Conn-Selmer Monopoly

[Riff]

I just got back from the IAJE conferrence in California. Conn-Selmer had a booth there as usual but they were also displaying LeBlanc and Yanagisawa saxes. When I asked about this the rep told me that Conn-Selmer has bought LeBlanc. This was news to me.

So now Selmer USA controls production and/or distribution of four major brands in the U.S. (Selmer USA, Conn, Selmer Paris and now Yanagisawa)! This can't be good for the saxophone market in America. When do the anti-trust laws kick in for this kind of stuff?

[Rahspeak]

yet another reason to go out and buy more Keilwerths! :razz:

[Rex]

...or Yamaha. :evil: :P 8-)

[Merlin]

I'm willing to bet Yanagisawa has a contract with Leblanc that will eventually expire, allowing someone else to get the distribution rights.

[larry]

According to http://www.Conn-Selmer.com - they own:Selmer
King
Conn
Ludwig
Bach
Armstrong
Emerson
Artley
Benge
Glaesel
Leblanc,Noblet, Vito, Yanigasawa, Holton, Martin
W. M. Lewis & Son
Scherl & Roth
AND it's worse than you think: Conn-Selmer Inc. is a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. (NYSE: LVB).
It's GOOD to be the King! :?

[Chris S]

Regarding the monopoly thing...

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on which side of the fence you're on) there are a number of small independent sax companies (Cannonball, Mauriat, Antigua etc.) that keep Conn-Selmer (and in the bigger picture Steinway) from being an 'actual' monopoly. I'm sure there are others in the other instrument families, strings, brass, etc.

Also, if Conn-Selmer was ever slapped with a monopoly suit, they could probably move their HQ to Paris pretty easily, and that would maybe not get rid of the suit, but make it much harder to litigate. I'm not 100% sure on that, but it seems like it would work. It'd be a chicken sh*t thing to do, but so is charging $4000 for a new horn, IMHO.

Chris S

[Dave dix]

They must have forgotten to add buescher to their list(of surerior horns they have down troddenDave

[Rahspeak]

They must have forgotten to add buescher to their list(of surerior horns they have down troddenDave

Even THEY must feel a tinge of guilt at doing that to such a great brand. lucky for us those old bueschers are still easy to come by....

[SAXISMYAXE]

And with that many companies and that big a monopoly, Conn-Selmer can't manage to produce an American made Saxophone worth a plug nickel? Unbelivable. :roll:

[Hurling Frootmig]

I have spoken to a couple of people at Conn-Selmer about plans to produce a true Pro Horn and they say that they don't have any plans. I suspect that the biggest reason is that they don't see how they could make money with a Pro Horn. Given some of the stories I have heard I also suspect that they don't have the tooling anymore to any of the great pro horns of the companies that they have purchased. They would have to re-engineer them and it would probably cost them millions in start up costs to do the project. The other thing I suspect is playing out here is the fact that their labor costs are pretty high.

I think if someone had enough money and the dream to build a great American made sax it could be done but it would have to be an operation like Keilwerth was when they were family owned.

[russps]

Regarding the monopoly thing...



Also, if Conn-Selmer was ever slapped with a monopoly suit, they could probably move their HQ to Paris pretty easily, and that would maybe not get rid of the suit, but make it much harder to litigate.



Conn-Selmer does NOT own Selmer Paris. Conn-Selmer is the US distributor for the Selmer Paris products.

Russ

[jaankaden]

i'm not so sure about the moving to paris part too. if memory serves me right, european laws are actually tougher on monopolies or mergers. or was it just britain? hmm.. :?

anyhoos, my guess is that conn-selmer merely owns distribution rights of yanagisawa because of their buying of leblanc. i guess the distribution rights/contract carried through. but like merlin said, it will expire sooner or later, and my guess is that yanagisawa probably would not be looking to renew it. just doesn't make economic sense to have your competitor distribute your products. conflict of interest, no?

of course, there are a lot of ways to look at this, but i wouldn't worry about anything just yet.

[Hurling Frootmig]

According to a variety of parties there is little love lost between Selmer USA and Selmer Paris. It would not surprise me if Selmer Paris has someone else distribute their products in this country down the road.

[newking70]

It would not surprise me if Selmer Paris has someone else distribute their products in this country down the road.
From what I understand, it's a long term deal. Something i'am sure Selmer Paris regrets.

[newking70]

yet another reason to go out and buy more Keilwerths! :razz:
Sadly Keilwerth, is owned by a large consortium. From what I understand, the Keilwerth factory sits empty, they are now being built in central Europe :sad2:

[Dave dix]

When the rest of europe join the EU and wages rise i bet keilwerths will be sourced from Aisa
Dave

[Gange]

Keilwerth is, together with Buffet Crampon, Schreiber, Besson and more, owned by The Music Group, http://www.musicgroup.com/ .

Some Keilwerth model(-s) are already built in Asia.

[DaveKessler]

Yet again, some clarifications........

Steinway owns Conn-Selmer. Conn-Selmer recently purchased Leblanc for $35 million (considering that Leblanc only sells $28 million in a year).

Leblanc, was NEVER a big player in this market. They had a few good products (Leblanc clarinets, Holton French Horns, and the right to distribute Yani). Leblanc was a dying company in my opinion.

Leblanc is still operated as a seperate entity (for now) with only the district sales managers being merged. However, this is sure to eventually change.

I honestly think that this buyout is a GREAT thing for Yanagisawa. Lets face it, what good has Leblanc done for Yani. Leblanc NEVER has horns in stock and commonly, Yanis are on a 4-6 month backorder... yet we can get them through Germany in 14 days.

Conn-Selmer on the other hand, sells a boat load of Selmer Paris. Yet there is a Serious gap in the Conn-Selmer product line in saxes prior to this buyout. From Conn-Selmer you had the AS200 American made intermediate horn and now the La Voix and then you jump to the Selmer Paris horns for over $1000 more. Honestly, the AS200 needs to disappear. The AS220 La Voix is a better horn for less.

The Yanagisawa fits the gap of product offerings for them. This means that Yanagisawa should be available to more dealers who were not Leblanc dealers. Thus getting better exposure for the Yanis.

Lets also face the fact that Selmer Paris saxes are not going to be hurt by this. So what if they are available through the same parent company in the USA. Selmer is Selmer, Yani is Yani and players are going to buy what they want because it is what they want.

I honestly do not see any downside in the buyout to be honest. I also think that it positions Conn-Selmer to better attack Yamaha.