As you look out your window and see April showers cascading outside, you could be thinking about how 2007 was a bit gloomy itself. But hey, spring is finally here and the guitar market could bloom like the flowers. “2007 was a lackluster year for retail sales in general, but guitar sales continued to grow,” said Jim Hirschberg, president of MI Sales Trak. “Electric guitars led the category with 2.5 percent growth in unit sales and a robust 4.2 percent gain in dollar sales, which indicates strength in the high end of the market. There was some weakness in the acoustic and bass segments, but the total guitar category finished the year on the plus side, with dollar sales up 0.4 percent.”
Is the guitar market ready for another resurgence? On the other hand, has the guitar market declined in the first place? And are video games good or bad for MI?
To sort all of this out, we called upon guitar heroes in our industry to tell you what’s happening in the market and what may happen down the road:
 Answering are cries for help were: Larry Urie of Paul Reed Smith; Craig Toporek, Sierra Guitars product manager; Tracy Hoeft, vice president of marketing at Hanser Music Group; Rick Hall, product manager at Ovation; Jody Dankberg, director of marketing and artist relations at Washburn; Lucian Tu of Ibanez’ electric guitar division; Erik Tarkiainen, vice president of marketing and communications for Line 6; Joe Naylor, owner of Reverend Guitars; Kahler’s Josh Vittek, and Justin Norvell, senior marketing manager, electric guitars, Fender Musical Instruments Corp.
It can best be said guitar makers are optimistic about the rest of 2008, although some are cautiously optimistic.
“I’m definitely optimistic about the guitar industry for 2008,” said Dankberg. “Music is as popular as it ever was and with guitar soloing [making a comeback], it just makes people want to play [more].”
“I feel good about guitar sales for 2008,” said Toporek. “The vibe at NAMM was positive, and our existing and new Sierra dealers are excited about the products and the opportunities that Sierra Guitars present for their stores and customers.”
“I am hopelessly optimistic and always have been,” said Urie, national sales and marketing manager for PRS Guitars. “2008 and forward will be a challenge though. I believe the market has been flooded with instruments geared only to a price point and not of the highest quality. That makes it more of a challenge because when first-time buyers purchase instruments that are not quite up to par, within a week they can be difficult to play.”
“I would say that I have a cautious optimism for 2008,” said Tu. “Industrywide, I think we saw a flat performance from 2006 to 2007. There were a few exceptions but for the most part, both retailers and manufacturers were just maintaining market positions. As for 2008, we all have many challenges. Some of the obvious challenges include an overall soft economy here in the United States. From the manufacturing perspective, I think we will have to focus on innovative product development. The goal is to bring new products to market that reinvent value and maintain quality in more focused market segments. This is to say that with cool new products that are different from the competition, we can generate new demand.”
Hall said he’s also “cautiously optimistic.” “The economy doesn’t always have a direct impact on what happens in the guitar market, especially with upper-end guitars,” he said. “Maybe it’s because people feel depressed, [want a pick-me-up] and buy a guitar. We saw the same thing after September 11. We’re not in that same position [as seven years ago] of course, but we still see an excellent demand for the upper-end market and instruments that are unique, such as those made from custom shops. Overall, when you look at forums, chat rooms, and fan sites, there is a lot of interest in guitars right now. The buying will come. It’s a matter of keeping them interested. And right now, they’re interested.”
Keeping the Train on the Track
Clearly, nobody thinks the guitar industry is heading for a steep decline any time soon. Therefore, it’s fair to say the industry is doing fairly well at the least. So how can the industry keep the ball rolling?
“Many times the alarm bell has rung for guitar music in general, as with the advent of new wave, electronica, hip hop; and yet its strength remains,” said Norvell. “The guitar-as-iconograph is omnipresent in non-musical consumer product ads too. It’s a ‘go-to’ prop, which means that it is desired and pleasing to most people. It’s here to stay. One of the biggest challenges will be addressing the changing market—the ‘cocooning’ of the segment—from the light of their monitors in their homes players can purchase gear, get lessons online, record and collaborate with others around the world, and create a MySpace profile without ever having played live. A kid with an Internet connection, three chords, and the truth can get his or her music heard by potentially millions of people, which is simply amazing. But at the same time, there is isolation, a community element that gets broken without the live interactivity. So it’s both positive and negative, it just needs to be managed correctly. The industry must adapt to a new business environment—the new front lines are online and we must discover more ways to offer the community, value, and comprehensive service that best serve our consumers.”
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