My thoughts on the state of the industry..
01-06-2004, 07:26 PM
#1
My Thoughts on the state of the industry.
The car audio industry, where has it been and where is it going? Some think it has already hit its' peak and is now on the downfall, others aren't sure. What happened to it if it's falling? Why now?
There are many different organizations that help support the industry, some examples are dbdrag, iasca, meca, usaci, nspl. I think that this is where we must look to enhance and help the industry. I'm pretty sure many will not share the same views as me, but I will show you why I feel this way. Lets look at all of the involvement with these competition organizations.
Show promoters/organizers put on these shows for competitors to come out and have fun! This is very good, it gets a bunch of enthusiasts together at once and it can and usually is a very fun time! BUT.. competitors need to support this and not have the attitude "I will go to the next one". CarpeDiem - Seize the day, do it now! If you don't the places going through all the effect to put on these shows may stop due to lack of support (IASCA at Audiothunder is a prime example.)
Spectators show up and support the shows, and eventually hopefully will be inspired to put a car together to compete themselves. This is why competitors need to be more open and talkative with their cars. No one is interested in seeing blankets over the car, they want to be able to see in and ask questions. This is why we need competitors to be more friendly and open with their cars.
Competitors show up to the shows and compete, to the spectators they are the source of entertainment. They are the ones you should be asking to see the installs and talking to about competing and car audio in general.
Manufacturers/Distributors sometimes will donate prizes for shows or help sponsor them. They will also sometimes support and sponsor people who do well to get their product better known, it is advertising for them, but more importantly to us, this is a vehicle that we can see (and hopefully hear) and see equipment in use in an actual vehicle instead of a demo wall in a store. This is also the companies money going back into the industry instead of someone’s pocket.
The organizations provide rules and guidelines how to run sanctioned events. This helps keep a consistency going from show to show. They also work closely with manufacturers and show promoters/organizers to help better the industry. They also usually host a world finals, when they take the accomplishments of people through-out the season and invite people to compete at one place to get the best of the best for the season.
So what can we do to help the industry? As I have heard in the past you must "support those who support you".
We need more show promoters and organizers that are willing to go the extra mile to help people out. They need to be willing to look at people's installs and give suggestions, they need to know the rules very well so they don't spend lots of time going through a rulebook to decide whether or not something is legal or not.
Spectators need to come out to more shows to show support. And most of all they need to step up from being spectators and start getting more involved, whether they're competing, helping run the shows, or just helping out in general.
Competitors need to be friendly and more open to talk to people asking question about their install and equipment. They also need to not care so much about winning but more about having fun! They also should be careful when picking equipment, support the companies that support the shows and competitors. Also competitors need to make shops aware that they want competitors, not all shops understand that people want them. Most importantly show up for the shows that are put on and support the people running them, or as seen in the past, they will disappear. Another thing we really need is people having more fun! That's what the shows and everything are about to the spectators and competitors. Too many people are too serious with winning, but you can’t place 1st every time. Also be friendly to the judges and thank them after the show, make them enjoy this as well!
Manufacturers/Distributors need to come out to more shows and show their support. It'd also be nice if they could donate some prizes for giveaways and such to bring more people in. They should also be there to support the people who run their product and to help them out. Most importantly they should be there to give a sense of presence to show they care about the industry and more importantly the people running their product.
Everyone needs to be responsible while enjoying your music. There's nothing worse than some kid driving around at the early hours of the morning booming away and waking people up. That gives us all a bad name. Enjoy your music, but have respect for others.
Over the past 2 years I have met some amazing people that are deeply involved in the industry and give so much support, often they are over looked and unfairly treated. I just think it's time we give them some well deserved recognition, so in no particular order;
Moe Sabourin - I have never met someone as dedicated to helping others and doing what’s best for others instead of himself. I can't wait to see what's in store for the next year, and I plan on helping in anyway I can!
Dave Mackinnon - Your contributions to the industry, knowledge of the industry and reviews are surpassed by none. Don't ever forget that even if people don’t tell you that themselves, they still read your articles and reviews and appreciate it!
Jon and Martine Chaisson - Your support for your customers, friends and anyone else that needs it is amazing, I can't wait to see what's going to happen next year!
Todd Hepburn – Without you there would be a lot less competitions, thanks for being a good judge and not giving up even when people give you a hard time.
The car audio industry, where has it been and where is it going? Some think it has already hit its' peak and is now on the downfall, others aren't sure. What happened to it if it's falling? Why now?
There are many different organizations that help support the industry, some examples are dbdrag, iasca, meca, usaci, nspl. I think that this is where we must look to enhance and help the industry. I'm pretty sure many will not share the same views as me, but I will show you why I feel this way. Lets look at all of the involvement with these competition organizations.
Show promoters/organizers put on these shows for competitors to come out and have fun! This is very good, it gets a bunch of enthusiasts together at once and it can and usually is a very fun time! BUT.. competitors need to support this and not have the attitude "I will go to the next one". CarpeDiem - Seize the day, do it now! If you don't the places going through all the effect to put on these shows may stop due to lack of support (IASCA at Audiothunder is a prime example.)
Spectators show up and support the shows, and eventually hopefully will be inspired to put a car together to compete themselves. This is why competitors need to be more open and talkative with their cars. No one is interested in seeing blankets over the car, they want to be able to see in and ask questions. This is why we need competitors to be more friendly and open with their cars.
Competitors show up to the shows and compete, to the spectators they are the source of entertainment. They are the ones you should be asking to see the installs and talking to about competing and car audio in general.
Manufacturers/Distributors sometimes will donate prizes for shows or help sponsor them. They will also sometimes support and sponsor people who do well to get their product better known, it is advertising for them, but more importantly to us, this is a vehicle that we can see (and hopefully hear) and see equipment in use in an actual vehicle instead of a demo wall in a store. This is also the companies money going back into the industry instead of someone’s pocket.
The organizations provide rules and guidelines how to run sanctioned events. This helps keep a consistency going from show to show. They also work closely with manufacturers and show promoters/organizers to help better the industry. They also usually host a world finals, when they take the accomplishments of people through-out the season and invite people to compete at one place to get the best of the best for the season.
So what can we do to help the industry? As I have heard in the past you must "support those who support you".
We need more show promoters and organizers that are willing to go the extra mile to help people out. They need to be willing to look at people's installs and give suggestions, they need to know the rules very well so they don't spend lots of time going through a rulebook to decide whether or not something is legal or not.
Spectators need to come out to more shows to show support. And most of all they need to step up from being spectators and start getting more involved, whether they're competing, helping run the shows, or just helping out in general.
Competitors need to be friendly and more open to talk to people asking question about their install and equipment. They also need to not care so much about winning but more about having fun! They also should be careful when picking equipment, support the companies that support the shows and competitors. Also competitors need to make shops aware that they want competitors, not all shops understand that people want them. Most importantly show up for the shows that are put on and support the people running them, or as seen in the past, they will disappear. Another thing we really need is people having more fun! That's what the shows and everything are about to the spectators and competitors. Too many people are too serious with winning, but you can’t place 1st every time. Also be friendly to the judges and thank them after the show, make them enjoy this as well!
Manufacturers/Distributors need to come out to more shows and show their support. It'd also be nice if they could donate some prizes for giveaways and such to bring more people in. They should also be there to support the people who run their product and to help them out. Most importantly they should be there to give a sense of presence to show they care about the industry and more importantly the people running their product.
Everyone needs to be responsible while enjoying your music. There's nothing worse than some kid driving around at the early hours of the morning booming away and waking people up. That gives us all a bad name. Enjoy your music, but have respect for others.
Over the past 2 years I have met some amazing people that are deeply involved in the industry and give so much support, often they are over looked and unfairly treated. I just think it's time we give them some well deserved recognition, so in no particular order;
Moe Sabourin - I have never met someone as dedicated to helping others and doing what’s best for others instead of himself. I can't wait to see what's in store for the next year, and I plan on helping in anyway I can!
Dave Mackinnon - Your contributions to the industry, knowledge of the industry and reviews are surpassed by none. Don't ever forget that even if people don’t tell you that themselves, they still read your articles and reviews and appreciate it!
Jon and Martine Chaisson - Your support for your customers, friends and anyone else that needs it is amazing, I can't wait to see what's going to happen next year!
Todd Hepburn – Without you there would be a lot less competitions, thanks for being a good judge and not giving up even when people give you a hard time.
01-06-2004, 10:11 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Thanks for the kind words Chris...
I try and do my part.. It's not always easy to find the time for everything I want to do.
I would sum up the industry like most others, it's a war for the consumers dollar. The industry is in a huge slump from it's hey-day in the late 90's. The Car audio industry is battling against those looking for performance and styling upgrades. Movies like The Fast and The Furious sparked (reinforced) the desire for more power and more style.
Everything else stems from this. Manufacturers can't afford to support the industry if they don't have the sales to create the income.
It's far too late at night, and I am far too weak (I was up sick all last night and haven't eaten anything in 24 hours) to come up with a solution, other than to suggest that nothing be done that is detrimental.
We've lost some of the best competitors due to the costs involved with competition, and to insurance companies not wanting to replace their systems after a theft.
Oh well, I'm off to bed...
I try and do my part.. It's not always easy to find the time for everything I want to do.
I would sum up the industry like most others, it's a war for the consumers dollar. The industry is in a huge slump from it's hey-day in the late 90's. The Car audio industry is battling against those looking for performance and styling upgrades. Movies like The Fast and The Furious sparked (reinforced) the desire for more power and more style.
Everything else stems from this. Manufacturers can't afford to support the industry if they don't have the sales to create the income.
It's far too late at night, and I am far too weak (I was up sick all last night and haven't eaten anything in 24 hours) to come up with a solution, other than to suggest that nothing be done that is detrimental.
We've lost some of the best competitors due to the costs involved with competition, and to insurance companies not wanting to replace their systems after a theft.
Oh well, I'm off to bed...
01-07-2004, 05:03 AM
#4
I know I left alot out of that, but hey its already long enough and I know some people get bored after reading 1 line [img]smile.gif[/img]
But I think this year will be a big year for Southern Ontario.. many people I have talked to beleive this as well.. so lets make it happen! [img]smile.gif[/img]
It sucks that almost always the problems for things is money. But the way I see it, the competitors that stop competing should be helping out with judging and promoting more after instead of just giving up [img]smile.gif[/img] but hey thats just me [img]smile.gif[/img]
But I think this year will be a big year for Southern Ontario.. many people I have talked to beleive this as well.. so lets make it happen! [img]smile.gif[/img]
It sucks that almost always the problems for things is money. But the way I see it, the competitors that stop competing should be helping out with judging and promoting more after instead of just giving up [img]smile.gif[/img] but hey thats just me [img]smile.gif[/img]
01-07-2004, 09:14 AM
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Another problem is the internet. There I said it. There has never been a bigger time waster invented that is basically targetted at car audio's core market. When I started getting into car audio the only competition for my dollars was snowboarding. But today there is so much more to spend your money on.
Also the quality of music that most people listen to today is pretty bad. We have marketing types telling us that they can get good sound out of crappy dinky little speakers, and generally they seem right because the bands are poorly recorded, then poorly compressed into MP3's that sound terrible. Who wants to spend $300 on speakers that are going to make their music sound worse instead of better by revealing all it's flaws.
[ January 07, 2004, 10:15 AM: Message edited by: DWVW ]
Also the quality of music that most people listen to today is pretty bad. We have marketing types telling us that they can get good sound out of crappy dinky little speakers, and generally they seem right because the bands are poorly recorded, then poorly compressed into MP3's that sound terrible. Who wants to spend $300 on speakers that are going to make their music sound worse instead of better by revealing all it's flaws.
[ January 07, 2004, 10:15 AM: Message edited by: DWVW ]
01-07-2004, 12:18 PM
#9
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,649
I’m hoping (for obvious reasons) that the market gets hot again!! I think Ontario is going to be exciting for car audio in 2004 with a lot of shows and a lot more activity. Income for manufacturers/distributor/dealers is what allows money to flow for bigger and better things to happen. You have to remember that for these guys it’s business. If there is no income being generated, they can’t keep pumping things in the system and still hope to survive. I also think that people are starting to understand what sponsorship involves, how it REALLY works and what a freebie really is. You’d be surprised how much review gets done of someone looking for sponsorship. It’s a small world and lots of people on the scene that you may have talked to or have seen you are easy enough to contact. Getting “partial” sponsorship now is actually a good deal and I think you may be seeing a lot more of that. Competitors and other users are becoming ambassadors for manufacturers, distributors and dealers. It’s almost like a part time job where there is both give and take. It’s the building of relationships that are mutually beneficial.
I’d like to add to that list all the people that take the time to judge competitions and also to those dealers that make the effort to host shows. I think those two groups of people are outstanding. Next in line would be all the competitors that invest their time and money to build and come out to shows. Without this community of people, car audio would not be as colorful and exciting as it is.
[img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]
I’d like to add to that list all the people that take the time to judge competitions and also to those dealers that make the effort to host shows. I think those two groups of people are outstanding. Next in line would be all the competitors that invest their time and money to build and come out to shows. Without this community of people, car audio would not be as colorful and exciting as it is.
[img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]
