Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca!anvil!stank From: stank@anvil.WV.TEK.COM (Stan Kalinowski) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Bitching about S/W distribution / MIDI HELP??!? Message-ID: <4773@orca.WV.TEK.COM> Date: 29 Sep 89 22:09:54 GMT References: <1989Sep28.172110.7096@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> Sender: nobody@orca.WV.TEK.COM Reply-To: stank@anvil.WV.TEK.COM (Stan Kalinowski) Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Wilsonville, OR Lines: 45 Many software stores make a great deal of money selling game software. I suspect that Mitch Shapiro wondered into such a store. That kind of store is ill equipped to handle the sales of MIDI software. Selling MIDI software requires the salesperson to have working knowledge of both computers and music, the type of people Mitch encountered have neither. Fortunately, there are some alternatives. Try shopping for MIDI software in a musical instrument store. The better stores usually have serveral different types of computer available. Most musicians want to try out instruments before they lay down their hard earned bucks and this tradition has also carried over to MIDI software. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when dealing with music stores: o Sales people in music stores are typically paid a comission. If you want good help, find the salesperson that is most helpful and deal only with them. Don't jerk them around. If you don't intend to buy, don't waste their time, it only hurts your reputation as a good customer. If you buy consistantly from one salesperson he or she will see you as a source of revenue and thus work harder to earn a sale. o Expect to haggle on the price. They will charge you list price unless you haggle. Typically discounts of 20 to 30 percent can be had. I've found that when I work with only one salesperson the negotiations become shorter and sometimes they will even volenteer a reasonable discount without my saying a word. o If you are looking at a purchase and it requires a lot of in-store trial, try to identify a time when the store isn't very busy and then set up an appointment to try the software then. You'll never get good service if the saleperson is trying to help 15 people at once. Also, ask about product demo's, sometimes they are put on by the product manufacturer and they can answer many questions. Those are my thoughts on buying MIDI software. Unfortunately, I don't know the area where Mitch lives and thus cannot recommend any music stores there. Mitch - I think a brief posting to rec.music.synth might yeild a few store recommendations in your area. stank US Mail: Stan Kalinowski, Tektronix, Inc., Interactive Technologies Division PO Box 1000, MS 61-028, Wilsonville OR 97070 Phone:(503)-685-2458 e-mail: {ucbvax,decvax,allegra,uw-beaver}!tektronix!orca!stank or stank@orca.WV.TEK.COM