Eufonic

Establishment of the organisation/initiative/enterprise

The primary motivator was sharing music, especially on vinyl. “We must keep the vinyl alive” is Alex’s intention. He started collecting music in 2012, and now, he wants to educate the local public and provide a niche shop for the connoisseurs of electronic music. Until Alex opened Eufonic, he already received a lot of good feedback and interest regarding what music he listens to and recommends to the local community of listeners. Having a good ear as a selector or editor of tunes, Alex decided to turn it into a business and quit his regular job.

It is worth mentioning that Timișoara city has a diverse electronic music culture that influenced Alex over the years. Evolving in such a context, Alex had the chance to observe and evaluate what he liked in the electronic music scene and how to improve it by providing local DJs and public quality vinyl music.  

Management structure and governance

Eufonic is a for-profit enterprise, and Alex is its manager. For the moment, it is a one-person company. Alex does the selling of vinyl and the packing, booking artists and producing and publishing as a record label.

Principles of work, objectives and activities

For Alex, the leading principle of work is music quality and honest up-to-date communication with the client regarding their purchase, and, of course, customer care.

One main important activity of Eufonic is what is called digging, meaning looking for new music and records, either new releases, re-pressed or even old music that is hard to find. After digging, Alex recommends music either to his clients or on Eufonic’s social media pages to test the reactions. Once the selection is complete, orders take place, and delivery services proceed to the final client. 

Eufonic’s long-term goals are to expand the record label promoting artists from other countries and book big names as an agency for the local scene in Timișoara; expand the delivery area around Bulgaria, Greece and other countries neighbouring Romania; open a physical vinyl shop, and ultimately to open a music club. 

Target groups

Eufonic target groups are electronic music enthusiasts aged between 24 to 44, which is the target return age. This target group includes electronic music listeners (techno, house, garage, drum and bass, dub/dubstep) and local DJs but also listeners and DJs from major Romanian cities such as Cluj and Bucharest. Eufonic is the local DJ provider for artists from Timișoara.

Around this DJ community, Eufonic is also a platform where DJ producers can release their music on vinyl through Eufonic Label and also create electronic music events.

Innovation

In terms of innovation, Eufonic focuses on customer care. For Alex, it is important to have a conversation with the client from one connoisseur to another. Since Eufonic is a niche music shop, people buying are part of the same international music community of listeners. If clients are willing to discuss (and most of the time, they are), Alex is giving music recommendations and also receives feedback regarding his service. Everything revolves around music. Some clients are impressed by Alex’s recommendations, either personal or Eufonic social-media pages. For every vinyl bought, Alex is giving a few stickers and a personalised thank you card.

Another innovative aspect of Eufonic is the Record Label and Booking Agency dimensions, which adds a musical coherence overall according to Alex’s vision and musical taste. The first two vinyl releases from Eufonic have been already offered by major distributors around Europe: Spain, the UK, Italy, and Germany. One explanation for this is the quality of the musical release.

What is worth mentioning is that Eufonic is the second Record Label in Timișoara that releases music on vinyl.

Impact and Evaluation

Given the fact that Eufonic started during the pandemic in an online format and less than two years it developed also into a Record Label with two releases from two major artists and a third forth-coming release, Eufonic managed to grow exponentially as a business and vision solely based on selling electronic music on vinyl.

Eufonic is the local music provider for DJs and listeners, making the purchases much more affordable than ordering from a foreign shop. Also, releasing music on Eufonic Record Label, which can easily be distributed around Europe is a huge opportunity for Romanian artists.

Recommendations

The good practice can be adopted in other countries and regions as well. An online music shop can be maintained with less capital than a physical shop. To run such a business, cultural entrepreneurs must find a good source for finding music and records to sell. Meaning, when they are not the producer (label) of records, they have to find records from elsewhere.

Alex recommends that one has to know if there is a community of listeners around. Music is a universal language; national borders should not be a limit. But if one wants to be a music provider, one must know the underground music culture in case one wants to be a niche music provider, such as Eufonic in electronic music. One must also be aware that patience is key along with being very well organised because, for a music shop, deliveries and communication with labels or other providers, can be very difficult to manage.

Lessons Learned

Alex considers that patience and luck were the key factors to growth. However, one has to provide some necessary conditions for luck to happen, which is the attitude of expecting the unexpected. Additionally, Alex could spot the right opportunity when he started with the online shop, which was perfect for the time of the lockdowns.

References

Eufonic Record online shop.

Eufonic Record Label.

Eufonic Booking Agency.