Over the course of the year, though, musicians are spending a signif-
icant amount of money. Half are spending over $1,000 per year on
music gear, one-in-five is spending more than $2,000, and one-in-10
is spending over $3,000.
In terms of impulse purchasing, nearly half of our respondents
said they “sometimes” end up leaving the store with something that
they didn’t intend to purchase. An almost equal number would cate-
gorize their impulse purchases as “rare,” while those on the extremes
– often or never – were in the single-digit percentages. For dealers,
this means that, with good displays and salesmanship, there is a lot of
potential for additional sales to be had.
On average, how much do you spend per year on instruments and
accessories in total?
4%€
9% €
18% €
19% €
29% €
10%€
€10% €
$0-100€
$101-200€
$201-500€
$501-1,000€
$1,001-2,000€
$2,001-3,000€
Over $3,000
How often do you impulse purchase (buy something you didn’t
intend to when walking in) instruments and accessories?
€ 6% €
€45%€
40% €
€ 9% €
Often€
Sometimes€
Rarely€
Never€
Here is some optimistic news for dealers: three-quarters of our
respondents said they do the majority of their music purchasing
in-store, and under 10 per cent reported shopping primarily online.
Maybe most surprising about this is that the numbers are almost
identical regardless of whether we asked about small-ticket items like
picks and strings, or large-ticket items like instruments and speakers.
Where do you get the majority of your small-ticket items (picks,
strings, reeds, drumsticks, etc.)?
€
9%€
Online€
74%€
In-store€
17% € Roughly evenly split between in-store & online€
cent and “existing relationships” became the most popular answer,
followed by “price” and “selection.” That is very important for dealers
to keep in mind.
When purchasing small-ticket items, like accessories, what’s the
primary factor in where you’ll shop (online, mega store, local
store, etc.)?
43% €
Convenience€
19% € Price
16% € Existing relationships €
€14%€ Selection
€7%€ Service€
€ 1% € Other€
€
€
When purchasing big-ticket items, like new instruments, what’s
the primary factor in where you’ll shop (online, mega store, local
store, etc.)?
35% € Existing relationships €
23% € Price
2€2% € Selection€
€ 7% € Convenience€
€
7%€
Service€
€ 6% € Other€
The final query was an optional open-response question about how
musicians make their decisions and whether that process has changed
in recent years. We’ve included a selection of comments that best
represent the common themes in the full pool of responses. The most
common response by far was, to paraphrase, “I do my research online
and then go to the store to test it out and see how it feels.” Thank-
fully, most respondents who offered some version of this common
purchasing tendency also said that they’re likely to then purchase the
product in-store.
When purchasing big-ticket items (over $100), how do you
decide which product you will purchase (research online, test
product in-store, etc.) and has this changed in the past five years?
“More online research and product reviews. I prefer to purchase from
companies/manufacturers supporting local initiatives with sponsor-
ships/in-kind donations for events...”
“Test in store, check the market price online, bargain the local store
if I need to, buy local.”
Where do you get the majority of your large-ticket items
(instruments, speakers, etc.)? “Reviews from YouTube or product praise from producers on Instagram.
Yes, Instagram has gained my attention more in the past five years.”
€
9%€
Online€
75%€
In-store€
16% € Roughly evenly split between in-store & online€ “Research online, guitar magazine articles, electronic advertisements
that come to my email, occasionally word from friends who play.”
Compared to the previous pair of questions, there was much more
deviation between big- and large-ticket items when asking musicians
what influences where they buy. When talking about inexpensive
things like reeds and strings, convenience was unsurprisingly the
biggest factor for 43 per cent of respondents. But when talking
about more expensive items, that number dropped to only seven per
“Research online then talk to music store owner and staff – I’m loyal
to the store where I purchase my gear.”
“I need to actually play the physical instrument. The right instru-
ment makes you feel inspired. This will never change for me.”
Michael Raine is the Senior Editor of Canadian Music Trade.
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE 29