With the decline of rock music as a popular influence, teenagers interested in making music are more likely to spend their limited cash on computers or other electronics. The traditional garage band, the lifeblood of electric guitar sales, has given way to electro-pop made on a laptop.
Και ένα πολύ ωραίο σχόλιο από τον κ. Alexkhan:
I work in the musical instruments (MI) industry (specifically the guitar industry) and I can say it's in a world of hurt right now. I travel to Asia on a regular basis working with the OEM factories as well as artists and dealers in the US and everyone is hurting. No one is really making any money - from Guitar Center down to the small mom-and-pop stores that are disappearing every day.
It's a very small industry - a little over $10 billion when you combine all the MI manufacturers' annual revenues in the entire industry. To provide a perspective, Apple makes more in just net profits in three months. And, in an indirect way, Apple and the rest of the consumer electronics industry have decimated the MI industry as well as the music business (CD sales, music distribution, concert circuit, etc.).
Even a very low-end electric guitar and an amp will set a family back at least $300. But then you have to provide lessons for them at $25/half-hour and that adds up really fast over a year or two. You might as well buy the kids an iPod touch or even an iPad and call it a day. Plus, kids these days just don't have the patience or the self-discipline to practice musical instruments for years on end when there are so many other types of distractions and entertainment that provide instant gratification.
Major MI companies such as GC, Fender,
Gibson, etc. overextended themselves during the 2000's, thinking that they will continue to grow as they did during the booming 90's. Now there are too many GC stores, too much factory capacity, and just not enough demand. Then you add the global economic turmoil of the past 4 years or so and the MI industry has a major financial mess in its hands.
I think this industry has no choice but to go through a very painful cost-cutting phase over several years and accept the fact that it will not become "mainstream" like it tried to be over the past decade. They tried to stuff musical instruments (specifically guitars) down mass merchandiser channels like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. and it just hasn't worked.
And as others have pointed out, most musical instruments (especially guitars) aren't disposables and they don't become obsolete like tech gadgets. Even a cheap guitar can last decades so the used market is huge so the manufacturers of new instruments have to compete with people (individuals and dealers alike) selling used gear.
So things look rather grim in this industry right now and I don't see it getting better anytime soon. It'll get worse over the next few years before it gets better. But it will survive in a different form. People will always want to play music but it'll be a very niche field. The manufacturers have to accept that they're in a niche market and do business accordingly instead of trying to become all things to all people. The vast majority of people in this world will not be seeking to play an electric guitar...
