Last summer, The Washington Post published a controversial piece on the alleged "death of the electric guitar." The article claimed that the falling allure of the revered "guitar hero" trope is to blame, moving fewer young people to pick up the instrument without famous, virtuosic players like Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, or Jimi Hendrix to aspire to.
Many found this argument to be reductive and unfair. She Shreds' response even pointed out, in part, that the Post's claim of a dying industry was propped up by statistics surrounding brand-new guitar sales only, without accounting for the booming used instrument market or the significant increase—16 percent according to Music Trades— in effects pedal sales over the past decade.
Though The Washington Post sourced its figures from big brands, and one in particular that has notably struggled as of late, it also quoted Fender's CEO Andy Mooney, who suggested that the claim of a dying industry is "greatly exaggerated."
In recent years, Fender has argued before that the guitar market is stronger and more diverse than its critics suggest. Mooney told Forbes earlier in 2018 that Fender had conducted research that showed: 45 percent of new Fenders are sold to first-time players, 10 percent of those new players will be players for life, and 50 percent of new guitar buyers are female.
