Here at Sweetwater, we are making our own Y2K plans, the first of which involves changing our company logo. While many of us will always hold the old “tape reel” logo close to our hearts (after all, it’s been very good to us), we felt it was time to move on. After all, any company that is not prepared to make significant changes in this highly volatile marketplace is not going to survive. Our new logo, which appears throughout this issue and in all of our newest ads, is simple and streamlined. In many ways, it represents the many changes we have made behind the scenes in the way we have done business over the years.

Yet despite all these changes — most of which you never see — we remain the very same company that opened its doors in 1979 with a philosophy of putting the customer’s needs first. What’s more, that same philosophy has now earned us the prestigious Music Inc. REX award as Music Retailer of the Year.

John Janowiak, who wrote the Music Inc. article about our company was quick to recognize that the way Sweetwater does business is what sets us apart from all the other companies. “Underneath it all,” he writes, “there’s a long-term philosophy that values relationships between manufacturer and retailer, employer and employee, and employee and customer. It’s one of several qualities that, in the eyes of many manufacturers, makes Sweetwater Sound, LLC a model of retailing excellence and the obvious choice for Retailer of the Year.”

What is so impressive about the REX award is that it is not determined by a committee or the magazine itself, but rather by manufacturers, suppliers and their representatives. These are people who actually felt it was worth taking the time from their hectic schedules to sit down and fill out the Music Inc. surveys. While we know from customer comments (and we get dozens — sometimes over a hundred — each day) that we are on the right track, such validation by our peers is almost overwhelming. The Music Inc. article continues: “When describing Sweetwater Sound, manufacturers mention high-quality image management, progressive marketing and vision — not to mention free candy . . . it may help to think of Sweetwater as neither a conventional retailer nor mail order house, but as a business that has succeeded in meeting the demands of a changing world.” As we move towards the year 2000, we realize there are many more changes and challenges ahead.

In 1979, there were not many options available to musicians. Products that were professional quality carried astronomical price tags. Today it seems that just about every item in our huge warehouse is pro quality in every respect, yet the majority of the items sell for a fraction of what the pro audio gear cost even a few years ago.

With all this high quality, complex gear available to musicians, it’s pretty obvious that to succeed, our sales staff has to know the equipment inside and out. And out of this need was born Sweetwater University and the many in-depth product demonstrations we get each month from manufacturers who are thrilled that their products will be represented to consumers by people who actually understand what the item does, how it performs and compares to other equipment, and exactly how this gear will integrate into a potential buyer’s existing setup. And nothing makes a manufacturer (or us) happier than customers who feel they have made a wise investment in exactly the right equipment for his or her needs.

Oddly enough, we have never kept the key to our success a secret. We tell you about how we do business in just about every issue of Sweet Notes, in our ads and on our Web site. Makes you wonder why other companies haven’t followed our example. Well the truth is that some have tried, but here’s what sets us apart: Nobody in the industry can match the team we have assembled here at Sweetwater. It would be impossible for us to say enough good things about them. From the people on the “front line” — our receptionists and Sales Engineers — to all our Product Support and Service staff to our Shipping department, Soundware personnel and our Creative team, we believe we have the finest collection of talent in the entire industry. Nobody can predict the future, but we can say with some degree of certainty that given our track record, our committed staff and our loyal customers, Sweetwater will be around long into the next century.

On an entirely different topic, we want to to begin doing a series of customer profiles in upcoming issues of Sweet Notes. Want to be included? It’s really simple: Send us a color photograph (print, negative or slide) of you and your studio or stage setup, along with a few paragraphs about yourself and your music and (if you’d like) some comments regarding your personal experiences as a Sweetwater customer. We think this will be an excellent way to give many of you some great exposure since we ship Sweet Notes to over 170,000 people (note that most of the major industry publications you probably subscribe to or buy regularly have circulations that are less than half that!). It will also give other musicians ideas about how to build or configure their own stage or studio rigs. We hope to begin this feature next issue, so send in those photos. It should be fun for everyone.

A few additional items we want to touch on that we will be discussing in much greater detail next issue: We are installing an entirely new, state-of-the-art phone system that went online over Labor Day. This is a serious system and will greatly enhance our ability to take care of customers. There are some very cool things that it can do to help us take care of all our customers needs. As we said, more next issue.

Also, we have just hired what we are calling (for lack of a better term) a “Customer Service Evangelist.” His sole responsibility will be to take our customer support to the next level. This is a position that is actually separate from our existing (award-winning) customer service and technical support, and is devoted to high level customer issues ranging from putting out those “day-to-day fires” to making changes to our infrastructure. This is going to be a huge step that will make dealing with Sweetwater even more of a pleasure.

Finally, before we hear the anguished cries, we apologize for having to cut our Q&A column from this issue. Rest assured that it will return next issue. See you then!