As you probably know I am attending at Musikmesse Frankfurt every year. I am there with Markbass, a Italian company I have an artist deal with.
Many of the musicians I meet there are telling me that the reason for them to go to Musikmesse is to get endorsement deals. Thats ok and it’s one of many purposes to attend a trade show.
What makes me think is that today I see a lot of “endorsement hoppers”. That’s what I call musicians who have endorsement deals, artist deals or what ever you call it, with one company one year and with another company the other year. Sometimes the periods are even shorter. To me it seems like some aim only for collecting equipment that they can get for free. For me this is not the way to go.
When I make a endorsement deal with a company I do it because I would buy (or I actually did buy) their products for the regular price anyway, because their products make my life easier, because I really love their products and I can identify with what they do and because I am proud to use them. To have a good relationship with the people at the companies my equipment is made by is very important for me as well.
Because I stick to this rule it’s no surprise that I have the same endorsement deals for many, many years now. On the other side, I wouldn’t stay with a company any longer if I wouldn’t be convinced by what they are doing anymore.
One more thought in that conjunction: Some say I am endorseing a company, some say I am endorsed by a company. From my point of view both is true. For me a endorsement deal only makes sense if it’s a benefit for both parties. I get something and of course I give something back. And that’s the way it should be, isn’t it?
JOERG FESER 