Skullcandy - Fostering a Niche Community

I recently had the pleasure of being part of an Inc. Magazine live chat with Skullcandy founder Rick Alden. In case you were wondering, Skullcandy makes headphones, apparel and accessories for the skate, surf, snow, moto and bike crowd...talk about a niche market! 

Rick spent his life's savings and refinanced his home to start Skullcandy after having his "Aha!" moment while on a ski lift in Park City, Utah.  "I was listening to my iPod and felt the phone buzz in my pocket and thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to have a set of headphones with 2 jacks?' ..and that was it."  Just a few years later Skullcandy has amazing offices that lookout to the ski resort areas of Utah and a passionate fan base full of alternative sport enthusiasts.

Rick touched on a number of business topics; how the company deals with overseas merchants, how and who they hire and what their plans are for the next five years.  But I was interested in "how the company fosters a sense of community among Skullcandy users".  Here is Rick's response:

"MusickEd...I like the name!  Wow, that's a good question!  It's interesting because that question typically gets asked 'How do you maintain a sense of community within the Skullcandy organization"... but among our users we really do get involved heavily in events and things going on outside of this organization.  

In 2005 it was the first time we opened up a non-endemic lifestyle shop - we went out and started selling headphones to Musicland.  Musicland eventually got acquired by a company called FYE stores and there were 1,400 of them at that time and that was our first national footprint.  In order to create demand for those kinds of retailers we have to be in lot of different places.  But at the same time, because there were1,400 FYE stores we were able to take the revenue with profits we  were making out of places like Target and Best Buy and commit to more endemic marketing efforts like US Open Surf, Maloof Money Cup, and the Warped Tour.  So hopefully we are able to stay in touch with the community of Skullcandy users.


And of course, if you go to the website, you'll see a lot of "reach out" and interaction with the users as well. It's been a great community."

 Watch the entire live-chat here.

Lesson Support - Where Traditional Method Books Fall Short

The mantra at discoverlearnandplay is..."there are no magic bullets!"  Our learning process requires a bit of work, some reading and light study, a sprinkling of memorization and a side order of stick-to-it-iveness....just like most things that are worth tackling. But we've packaged it in a no-nonsense format and painstakingly edited the entire content so that it is orderly and sequential.  There's just not a lot of 'fluff' involved. 

One aspect that separates our product from traditional "method books" is support, which includes (among others), Live Help, Instrument Support and Lesson Support.  Having this information online allows us to make quick and easy changes in real time.  There's no re-printing, no re-shipping required and users always have the most recent version(s) of support right at their fingertips. It's simply too costly for traditional publishers of method books to re-tool and in fact, some books (you know who you are) have included the same mistakes for years and years. It's time for innovation!


The comments below are from Lesson Support for guitar. They are an overview of the 'in-house' experiences our teachers have made during the many years of teaching this (Lesson 1) material.

General Comments 
Whole notes and whole rests are prominently featured in this song. Be sure to hold each whole note for four full beats. Also be sure to count four beats (of silence) for each of the whole rests.

The basic pattern of the melody in this song is to step up through the five notes and then step back down again. However, the pattern changes with the whole note in measure 11. Don’t let this catch you by surprise!

Be ready for the only measure of quarter notes in this song – measure 10. Make sure that these quarter notes move exactly twice as fast as the half notes in the previous measure. 

Every song, for every instrument in each of the 20 lessons of the Kore Series (that's over 7,000 songs!) includes instrument specific information.  The staff has essentially prepared a lesson plan (known on campus as Individual Instruction Documentation) for our users to read as part of their learning process.  The notes below are for Bits and Pieces #1 in Lesson 1 for guitar:

Guitar Info 
For now, use the 1st finger in the 1st fret for the note C, 2nd finger in the 2nd fret for the note A and 3rd finger in the 3rd fret for the note D. G and B will both be played on the open strings.

Be sure to let all notes ring for their full value. That means keeping the fingers of the fretting hand in place or allowing the open strings to vibrate uninterrupted as you count the full duration of each note.

Be sure to stop the strings from vibrating at all rests.

We recommend using a pick but you might also use your thumb to more comfortably find the notes and strings at these beginning stages.

Be sure to stay on the tips of the fretting fingers to create the clearest sound. 

Lastly, each of the first 5 Lessons include pointers to help you set a solid practice routine for future learning:   

Practice Pointers 
Check to make sure that you know how to perform each of the 5 notes required for this song. Practice each of the exercises to help prepare for the patterns of notes and rhythms we're using.

Try just saying the letter names of the notes all the way through the song before playing.

Practice first just moving from one note to the next smoothly and comfortably in each song.

Now add in the rhythm – checking yourself with the melody track can help keep you steady. When you can play through the songs consistently with all of the correct notes and rhythms, try playing with the background tracks - first with the help of the melody and then without.

All of this information comes from just one area of support for the Kore Series.  There's also a killer Glossary, Live Help, Tech Support and Custom Support and the iMusickEd that inlcudes access to our educational Webinars, Forums,  Blog, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.  

Traditional method books or online services?  Seems like a no-brainer!

MusickEd Welcomes St. Ann Parish, Coppell Texas

St. Ann Parish is a vibrant Catholic community of over 28,000 members located in Coppell, Texas. The music ministry is led by Curtis Stephan, an accomplished musician, composer and performer and includes a 100+ member adult choir, a Spanish praise group, and a contemporary ensemble that performs for youth masses and events.

Members of the St. Ann music ministry recently met with Dr. Bob Lawrence, president of MusickEd.com and got a Kore Series Curriculum primer. Bob began the presentation by saying "This is not a magic bullet, it's real music education and it does require work.  But it is an awesome curriculum and most of all, it's fun!"  

Director Curtis Stephan said, "I have been in music a long time and I looked carefully through the lessons. It will be great for all of us to be speaking the same language as we rehearse in the upcoming months. I know everyone is excited to get started and I am looking forward to hearing their progress."

The group felt like it was important to continue their sense of community online so we created a password protected area in our forums. This allows St. Ann users to share their stories, document their progress, and offer encouragement to fellow members.  

Welcome to all of you from the faculty and staff of MusickEd.com and happy learning! 

Read more about our group rates and visit Discover, Learn and Play to see the Kore Series.

A Good to Great Refresher

It's been a while since we read Good to Great by Jim Collins so I thought it was time to revisit the work.  After-all, it made a lasting impression on all of us at DSM and MusickEd.com at a crucial time in our history. The book addresses a single question: Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?   

Good to Great shows that greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance; but largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline. It's interesting that many of the following gems from this 'business' book can apply to other areas of life...like relationships or learning to play an instrument.  Good or great is not a matter of luck, there are no magic bullets. Here are a few items from the book that we've  tried to take to heart over the past 15+ years:

Good is the enemy of great.

Decline is typically self-inflicted.

Over night successes are usually 20 years in the making.

Striving for great is a cumulative never ending process - “the moment we think we’re great, we’re dead”.

Get the right people on the bus even before you decide where you’re going.

Hire self-motivated people who are committed to doing whatever it takes.

The “plow horse” typically beats the “show horse” when it comes to great CEOs.

My daily office hedgehog reminder

Have the discipline to confront the brutal facts.

Find your “hedgehog” concept. What are you truly passionate about? What can you be the best in the world at?

We're still hashing through the list,  but we've successfully checked a few items off over the years.  We have the right people on the bus, a plow horse and a hedgehog...

Giddyup

Kore Series - Group Pricing

In recent weeks several groups, schools, and school districts have expressed interest in adopting the Kore Series curriculum for their members and students.   To that end we have established special academic or 'group' pricing for as little as $1 per student (or member) per month.  

The benefits include access to all 20 lessons in the Kore Series, quizzes with ear-training, our patented note finding systems, original songs and play-alongs, forums, webinars, free support and more.

Large private studios, civic organizations and church groups can monitor and encourage each other via the forums and once completed, quiz results can be printed and turned in so teachers can assign and check progress. Lessons can be accessed from any computer or device with internet so learning can take place 'on campus' or at home.

In a time when budgets for music are shrinking or have already been eliminated, the Kore Series offers a legitimate music education learning program to help fill the void. 

E-mail musicked@gmail.com for more information about our group membership or visit www.discoverlearnandplay.com.