Who Regulates The Car Audio Industry?

[getyayayaout]

Exactly as the title suggests? Who regulates the industry? In Vic for instance, is it the VCAA?

[Chris Rogers]

in what respect?

[getyayayaout]

Is there a corporate body who oversees the audio installation industry? Do businesses have to be affiliated with such a body and do installers of audio and security systems need to be formally qualified through TAFE or trainee ship to seek work etc?? The reason I ask is I would be interested in getting into the industry but need a little info before making my mind up

[Chris Rogers]

what qualifictiosn do you have?

[Carbon 34]

World wide creditation

http://www.mecp.com/home.asp

order the books and study then speak to a audio shop for a apprentice program

Car Audio master

http://www.caraudiomasters.com.au/information.html#contact

there are a few others but the top one is the place to look for training starters.

or a automotive sparky course to start off with.

and learn fabrication of wood, fiberglass,etc.

and public skills to sell your wares

math for calculating profit, box sizes,etc

and you better be devoted to everything audio,security or you will burn out quick.

expect sore knees, back, hands, etc. and fumes from glue, fiberglass, paint, wood, etc.

its not all glam doing fancy stuff like "street customs" shows you, a deck and 4 install pays the bills. and alarm skills are mandatory to make a living

you will have days of hell and crappy cars to work on, nasty people to deal with. etc

so be forewarned and if you think you can cut it, welcome to insanity..lol

[Chris Rogers]

yep and I like every minute of it!

(he's right though.)

[Chris Rogers]

ALSO:

CAM ,

that is for the stores. I tried that a few years back. they will not let me in.

[getyayayaout]

Cheers for the advice guys im taking it all onboard, its really appreciated:) Happy new year

[cavell]

there is a tafe course you can do at holesglen in moorabbbin, it will teach you the basics and also give you a bit of work experience with a car audio company to just get your foot in the door. i did this course and i got a job at one of melbournes car audio specialist instal stores. the car couse helped me get the job there. At first i loved the job the audio, cars, wiring, alarms, boxes, fiberglass and the rest of it. but if like the others say, *if you dont love it you wont survive*, i did love it but didnt see it as my carrer path saw it as more of a hobby, and didnt like the shit cars to work on the hours and so on and so on . otherwise it is generally a good industry, but make sure you leave it if its not something you want to do for a living, nothing worse then being stuck in a job you dont want to do for life.

Ring the tafe and see if you can get into the car audio course, its only 6 months and it will be one of your best chances of getting into the industry.

GOOD LUCK

[frx026]

The car audio industry has never been regulated.

It is splintered. There has always been different factions here in Australia. Mainly led by small groups that have no reall input of staying power.

Groups like Car Audio Australia, Iasca Aust, Car sound Masters, car sound challenge, aust audio buying group, etc etc have sprung up and due to no-one really wanting to invest in them or competitors not wanting to work together they fail or disapeer after a while.

Db drag racing will most likely be the next group to fall now that the autosalon events are gone and do not provide a stage for new people to see how it works. With no-one investing in marketting and promotion how can they attract new people to a dying event?

The Tafe course while attempting to formalise some of the knowledge with regards to instalations is a joke. It is not worth doing and provides a person with no real world skills that are suitable to an employer. I would never employ a person that has only completed the tafe course.

Car Audio Masters is just a bunch of stores started by tonkins in adelaide and freeway in melbourne. Between Bruce and Michael who formed it they try to be different however it is really just a buying group that gives them some sort of group buying power with some of the larger suppliers so that they compete against some of the major retail chains. It has no real benefit and anyone with a shop front can buy their way into this group, throw up the cams logo and claim to be accredited. It should be stated that the most buying power they have is on surplus or discontinued product.

Major chains, we all know them, jb, strathfield, autobarn have over the years all taken their own directions as competitors in the market place and as such are unwilling to form any group with ties to the opposition. They are increasingly facing more and more market pressure from ebay, repco, supercheap and some of the smaller chains (5-6stores) which means that none of the major retailers will get behind any sort of regulation.

From my experience. Which so far has only been 16 years in car audio and involved working for retailers, wholesalers in various positions from the basic installer to national sales manager after i finished some business courses. I have worked as a judge at various audio events etc, etc.. Anyway.. the audio industry as people call it is full of people with no real qualifications, false qualifications, back yard mechanics and former employees of stores that think they know it all.

For example.. How many times have you seen a mobile installer appear out of nowhere? His/hers only qualification is that they worked down the road at the local audio shop before leaving.. Ever wondered why they leave? Most of the time good installers dont just leave, their bosses know they are good and will try to keep them. Its the bad ones that get asked to leave.

Now there are exceptions, some people are good at what they do. But those individuals are in oppostion to each other which once again goes against the whole thing of coming together and regulating the industry.

Its a pity in this respect we cant be more like america where they have proper qualifications, differing levels of qualifications and the manufacturers of the product have meaningful training rather than just a product launch night with a few free beers.

Anyone who as actully been to a product launch night will understand what I mean by that.

So, as you can see it splintered. Its all over the place. And as sales of aftermarket audio products in australia continue to drop across all segments it is dying.

[Shiraz200SX]

+1 to product launches gotta love the fact that you usually learn more about reading the booklet than from the reps... lol...

[Chris Rogers]

clinton,

they are a laugh at the best of times. at one pioneer night I popped off the meaning of mosfet and stumped the rep and the sales staff that where there.

PJ,

how VERY well put. I'll sit neutral on this as I'm involved at a few levels on what you covered.

to the OP:

unless you are prepared for shit jobs day in day out - forget this biz. the stuff I do is not typical of day to day jobs.

[Carbon 34]

clinton,

they are a laugh at the best of times. at one pioneer night I popped off the meaning of mosfet and stumped the rep and the sales staff that where there.

PJ,

how VERY well put. I'll sit neutral on this as I'm involved at a few levels on what you covered.

to the OP:

unless you are prepared for shit jobs day in day out - forget this biz. the stuff I do is not typical of day to day jobs.

can we have a amen to that chris..lol

PJ ,, I'm from the US and its not all roses over there either.. they ran across the "book smart" people doing basic installer tests then landing a job with NFI how to do anything in the real world..they last about a week tops before they get let go.. I learned audio myself back in the days of 8 tracks, and "new" hi tech cassette decks with home subs gutted out for bass... and when crappy kraco 6x9 speakers were the hot thing.. (they bite ass for all you newbies )

and over the years learned a lot , went to uni for a degree in advanced electronics engineering , worked doing some crap for lockheed martin- space dept. and airlines. but overall I learned on the job thru trial and error.and have been certified by orion, rockford, and the above group in USA.. after doing this for a long long time now, I do still have a passion for it, but when you get older the body doesnt contort to the shape of a lambo seat while your head is under the dash soldering for hours on end. yes I'm old .lol but not grown up enough to know better.

I do find OZ doesnt have the commitment but in the future I see a specialized sparky for audio integration due to the new stuff on the horizon, data buss, fiber optics, lasers etc to run everything from a car pc, in terms of safety, brakes, gps, you name it.. the average back yard installer wont be able to troubleshoot or interface that type of system without expensive tools and skills. and unlike most shops in USA, the majority of oz installers wont warranty a install for the life of the car/owner. we did all the time as long as it hasnt been touched by anyone else first. I dont think we had a defect rate of less then 1 percent from a bad install.. only failed equipment and even that was rare.. except for a few underwater marine amplifiers from a sunken speed boat..lol

and if you do get in the biz.. go to CES in vegas ,, the promo chicks and goodies are fantastic.. nothing like parting for days on end...lol

maybe someday I will open a shop again , and hire someone to teach.. I could dress like yoda..hahaha

come join me on the dark side (audio installer)lol

[Chris Rogers]

troy,

not quite as old as you but I did own a set of kraco speakers at one stage.

I went through MECP when they started it. there were still kids then that wanted the dream but not the workload. things never really change on that side of it. I still get 1-2 people a month asking me for a job with little prior knowledge.

to be honest I see this industry doing what the housing industry did.back in the late 80s. there were so many builders at one point that 'natural selection' (for lack of a better term) weeded out most of the crap ones whilst hurting the good ones. those that survived are now doing well and can charge for their experience. with technology going the way it is there will always be a need for a good auto sparky and if there is one that understands sound then even better. the average joe doesnt know half the technology in todays cars - as long as it starts , radio plays , and it drives they are happy. (though they bitch when their favorite new gizmo wont plug into it!)

if everyone would actually see that specialists charge a price for a reason then half this crap would be gone in my opinion. hell the $4.4k scan tool I have is a must in my daily routine. that has to be paid for in some way shape or form