Playback - Winter 2008 - (Page 19) In 1992, Cuthrell says he needed to find steady income because he wasn’t making any money playing in a band. Giving drum lessons seemed like a smart way to capitalize on his talents. He started advertising with hand-drawn fliers and drove to students’ homes to teach. Eventually, he opened his own shop and hired instructors. Progressive Percussion evolved into a full-scale music education facility, Progressive Music, with two locations in North Carolina: Raleigh and Wake Forest. Today the company offers private lessons for guitar, drums/ percussion, bass guitar and piano, as well as clinics, summer camps, custom drum finishes and bass drum head designs. One of his early ideas was implementing a School of Rock, which he started in 1993. “We advertise it as ‘the original School of Rock,’ and I felt like this could offer participants more than just weekly lessons.” Students are encouraged to take part in the Student Band Jam program, where they are put into groups that rehearse at the center’s facilities and then eventually perform. Each lesson room in the Progressive Music Center is multi-purpose and includes a drum set, amp, P.A. system and music stands. “We encourage students to play together,” Cuthrell says. “It’s a huge thing for them to get in there and see another kid sitting behind a drum set. It helps retain students longer.” For parents, he has clean waiting rooms with televisions so that they and their other children will be entertained while waiting. “I always leave the remotes out so that they can watch what they want; this way I also see what’s popular with the kids.” Lately, he says young girls at his stores are into the Disney Channel program Hannah Montana, which features a teenage girl who’s also a pop singer. Cuthrell sees shows like these as indicators of social change: “In two to three years, these girls are going to be more interested in guitar. We’ll get more students this way.” In the past, Cuthrell helped grow his business by advertising lessons at a lower cost than local competitors. “Some years we had a 300 percent growth rate, but it caught up to us. In the beginning we were charging way too little,” he says. He He started advertising with hand-drawn fliers and drove to students’ homes to teach. Eventually, he opened his own shop and hired instructors. His strategy from the get-go was to build a student base that would create an audience for music product sales. “We focus on small-town relationships where everybody knows your name,” Cuthrell laughs. “I’m very hands-on, and I train my staff to be that way, too.” His two locations cater to different demographics. Teachers at the Wake Forest location usually work a regular 40-hour week with homeschooled students. In Raleigh, a contract with the local parks and recreation department keeps another group of teachers busy with a year-round schedule. “Some teachers teach 25 kids per hour in a guitar class,” he explains. Over the years, Cuthrell has learned to put a great deal of effort into student retention; his average rate is now between 14 and 16 months for students 8 to 88 years old. monitors the health of his business by cost per lesson, which equals tuition, overhead and teachers’ salaries. When he’s not working, Cuthrell volunteers on the PMC’s executive committee, helping spread the word about the organization’s programs: “I love the feeling of being with people who share my passion,” he says. “I see the same commitment in them that I give to the industry.” WINTER 2008 19
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