 You’ve probably heard it ad nauseam. 2009 was a difficult year for most. That certainly holds true for the guitar market. But thanks to the help of MI Sales Trak, we’ve determined the industry did have strengths during a difficult time. The biggest highlight belongs to acoustic guitars, whose sales rose significantly.
Why did acoustic guitars sell so well? Did they take a significant chunk of the pie from electric guitar sales? Did many colors and finishes of acoustics sell well? Or did the traditional wood finish continue to be the winner?
We’re going to answer all of those questions as we take our annual look at the state of the guitar market. MI Sales Trak provided all of the data.
For all data, we’re looking at the 12-month period that ended on Jan. 31. Let’s begin with the rise of the acoustic guitar. In February 2009, electric guitars comprised 47.3 percent of your guitar sales. Acoustic guitars comprised 33.7 percent of sales and acoustic/electric sales totaled 19.6 percent. However, by December 2009 and January 2010, those figures changed dramatically. For December, acoustic guitar sales actually outsold their electric counterpart, something we rarely see. Acoustics totaled 41.3 percent of sales, while electrics made up 40.9 percent of the figure. Acoustic/electrics were 17.8 percent of the total.
In January, the scales tipped back in favor of electric guitar sales, but acoustics still had made a major advancement. Electrics comprised 42 percent of overall guitar sales, acoustics stayed strong at 37.7 percent, and acoustic/electrics grew to 20.3 percent of the total figure. “2009 was obviously a tough year for retail sales in general,” said MI Sales Trak Co-Founder Jim Hirschberg. “Purchases of musical instruments, which are largely discretionary, were impacted more severely than many other consumer products. As the anniversary of the economic downturn came around in late 2009, some of the MI categories started to rebound. 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. 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 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 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 sales. During the January 1 to 31 period of this year, sunburst rose to 9.7 percent of sales and white saw a nice rise to 7.8 percent of total electric sales. “Last year (in this guitar update) we made note that black is the most popular color for electric guitars and black guitars typically become a bigger part of the mix in December,” said Hirschberg. “The preference for black intensified last year during the recession, reaching a peak market share in December 2008. Guess what? The market share of black electric guitars spiked again in December 2009.”
The story is completely different when it comes to acoustic color sales trends. Buyers prefer “au naturale,” if you will. Acoustic guitars with a natural finish accounted for a whopping 72 percent of acoustic guitar sales for the past several months. That number has stayed quite consistent over the past year. Sunburst color finished second, but trailed badly at more that 9 percent during the past two months where data had been compiled. Black was the third highest-selling acoustic color. “Acoustic players continue to opt for natural finishes 72 percent of the time in spite of the many available options,” Hirschberg said.
Other than the three colors we just mentioned, MI Sales Trak also records data for the following colors regarding acoustic guitar sales: amber, blue, brown, burgundy, gray/silver, green, orange, red and other.
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