Yamaha Music Store: Where you buy more than just instruments
Deliberately located far from the city’s music hub in the Science Laboratory area, the store offers not just a range of instruments at various price points, but a hub where you can go in to play music, listen to music during sessions and learn music
Dhaka city has always had a single destination for a single commodity. You want academic books at the price of peanuts? Visit Nilkhet. Visit Katabon if you want to purchase a pet goldfish or bird for your home.
Similarly, if you ever asked your 'musician' friend—we all have one of these, don't we—where you could find a new acoustic guitar, he or she probably would recommend taking a trip to Dhaka's Science Laboratory area. That is because, since the late 1980s, Science Lab has essentially been the only place for buying and repairing musical instruments.
However, since 2019, there has been a new player in the game, which goes by the name of Yamaha Music Bangladesh. Since establishing its first outlet in Jamuna Future Park, Yamaha Music Bangladesh has become one of the primary choices for anyone wishing to get into playing or learning music.
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Yamaha employees even go so far as to refer to their store as a 'musical hub' rather than just a bland music store where you go to buy an instrument. What they are selling is the experience, not just the instrument.
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of what the operations at Yamaha are like, let's start with a short history of how Yamaha evolved into the giant that they are today.
It all started off when founder Torakusu Yamaha, whilst trying to repair it, ended up building his first reed organ. That was over 130 years ago in 1887 and it set the ball rolling for Yamaha music, as they built their first upright piano in 1900. And they have never looked back since.
Yamaha used to engineer airplane engines as well, and that is how they got into the motorcycle business. When it came to introducing Yamaha Music in Bangladesh in 2019, it was through this very motorcycle business that ACI Motors got the rights, as they became the sole official distributor of Yamaha motorcycles in Bangladesh in 2018.
In a conversation with Wasiu Osman, Chief of Operations at Yamaha Music Bangladesh, we got to unearth the intricacies of how the brand operates in Bangladesh. And we started off by asking the burning question – how does the business thrive, especially because it is not located in the stereotypical musical hub of Dhaka city i.e. the Science Laboratory area?
"There are places which instantly come to mind when people think about musical instrument shops in Dhaka. However, we wanted to approach this in a non-conventional manner and took it as a challenge.
Our first outlet was in JFP, a location which is totally on the other side of Dhaka and also far away from most other music stores. And to our pleasant surprise, people actually used to show up just to buy Yamaha products," said Osman, adding, "We wanted to drive brand loyalty in our customers."
In Bangladesh, it is predominantly digital pianos/keyboards along with classical and acoustic guitars that draw the most amount of sales. Yamaha has instruments covering a wide array of price points, making it possible for them to meet specific requirements that a buyer might have.
For budding classical guitar players, the Yamaha C 40 is a classic. It is one of those choices you cannot go wrong with. Priced at Tk13,500, the guitar has been the first recommendation from guitar instructors since it was first produced and remains Yamaha's best-selling guitar for over a decade. This is no coincidence, but the result of solid construction, with excellent finishes
and a sound that does it justice.
Every brand out there has high-end acoustic guitars that would easily set you back about a hundred thousand bucks. However, one specific guitar that we found interesting was the APXT2; which is a ¾ size acoustic-electric guitar modelled after the world's best-selling APX500II. This fun, yet well-constructed and compact travel guitar makes for great company when you are on the road. The guitar is priced at Tk30,500.
Arguably, it is the pianos and keyboards that Yamaha is better known for around the world. Even in Bangladesh, you would hardly ever go to a concert where a musician is not playing at least one Yamaha keyboard on stage.
"We primarily sell two types of pianos - acoustic and digital pianos. We also sell hybrid pianos. Of course, the customers of acoustic and grand pianos are of a different breed. Their age is higher for obvious reasons. A lot of these customers end up buying acoustic pianos because a lot of them actually grew up with the dream of owning one since childhood. They may be less in number statistically, but they generate a higher value for our business. People do age but their hearts remain young," said Osman.
The tide shifts a bit when it comes to digital pianos. Osman stated that students, young adults and job holders alike have a fondness for digital pianos.
Yamaha Music has targeted digital platforms for promotional purposes. It is the energetic youth that they predominantly want to cater to. That does not seem wrong as a business ploy because Yamaha Music had a growth of 52% in their second year of business operating in Bangladesh.
The following year, they had a further 30% growth and they are eyeing about 20% this year.
The exorbitant price range for Yamaha's top-tier devices may induce a novice or casual music enthusiast to have second thoughts. Although there are underlying causes, Yamaha Music wants you to think that their engineering is of such high calibre that it takes precedence over all other considerations.
"We sell two to five pianos on average per month [acoustic and upright]. We need to have more than Tk70 lakh in sales to keep the showroom thriving. In the current situation, with the increase in dollar rate and with that, there comes the added duty on musical instruments. So invariably the price goes up.
There will always be comparisons with other stores but you have to realise that a lot of shops do grey importing and skip the legal rate of duty on musical equipment. As a result, they end up selling the instruments at a lower price," added Osman.
The way Yamaha Music BD accommodates guests is one of its best qualities. You will be welcomed and treated in the same manner, whether you are an experienced musician or a young person looking for a guitar that feels 'right' in your hands. Most significantly, they give you the freedom to play their instruments for however long you wish.
"We've actually had people coming in during their lunch breaks from nearby offices and they just end up playing the guitar by themselves for however long they felt like!" said Osman.
Yamaha Music Bangladesh is trying to create a music culture around the city and one of the ways is the regular masterclasses that they have been hosting. The likes of Tahsan Khan, Raef Al Hasan Rafa have all conducted sessions where a lot of interested viewers and budding musicians showed up.
They also have a music school where they teach piano and guitar, while violin will be added to the list pretty soon. They also have an in-house recording studio.
"It's a musical hub overall, not just a place for selling musical instruments. We can show you the path to success if you want to be a musician," concluded Osman.
