August 10, 2020 I Coronavirus
MI SalesTrak Reveals Month-by-Month Market Changes During the Pandemic
A graph analyzing consumer trends in MI provided by MI SalesTrak.
MI SalesTrak, a retail sales tracking program for the musical products industry, has released an analysis of how MI sales performed in March through June, as seen in the above graph provided by MI SalesTrak President Jim Hirschberg.
In a press release, the company commented on what the picture initially looked like. “When COVID-19 and resulting stay-at-home orders started to spread across the country, consumers immediately panicked and stopped spending,” the statement read. “MI SalesTrak recorded the largest single-month drop in sales volume we have ever seen, with year-over-year declines versus March ’19 in almost all MI product categories. By early April, something interesting and beneficial to the MI industry started to happen. Consumer data indicated that people who were stuck at home were spending more on hobbies and music.”
According to MI Sales Track, online retailers were seeing sales double, constrained only by issues in fulfilling the orders. “Sales of play-at-home instruments, particularly guitars and keyboards, actually registered increases versus April ‘19,” the company said. “So did the music production and home studio categories. But, with concerts and live events canceled, live sound reinforcement and wireless microphones saw even steeper declines than in March.”
The company noted that these trends continued in May and June. “Sales of guitars, keyboards, production and home studio gear skyrocketed,” the company said. “Sadly, with live events still on hold, the market for live sound equipment has remained deeply affected. But we remain optimistic that the power of music will prevail and live presentation of music may change, but never disappear.”
