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Evolution of the Instrument Market during the Great Recession.

Author: JamesOrlandoGarcia
Date: 2012-02-09 22:05

I've been thinking about how different the instrument market is now than it was in 2000. The Opus/Concerto are no longer in production, Buffet clarinets are nearly double the cost they were and people are generally worse off financially as they were before.

Parents cannot afford to pay what were Opus/Prestige prices back then that are now the cost for basic R-13s. The same can be said with Flutes the in entry professional range too. In a way I think this has been good for the music industry as it has forced consumers to look elsewhere and for the market to create new higher quality affordable instruments.

Leblanc came out with the Bliss clarinets, Ridenour with the Lyrique. Yamaha is finally getting the attention they deserve for the quality of horns they make at affordable prices. Most of the major flute makers are doing the same with creating more affordable flutes with the basic acoustical designs but with cost cutting methods. Powell/Sonare, Haynes/Amadeus and beyond.

We have more options and those options are better than they were before. Not every fifteen and sixteen year old kid needs an r-13 and nor should a parent feel like they should have to stretch the budget to provide that.

So maybe in some ways this recession has been good as it has forced us to really take a look at what the real value of what we buy actually is. Thoughts?

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