News
MUSIC CHINA: Tapping the domestic market
Andy Barrett in Shanghai Oct 16 2009, 6:44am
UK companies begin to see fruits of repeated Music China attendances
While the past few years of Music China (this is now the eighth show here in Shanghai) have been largely concerned with opening up a channel into other Far Eastern markets and maintaining good links with established suppliers, this year many of the regular manufacturers and publishers are finally seeing the fruits of having a presence here at the China show.
Two brands, Ashdown and Faith, together with the ABRSM, which has just completed a round of examinations in China for the first time, are here at the show with their domestic distribution companies, which has the benefit of making life that little bit easier for the UK management, as well as having a team on the stand that knows and understands the Chinese retailers.
Faith had been involved in China previously through a single Chinese multiple, but is now working with its new distributor and reaching out to many more dealers as a result, with Alex Mew, Barnes & Mullins marketing manager holding fort as the western face of the company.
Likewise, Ashdown and Hayden products take up a good part of its distributor's stand and is immediately seeing the up side of having a reliable partner selling directly to the Chinese market. "We are selling our mass-produced models at the moment and seeing how that moves along," commented Chris Bates, Ashdown's sales director. "Obviously a £2,000, hand-wired, UK made amp is simply going to be beyond most people's reach here, but the amps are certainly selling and who knows what will happen. The distributor has access to anything it wants, so the sky's the limit."
ABRSM is now running a pilot scheme for its exams in the Shanghai region and has seen enormous business on its stand as a result. "Some people are saying that the show is a bit quieter this year, but I certainly haven't been so busy in the five years we've been coming here," said ABRSM's Ben Selbey. "As well as the increased interest from the Chinese pilot, we have had just about everybody from the Pacific region here over the past four days. It's been incredibly good."
