Fender have revealed that 2020 is a record-breaking year for the company in terms of guitar sales.
While the live sector is seriously suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic, many guitar companies have seemingly found that sales have actually been soaring this year, and the demand for rock's most iconic instrument has rarely been higher, presumably down to the fact that music lovers have been learning as a way to help pass the time during lockdown.
According to the New York Times, companies such has Gibson, Martin and Taylor have all fared well, but Fender in particular are enjoying a record-breaking 2020. “I would never have predicted that we would be looking at having a record year,” says chief executive of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Andy Mooney.
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“We’ve broken so many records. It will be the biggest year of sales volume in Fender history, record days of double-digit growth, e-commerce sales and beginner gear sales. I never would have thought we would be where we are today if you asked me back in March.”
With the help of their Fender Play app, too, the guitar giants grew from 150,000 to 930,000 users between late March and late June – around a 600 per cent increase.
Elsewhere, chief executive of C.F. Martin & Co. Chris Martin admitted: “It’s crazy. It’s unbelievable the demand there is right now for acoustic guitars. I’ve been through guitar booms before, but this one caught me completely by surprise.”
Does this mean we're going to get a bunch of brilliant new quarantine-formed bands coming through once all this is over? Fingers crossed…
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