You can listen but not hear . . . By Director Wayne Hall

June 30, 2008

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I was chatting recently with a person who had just celebrated their 40th birthday party. Naturally, my first question was to ask what they had done for music.
Their answer - and it was an emotional one - was very insightful, not just in terms of music, but in relation to how important the qualification and support process of a “sale” can be. Here’s what happened.

The person engaged a “covers” band, and the lead singer made the point of sitting down with them in order to explain the “process” as well as offer some suggestions - things like the make up and duration of the music sets, what time the band would/should finish up, how “loud” they would be, special song & announcement requirements . . . and so on and so forth.

For the breaks between the band and the session following their completion, a young DJ was taken on - a friend of the part-holders. He was provided with a clear indication of the type of music to play . . . INXS, Madonna, Bryan Adams . . . all good, safe stuff to dance to, given the age of the people attending.

I’m showing my age here, but at the risk of offending some of my middle-aged compatriots, “40-year-old-and-over-parties” are about looking back and looking forward. The music component has an integral role to play with both - the memory of a great song and great times, together with the physical expression that comes with dancing . . .  “I can still jump around and have a good time . . . and will continue to do so for a while yet, thank you very much”. Nostalgia is an emotional state this group craves, and rightly so.

From all reports the covers band understood and delivered this condition completely. Aside from nailing the songs, they built a rapport with the party goers and read the mood, with the result that the dance area was always packed with people having fun (and no doubt returning to the days of their youth). I’ll bet the birthday person had a smile from ear to ear during their sets, and from all reports this band does very well, thank you very much, playing corporate gigs and birthday/celebration events.

The DJ, in total contrast, was too cool to play “songs from the 80’s”. Why play that corny stuff when you have at your online fingertips the latest R&B and Hip Hop beats? Don’t they know what’s happening in the world?  You can have at your disposal the tools to call up any song, but none of that matters if you’re not listening (well, not listening to people anyway).

The result . . . lots of middle-aged people coming off the final-set of the band on an emotional high, only to be brought thudding back to earth as they stood around listening to music that was totally foreign - uncomfortable, even - before politely excusing themselves from the party . . .  “thanks it was great, but we’ve got a busy day tomorrow”.

Music influences behavior. Well-designed music programs help stimulate a pattern of behavior that creates an experience. It sounds a little cruel but it would have been interesting to observe the people at the above party going through the respective highs and lows of the band and DJ sessions. But seriously though, a DJ or band set offers a fabulous example (and proof) of the way music can be a key determinant of the atmosphere . . . people are either up dancing or not.

More important than the music, though, is the capacity to qualify and deliver on the agreed solution. The covers band understood this completely, appreciating that making people happy - meeting their expectations - is a function of understanding their needs.

Hopefully the DJ will work it out . . .


Funny retail story (well I think so anyway)

I walked into a bottle shop recently which was playing the radio. Not so much playing it; more like “crackling” it. I commented to the guy at the counter:
“Mate, sounds like your radio is a little off the station . . .”
“Nope,” he said calmly, “it’s not . . . It goes like that whenever anyone walks into the shop. It has something to do with the electronic signal from either the automatic doors or sensor . . . they interfere with the radio waves . . . it lasts for a few minutes each time”.
“Hmm,” I said, trying to look equally calm (you must remember that corrupt audio environments are very distressing for me). “Perhaps it may be worth switching to the FM band (I’d noticed it was on AM) or maybe even playing a CD . . . it must drive you crazy . . .”
(I didn’t think the customer angle would work at this point).
“No mate,” he said, “they give all the horse racing results on this station, plus the footy’ll be on later”.
How could I argue with that logic?  He truly was a wise man. All I could manage on the way out was: “you must really hate it when customers walk in to your shop . . .”
The scary thing was that I don’t think he picked up on the irony.

I have found another bottle shop, and I don’t care if they haven’t as many specials.


Wayne Hall
Director

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