laTeST - Music & Sound Retailer

2010. But electric guitars have
yet to emerge from the recessionary
doldrums. Whether it is
driven by a back-to-basics trend
among guitar players or the
ongoing economic issues, the
increasingly ‘unplugged’ product
mix has continued into 2010.”
“During times of economic
pressure, there are always products
and market segments that
are negatively impacted,” said
Andy Rossi, senior vice president,
Global Marketing, sales,
R&D, Fender Musical Instruments
Corp. “However, it is not
uncommon to see products and
segments that buck the trends
and actually grow during tough
times. We are noting the acoustic
segment is growing despite the
current market pressure, and attribute
this to the fact that people
want to play guitar and make
music. Acoustics offer musicians
a pure, simple and affordable
way to do just that, and we will
continue to offer consumers
great-playing and sounding instruments
at reasonable prices.”
“We do sell acoustic guitars
three to one compared to electric
guitars,” said Chris Basile of
South Jersey Music. “That is
partly due to price point and
also because we push acoustic
guitars to our students. It seems
acoustic guitars in the price
points between $99 to $399 sell
the best for us. Anything over
$600 is not selling at all.”
Now, let’s take a look at price
trends for all guitars. The sale of
guitars some might consider in
the “very expensive” category
continues to take place. Some of
that is due to affluent customers
wanting to buy what they feel are
the best guitars. Celebrities also
purchase guitars in this category.
And then there are collectors
who buy for personal collections
or with the hope of turning a
hefty profit as these guitars
become more desirable, perhaps
in better economic times, forcing
prices to rise. However, in many
other “intermediate” segments,
as you’ll see in the chart, guitar
sales have suffered. Less than
$200 guitars accounted for 42.2
percent of all guitar sales for the
12 months ending January 31.
That’s a considerable rise from
39.3 percent of sales, which was
the figure for the 12 months
ending January 31, 2009. Sales
Sales of acoustic guitars began
to show year-to-year increases in
November and December and have
continued to grow in early 2010. But
electric guitars have yet to emerge
from the recessionary doldrums.
in the $2,000 and over, $1,000
to $1,999.99, $500 to $999.99,
and $200 to $499.99 all dropped
compared to the 2008-09 period.
One might argue the percentage
losses in each individual category
were not humungous, but
nonetheless they are significant.
“Economic conditions have
created downward price pressure
for both acoustics and
electrics alike,” Hirschberg said.
“Over the past year, unit sales
declined in all price ranges.
Consumers have been leaning
more heavily toward under-$200
guitars, which accounted for
42.2 percent of all guitars sold by
MI retailers in the most recent
12 months. Weakness was more
pronounced in the mid- to high
price brackets.”
“In general, the guitar market
[is still] under a great deal of
pressure. While growth is not
impossible, it will be difficult,”
Rossi said. “We do see signs of
the market stabilizing and we
feel this is a good sign that the
worst is over and a rebound is
likely to begin soon. In fact, we
just had one of our best NAMM
shows ever, and overall one of
our best Januarys on record, so
we are optimistic about the year
ahead.”
We’d like to make a statement
that rolls off the tongue, such
as “Back in Black” regarding
electric guitar color sales trends.
But the truth is black was never
gone. It’s always been a popular
color regarding electric guitar
sales. In the past year, however,
black became even more
popular for consumers. This
was most evident in December,
when black accounted for 39.9
percent of sales during the
holiday season. MI Sales Trak
also monitors sales of 14 other
electric guitar colors: amber,
blonde, blue, brown, burgundy,
gold, gray/silver, green, natural,
orange, red, sunburst, white and
other. In December, sunburst
was the second-most color sold
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at 7.8 percent of electric guitar
sales. That only amounts to about
one-fifth of the total black electric
guitar sales, though.
By comparison, black accounted
for 34.4 percent of sales
in February 2009. January 2010
did a see a drop for black electric
guitar sales to 32.8 percent of all
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Music & Sound Retailer 51