How the Internet Helps Violinists

The violinist demographic is huge and diverse. In the last month our website had visitors from 63 countries and from every state. From California we had visitors from 75 locations in the state. About half were visitors from the cities and the other half were from the small towns in the mountains and the desert. A larger proportion was from the "country" from the states of New York and Texas. So the conclusion I draw is that all violinists love the internet and what it gives violinist. But it seems to have a particular appeal to non urban violinists.

I would think that there would be a larger concentration of violinists in urban centers so why do our stats not reflect that? Is there a reason that the internet gives more to the "country" violinist? It seems to me that this might be the case. Up until recently it was only worthwhile for violin businesses to set up in big cities. There are too few violinists in thinly populated areas to support music schools, philharmonic orchestras of any level, music shops, sheet music shops and luthiers. City folks just had to go downtown to gain exposure to any of these violin shops and services. For country folks it was much more of a trek. With the advent of the internet all country folks need to do to even the playing field is get hooked up with some decent internet service. Then all of the violin goods and services that were offered to city folks are now offered to country folks. For the city folks it is also beneficial as there is more selection of violin goods and services than was ever available before.

For both demographics the internet expedites the shopping process. The shopping process has 4 steps for the consumer. You see a product you want. You shop it as in you do your research to see what you want exactly and check out prices. The third step is that people want to see and touch and for violins hear the product. The final step is to purchase the product. The internet certainly has expanded the world of information and products available to violinist wherever they live. The only challenge is step 3. For the urban violinist, step 3 is still easier as there is still more exposure in the city to the real product before purchase. For the rural violinist, step 3 may depend on the return policy of the vendor as you may not physically experience the product until it is purchased and delivered.

So what exactly can a violinist shop for on the internet? You can shop for violins, violin bows, violin cases, violin books, violin accessories, violin sheet music, violin posters and pictures and any kind of violin gift. You can find specific on line stores that sell just that product or there are stores that carry 2 or 3 or 4 of the products or there are 1 or 2 that carry just about any violin item you could want. The more specific stores may carry more of a product and some better quality products of one of the categories as that is their specialty. The online department store will offer all of the products but less of each. The smaller store you get something a little more specific that you want and it may cost a little more. In the on line department store you can get it all and order all at once to save on the shipping.

This topic takes us back to the advantage of the internet to the rural violinist. You don’t need to go to town to get the best violin products. You can get them shipped to your door. There are some rural buyers who I have done business with that are very good at this. One in particular bought a beautiful Tourte Bow at a very good price and never came down from her mountain top.

I marvel at what a wonderful research tool the internet is. For violinists this is particularly true for both the consumer and for the online seller. The best example I can think of to illustrate this point is that one site in particular offers 500,000 different sheet music offerings just for the violin. And this is available to every violinist that has a computer, an internet connection and a credit card. I cannot think of any demographic that has gained more from the internet than violinists.