The Top Musical Instrument Manufacturers May Surprise You, Or Maybe Not

Top musical instrument manufacturers on Bobby Owsinski's Production BlogThe musical instrument business isn’t that large when compared with medical or consumer electronics or most other global industries, but it’s still pretty big. For instance, the total U.S. market for instruments and audio is only a little less than $7 billion, which amounts to a rounding error for Apple. That said, it’s interesting to see who the big players are. You may not be surprised at the names on the list, but you might be with the ranking (thanks to Music Trades for the data).

1. Yamaha – $3.73 billion

2. Gibson – $1.37 billion

3. Harmon Professional – $1.01 billion

4. Gold Peak Industries (KEF, Celestion) – $804 million

5. Sennheiser – $773 million

6. Kawai – $728 million

7. Shure – $694 million

8. Fender – $585 million

9. Pioneer DJ – $560 million

To me the main surprises are that Gold Peak is so high on the list (the South Korean company music sell a lot of loudspeakers), as well as Kawai. Plus the fact that Pioneer sells almost half a billion dollars worth of DJ gear is eye opening.

So where is that gear sold. Most of it goes to the United States, as we seem to have a undying appetite to create music more than any other country.

United States – $7 billion

Japan – $1.47 billion

China – $1.3 billion

Germany – $1 billion

France – $744 million

Canada – $738 million

United Kingdom – $544 million

Italy – $389 million

Australia – $372 million

Korea – $299 million

Brazil – $289 million

As you can see, the rest of the world pales compared to the U.S. when it comes to musical instrument sales. While you might say that most countries are a lot smaller, the fact that China is only a fraction of the U.S. total is surprising and probably means that American companies like Gibson and Fender are not doing a good job exporting. The there’s Japan, which has hefty sales despite being a relatively small country.

The best part of these numbers is the fact that almost all studies have found that the industry will continue to grow for some time, meaning that music making will be alive and well.

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