We import our music from two companies, one in Germany and one in the UK. We can choose which of their titles to carry, of course. But if there's something they don't have, there's no way to make it happen. That is the unfortunate case with the Samba-only collection.
The truth is, our music and DVD stores cannot last forever. There's no immediate plan to nix them, but sales are steadily slowing (as should be expected), and we're starting to think about what will eventually replace them.
The Learning Center is set to pick up where the DVDs leave off, but not until we have at least full instructional content through full silver. This has always been the plan and should not surprise anyone.
It has been suggested time and again that we replace music CDs with downloadable tracks. To do that, we would either need to produce our own, or license it from the major music labels. Neither is a very realistic option, but what we might do instead is modify our music store into a different kind of music service. It would be a similar concept to the one we started with, before it turned into the music store so many years ago. Originally, the concept was to provide a list of tracks, organized by dance style. The bulk of them would be provided by us in the beginning, but ultimately it would be a social tool where users would suggest music for each other. Whereas 12 years ago we arranged for purchasing full CDs through Amazon.com, now we could join an affiliate program with iTunes, Amazon, and even our German ballroom music affiliate to link to downloadable single tracks.
In the meantime, we will continue to sell music on CD for the foreseeable future, as long as people keep buying them.
Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com
