have any interest or insight into the music industry it all sort of fits together
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/05/28/gibson28.shtml |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | As far as I'm concerned that whole article could have been summed-up in one phrase
"bought...the company...with fellow Harvard MBA classmates "
as that is the begining of a well honed formula that has only one solution...
"The first obligation of a company is to be profitable."
I don't know what it is they teach in bean-town, but for some reason, being bought by "a Havard MBA and some friends" almost always in my experience equals some level of disaster for the product and the employees. I may be wrong, and may have just offended a large population of nice folks, but it has just been my experience. I notice that other folks with MBA's don't signify it as part of their name and in many times, not even as part of their title in general use. Where as a Harvard MBA is often refrerred to as "the Havard MBA" and one might not even know his name. I know that other schools have an MBA program, yet I have NEVER seen something like "his UCLA MBA classmates" in any article or reference.
let the flames begin...... |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 48
Location: CT | No flames from me.
I consider the whole thing demoralizing.
"He's certainly not a kind person..."
"He's painfully smart... Unless you're on that wavelength, he's quite mysterious at times..."
These personalities are always essentially interpreted as "too smart", which is way too kind. When you're not bound by common respect, courtesy, etc. you can conduct your business and personal affairs (and happily confuse the two) like a reckless, spoiled asshole and be written off as an eccentric genious. Precious. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | al, until i joined this site i hadn't given much thought to the "business side" of guitars. i hope this article and other things i've read aren't an indicator of things to come. someday good guitars might only come from private luthiers at high costs and the average musician might have to choose amongst the profitable mass produced alternatives. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 126
Location: UK | Im afraid this phenomenom is not just confined to the USA.
Same happens here in many good solid, well founded and run business, the fat cats jump in, buy it up as they see (in thier eyes) a profit potential, with no respect for the company or the product, just a respect for profit alone.Then they mess it up, as they have NO experience in the companies particular field.
This Gibson guys personality is a mirror of one my partners/director in my business, (there are 4 of us,with some employees as well) all have different personalities, and this particular guy is considered a "Loose cannon" its hard work and a struggle to keep on top.We just started from a mutual hobby, we arnt business men, and have no hope of ever being so, but i can sympathise with the Gibson employees,it must be so frustrating and soul destroying. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | Welcome to the big bad world of business boys and girls where profit is king and throats are cut way before we even have our morning tea and bagel.
I posted this because I think that many times we forget that although this is a thing we love and as Matt Smith so wisely told me one morning at about 4:30 am "this is why we PLAY music not work music" well this is a business. No customers, no bottom line and you are out in the cold. There will always be large companies making large amounnts of guitars and many of them will be quality instruments.
the small luthiers will survive side by side because if they are not selling instruments they are doing repairs or something else. Yes they demand a high price but if you think of the man hours involved in building a guitar and ask yourself would you want to work for minimum wage.
[ April 05, 2002: Message edited by: alpep ] |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | What does MBA stand for?
My financial VP tells me CPA stands for constant pain in the ass.
It seems anybody who has been in the industry a while has a henry story. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has a good one. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Fortunately big biz is not all gloom and doom. There are many companies that believe in
Good Product + Good Service = Big Bucks
Most all of the really successful companies operate that way. Just look at the top of the S&P 500. Those are the companies (mostly) that have good reliabe service, and a good product and just plod and crunch along all the way to the bank.
Miles |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | MBA- Mighty Bad Accountant |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | it seems to me that when big business starts to get into the realm of art which of course includes music, you are trying to mix oil and water. my metalwork studio was far from a corporate enterprise, but i saw the joy of doing the best work i could do and the pride of finishing something i designed with my own hands lessen with each new employee and the associated headaches. by the time i was up to 11 employees i no longer had the time to do the work i used to enjoy, and became a salesman and administrator to keep a bunch of guys employed who's basic goal was to do as little as they could for as much money as they could. one day i snapped and during an employee management "bitch at the owner" meeting i fired all but two who had the same love for the work as i did. i stopped accepting work i didn't want to do, put on my coveralls and got dirty, sweAty and happy again. the interesting part of this is that my net was higher with 2 employees than with 11. i stopped doing anything that was a compromise and the joy came back. the return to good work brought wealthy appreciative clients. i retired to pursue other interests at 44. i still accept an occasional commission. a good friend now owns my shop and unfortunatly he is up to 10 employees. the sparkle in his eye is gone, and he is always in a hurry to meet with someone.
might be a moral in this-------luthiers and capable instrument makers are probably every bit as scarce as artist blacksmiths were for me to find. when you cant find the skilled help you need to meet demand you adapt the designs to fit the level of skill you have working for you. the product changes as well as your reputation. if you are making tires or toothbrushes you can compensate for skill level with technology and machines. i rarely see anything that is really quality craftsmanship or art that can be mass produced. and that is why IMHO the harvard guys will never get "it" (to borrow a meaningful word from one of bill's (cwk2) posts). |
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Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 196
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA | Remember way back when AMC bought out Harley? Their quality nose dived, the bikes were called bowling balls on wheels.... This article really points out that anybody with the bucks can get involved in a venture about which they know nothing.... Fortunately, there will always be those of us who PLAY music because of a deep love.... and there will always be luthiers who make quality because of a deep love.... hey.... something this bad could even happen to Kaman... but I'll still have my babies and I'll still be looking for more.... The soul can't be stopped from making music. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 389
Location: RI. That small State out East | "2 cents"
It's not everybody... Often the guy at the top is "OK" or has his shit together... It often is the young buck that is "climbing" and will sell his mother and first born, that you have to watch. I "played" in a few multi mill co. in my past life. When I "made it" to the select few (you know regional or zone level)the quality or the morals of that select group is 50/50. People drink alot to cover the stress... You know the group. It takes guts to stand out and "remember" the customer. Hard times, hard decisions are made every day. I was told long ago to "keep emotions out of it, and just find a way..." That's when the assholes without a soul... forget the customer. :( |
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Interesting reading
