Hey Kids, Have You Heard The News? MOSAIC's IN TROUBLE!!!

[David Ayers]

I'm wondering how they reach customers? I don't even get the emails, though I still have a customer account. In any case I don't want spam from them or anybody else. Physical product, physical catalogue? Have to reach customers somehow. Is it enough to just sit there with a website? I can see that worked with some loyal customers but can that really be enough?

[miles65]

1 hour ago, David Ayers said:

I'm wondering how they reach customers? I don't even get the emails, though I still have a customer account. In any case I don't want spam from them or anybody else. Physical product, physical catalogue? Have to reach customers somehow. Is it enough to just sit there with a website? I can see that worked with some loyal customers but can that really be enough?

I don't know if it is enough to attract new costomers but they have a Facebook page. With 2.000.000.000 others...

[Niko]

3 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Physical items simply aren't necessary any more. Books, magazines, newspapers, catalogs are much more rare in physical form these days. Hell, our local Barnes & Noble recently went under. Most people with newspaper subscriptions read them on their tablets or phones these days. I even read a story some time back about university libraries cutting back on physical stock so they can create more space for computer stations. 

So Mosaic discontinuing their catalog makes perfect sense, and I seriously doubt it hurt their sales in any significant way. 

Don't think it's that simple... magazines, newspapers, catalogs, encyclopedias...  are going under but in general, physical books are doing pretty well for the moment - what's changed is their distribution which has migrated from physical stores to amazon... Regarding the university libraries: Print copies of scientific journals are hardly used nowadays and they do take up space. Text books are a different story... I do see students use "computer stations" but I would not expect that to be a long-run phenomenon either... What most students need are desks, electricity, wifi and access to the relevant databases...

as an aside: I doubt that the Joe Castro boxset was a profitable enterprise overall, but one thing they did very well was replace the need for a fancy booklet by a very nice website which (I guess) was still cheaper, takes care of some of the advertising and allows to include many original documents, photographs and extensive, unobstrusive footnotes

https://www.joecastrojazz.com/chapter1

 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Niko

[Hot Ptah]

I think that the kind of people who still buy physical boxsets are the same kind of people who still respond to receiving a physical catalog in the mail. I think that Mosaic may have made a mistake there.

What I think would save Mosaic is having jazz lovers order a set every month, or every few months, as a regular thing. The reminder of receiving a catalog can be helpful.

i think that the Mosaic catalog could be much less elaborate than it was. It was a catalog among catalogs, on a level of quality with the box sets. It could be more of a pamphlet and still work to remind people to order.

[soulpope]

23 hours ago, erwbol said:

Thanks for the tip. 

Still available as indiviadual release too ....

[Ed S]

1 hour ago, Hot Ptah said:

I think that the kind of people who still buy physical boxsets are the same kind of people who still respond to receiving a physical catalog in the mail. I think that Mosaic may have made a mistake there.

What I think would save Mosaic is having jazz lovers order a set every month, or every few months, as a regular thing. The reminder of receiving a catalog can be helpful.

i think that the Mosaic catalog could be much less elaborate than it was. It was a catalog among catalogs, on a level of quality with the box sets. It could be more of a pamphlet and still work to remind people to order.

I used to look forward to receiving the catalog, even though I'm very much an online customer.  I think that an annual catalog is a good way to keep buyers interested, or perhaps a post card mailing with the latest set highlighted as well as some recent sets and the Running Low sets.  I once wrote Michael Cuscuna and said his catalogs make for the best bathroom reading material there is.  Throw that catalog in the bathroom and let it work its magic. 

I'd also be interested in a subscription service that might give subscribers free shipping or some other advantage.  Not opposed to crowd funding sort of things either.  I regularly support the Organissimo crowd funding and would do the same for Mosaic.  Some Mosaic stuff like beer coozies and glasses, highball glasses, t shirts, coasters, would be cool rewards.

 

 

 

[ghost of miles]

Scott told me a couple of weeks ago that some of their longtime customers don't have a computer. I'm sure that's an ever-shrinking part of their consumer base, but yet another wrinkle to the set of challenges that they've faced in recent years. Still, I certainly understand why eliminating the print catalogue was one of the steps they took in recent years to try to stay economically viable.

[AllenLowe]

interesting about the catalog and emails; I am a very irregular purchaser of Mosaics, but I do buy stuff from them; yet I've never gotten a group email or any kind of appeal or informational message from them (though I should mention that Scott Wenzel is a great guy and very responsive on a personal level). Even my crappy business model says that if you buy anything from me, or even just send me a query, you get on my mailing list, which costs me nothing to do (and of course if you request, I will remove you - maybe)........

Edited May 7, 2017 by AllenLowe

[Scott Dolan]

2 hours ago, Hot Ptah said:

I think that the kind of people who still buy physical boxsets are the same kind of people who still respond to receiving a physical catalog in the mail. I think that Mosaic may have made a mistake there.

What I think would save Mosaic is having jazz lovers order a set every month, or every few months, as a regular thing. The reminder of receiving a catalog can be helpful.

i think that the Mosaic catalog could be much less elaborate than it was. It was a catalog among catalogs, on a level of quality with the box sets. It could be more of a pamphlet and still work to remind people to order.

Or better yet, how about a simple newsletter? It would cost far less to print and distribute. That's potentially the best compromise between marketing and economic viability, IMO. Because I agree with ghost of miles that it was a necessity, rather than a mistake, to discontinue the catalog.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Scott Dolan

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, AllenLowe said:

interesting about the catalog and emails; I am a very irregular purchaser of Mosaics, but I do buy stuff from them; yet I've never gotten a group email or any kind of appeal or informational message from them (though I should mention that Scott Wenzel is a great guy and very responsive on a personal level). Even my crappy business model says that if you buy anything from me, or even just send me a query, you get on my mailing list, which costs me nothing to do (and of course if you request, I will remove you - maybe)........

Huh?  I get a couple of e-mails a week.  Don 't you get The Sunday Gazette? 

[AllenLowe]

just talking about Mosaic - I get lots of other promo emails - but never Mosaic.

[Niko]

Well, they send the Mosaic Daily Gazette via email every sunday. That they send it on sundays is, of course, clever, because that's when people actually have time to order... Otherwise... well, it is a collection of interesting jazz links of the previous few weeks - Scott Wenzel (?) handpicks worthy blogposts on jazzwax, dothemath etc, adds a youtube link or two, and might even throw in a few Francis Wolff photographs so that it's not simply a collection of links...

I'm not saying they should stop sending those emails... but... I always found them kinda sad and desperate... I can select what to read on these websites myself ... in a way these newsletters are a sad reminder that Mosaic booklets are not as essential as they used to be as I can always find plenty of information online ... and no, it's not the same quality... but then: I can listen to hours of, say, Gene Ammons on spotify, read old issues of Jet and Billboard, augment with some more recent reviews... for me, that comes close enough to a Mosaic experience without anybody producing a boxset... Good for them that so many here think differently from me.

(Let's also not forget that they (must have) misunderstood the market a few times in recent years, True Blue and that Smooth Jazz Series come to mind)

Edited May 7, 2017 by Niko

[AllenLowe]

huh; no I have never gotten a word from them.

[mjzee]

I love their Sunday gazette.  

5 hours ago, David Ayers said:

I'm wondering how they reach customers? I don't even get the emails, though I still have a customer account. In any case I don't want spam from them or anybody else. Physical product, physical catalogue? Have to reach customers somehow. Is it enough to just sit there with a website? I can see that worked with some loyal customers but can that really be enough?

I'd bet they mostly depend on free media: newspaper reviews, website mentions and the like.  The Wall St Journal, for example, usually gives a full-column review to each of their releases, and that must result in some sales.  Frank Zappa said that he gave so many interviews because he didn't have money for promotion, and this worked as a substitute.

1 hour ago, AllenLowe said:

interesting about the catalog and emails; I am a very irregular purchaser of Mosaics, but I do buy stuff from them; yet I've never gotten a group email or any kind of appeal or informational message from them (though I should mention that Scott Wenzel is a great guy and very responsive on a personal level). Even my crappy business model says that if you buy anything from me, or even just send me a query, you get on my mailing list, which costs me nothing to do (and of course if you request, I will remove you - maybe)........

FYI, Allen, I bought a disc from you I think last year (the Matthew Shipp CD), and have never received an email from you since.  You don't call, you don't write...

[AllenLowe]

really? Consider yourself lucky; but seriously, clearly an oversight. not to digress, but we are on a new promo program. Please message me your email.

[ElginThompson]

2 hours ago, Ed Swinnich said:

I used to look forward to receiving the catalog, even though I'm very much an online customer.  I think that an annual catalog is a good way to keep buyers interested, or perhaps a post card mailing with the latest set highlighted as well as some recent sets and the Running Low sets.  I once wrote Michael Cuscuna and said his catalogs make for the best bathroom reading material there is.  Throw that catalog in the bathroom and let it work its magic. 

 

 

 

Unless they specifically tracked the return on investment for the physical catelogue, it is difficult to assess how effective it was as a marketing tool. When trying to make ends meet, marketing is usually the first to go in a small business. I understand why they likely eliminated the catalogue. That said, I looked forward to receiving it and to a lesser extent enjoy the Sunday email newsletter. Mail in the physical or electronic form is generally annoying, but anything from Mosaic puts me in a happy place. 

Edited May 7, 2017 by ElginThompson

[hbbfam]

I seem to recall that I have received Mosaic's physical catalog every year in December, this previous year included.  And I do enjoy the weekly Gazette email.  Very nice post in today's acknowledging the increase in sales in last few days.  Hats off to J.A.W. for getting this ball rolling.

[David Ayers]

I had no idea there was a weekly gazette. That's the kind of spam I can very much do without...

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, David Ayers said:

I had no idea there was a weekly gazette. That's the kind of spam I can very much do without...

It basically lists the newest links on the Mosaic homepage - usually performance videos and articles by people like Mike Myers.  I look forward to getting them.

[David Ayers]

Well I also didn't know Mike Myers wrote for them. Can't he bankroll them? Or is it another Mike Myers?

[Niko]

1 hour ago, David Ayers said:

Well I also didn't know Mike Myers wrote for them. Can't he bankroll them? Or is it another Mike Myers?

no, it works as follows... Some master jazz connoiseur at Mosaic assembles a list like this

http://www.jazzwax.com/2017/05/kenny-dorham-kd-is-here.html

https://ethaniverson.com/2017/05/03/when-you-find-me-will-you-blind-me-with-your-glow/

http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.nl/2017/05/ted-gioia-on-charles-mingus-history-of.html

 

plus three links further links (took me 90 seconds, maybe they invest 10 minutes...) and then looks up whether Francis Wolff took photographs of anybody involved (certainly KD, maybe Charles McPherson or Mingus, too) and adds those to the links... and then someone writes up stuff like "Charles McPherson discussing Bird vs Coltrane vs Dizzy in the second in the second link is really interesting - and don't forget to watch the video" or "Yoshiaki Masuo in that video illustrates that all over the world people were playing the same music Gabor Szabo played in the US"...

and because they're professional writers who actually spend like 30 minutes on it, they do a bit better than me and they call it a Gazette... for me, that additional layer of editing is completely useless but ymmv... the only twist is that they don't post the links directly in the email but rather post them on their webpage so you go from the email to the webpage and then possibly on to jazzwax or dothemath or whereever... in this sense, Marc Myers is working for them just like he's working for us

btw: "Charles McPherson discussing Bird vs Coltrane vs Dizzy in the second in the second link is really interesting - and don't forget to watch the video"

this is actually highly recommended, that video of Charles McPherson and Ethan Iverson playing Lover is not to be missed

Edited May 7, 2017 by Niko

[David Ayers]

Thanks Niko. Sounds weak. And not Mike Myers the actor but Marc Myers, a blogger. Blimey.

[Niko]

the trouble with foreign names...

[paul secor]

I sometimes find interesting things in the Mosaic Gazette, sometimes not. If not, I just delete it. not a problem for me.

[Niko]

of course, it's not a problem - it's just an email. My point is that you can't credibly say "our product is really special" by delivering a freebie that any potentially interested party could assemble in higher quality in 90 minutes. Without looking desperate, that is. [in that respect the Gazette is not comparable to the old catalogue]

Edited May 7, 2017 by Niko