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The Leading Journal of the Music Products Industry since 1890

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The unlikely 60-year history of Fender's Jazzmaster

NAMM hits Capitol Hill

Roland opens L.A. artist center, intros new V-Drums

YouTubers get creative at Thomann's Gearhead University

Reverb doubles Chicago headquarters

NAMM Makes The Case For Music Ed. In D.C.

Industry representatives meet with lawmakers to secure funding for music education nationwide.

More than 100 industry representatives traveled to Washington D.C. to discuss the importance of music education with lawmakers during NAMM’s annual “Fly-In” held May 21-24. The NAMM members...

Growth In Method Book Sales Signals The Guitar Is Far From "Dead"

Hal Leonard booked a 5.7% increase in method sales last year, proof of interest in the guitar.

Hal Leonard Publishing offers a compelling rebuttal to the recent media stories pronouncing the “death of the guitar.” In 2017, the top publisher sold more than 555,000 beginning-level method books for guitars, a 5.7% increase over the previous year. 2017 also saw...

Global Trade Policy And How It Impacts The Music Products Industry

An analysis of the varying import duties around the world and how they affect retail selling prices. Now that China has emerged as the world’s second largest economy, does its protectionist stance still make sense?

Trade policy, a dry and technical topic usually relegated to scholarly journals, has become front page news...

Strong School Music Sector Faces New Challenges

At NASMD, “recruitment and retention” takes on double meaning in current school band and orchestra market

Blue water and white beaches provided an inviting backdrop to the recent meeting of the National Association of School Music Dealers. Held April 11-14 at the Margaritaville Resort in Hollywood, Florida, the annual get-together...

Strong School Music Sector Faces New Challenges

FEATURED DATA REPORTS

The Music Industry Census

Our most complete U.S. data package of the year covers 55 product categories across the music products industry. From guitars to pro audio, band instruments, keyboards, and much more, the Census delivers ten years of sales figures and trends.

Import Tracker

The most recent quarter's import figures for key music products categories by product type, price point, and country of origin, plus year-to-year trends and analysis.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURE STORIES

Fender’s Jazzmaster A Cult Classic At 60

Leo Fender intended to design a guitar that would appeal to the top jazzers of the late ’50s. Instead, he created an instrument that has been embraced by surfers, punk rockers, the grunge movement, and scores of other “alternative” genres.

In the late 1950s, Fender’s then revolutionary solid body electrics—the Tele, the Strat, and the P-Bass—were still...

Warwick Music’s pInstruments

Creating brasswinds from plastic takes...“brass”... and a lot of respect for musicians.

Some product innovations surprise us because they challenge convention. Far fewer challenge us because they challenge convention...and then go on to become significant commercial hits. There is no stronger recent example...

How Bob Willcutt’s Hobby Became A Thriving Business

Five decades of combining skills as a player, a luthier, and a certified guitar geek create a retail destination.

What does it take to turn a hobby into a thriving niche business that weathers stiff competition, market swings, economic upheaval, and changing consumer needs? In May, Willcutt Guitars celebrated its 50th anniversary...