TASCAM is introducing a sales program designed to expand the number and variety of customers for recording products through MI retail stores. Called "Capture Your Art", the program encourages musicians to record their music and draws on the fact that the number of musicians who purchase instruments is much greater than the number of musicians who purchase recording equipment to permanently capture their ideas.

TASCAM division manager Jim Mack explains the ideology of the program. "If you're a painter, from the first day you start putting oil on canvas, you have a tangible representation of your work. If you're a photographer, you can look back on every negative, every print you ever shot. But as a musician, the act of capturing your art is separate from the creative aspect itself. Unless you record your performances, you never have any evidence of your progress as a musician. Also, each performance is momentary, so unless someone was there in the room while you played, you can't share that performance with anyone else at a later time."

The "Capture Your Art" program is comprised of several elements. The first is a wall-mount retail display that shows three TASCAM recording tools at once, with accommodation for easy interchange of nine products including the Pocketstudio 5, the MF-P01, the Porta02 mkII, the 414 mkII, the 424 mkIII, the US-224 and US-122, the US-428 and the 788. The display can also be easily updated with new product releases, using slide-in cards for specific product information. The second element of the program is a detailed sales guide that teaches retail sales people with little experience with recording equipment to easily demonstrate and sell such products. Finally, a printed "Capture Your Art" guide will be made available to distribute to first-time recording product customers, offering simple tips on choosing and using this type of product.

"If every sale of a violin, an acoustic guitar or the like was followed with the question of 'How are you going to record your instrument?', all MI retailers would benefit from the plus business," adds Mack. "No other company has the range of products for capturing music and audio that TASCAM offers, with tools that accommodate the beginner through the hobbyist through the professional recordist. The "Capture Your Art" program gives retailers who might never have been able to expand beyond instrument sales to add a lucrative sales category that expands their clientele."

TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation and produces the most comprehensive line of audio recorders, mixers and related equipment in the pro audio industry. TASCAM has offices in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Japan, Mexico and Latin America.