“For every 10 people who start playing guitar, a year later, one person is playing, and nine are not”: Guitar Center is looking to create more “long-term” musicians – here’s how
Guitar Center is amping up new ways to nurture the futures of budding musicians within its stores.
The company’s CEO, Gabe Dalporto, had previously said that the company was focusing on providing “high-quality, premium” instruments to keep it thriving among its fierce competitors during an interview on the Know Your Gear podcast back in March, but is now outlining even more ways to hook in a solid customer base.
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Dalporto said in the podcast that by “unlocking” all of its guitars (rather than putting premium models out of sight), it hoped to maintain its status as the US’ biggest music store chain, with time spent in its stores having risen by 25 percent as a result of the decision.
Now, speaking to Guitar World in a new interview, Dalporto says that another one of its main priorities is boosting the lessons it offers within its stores, in the hopes to prepare and inspire the next generation of “serious musicians”.
“One of the biggest challenges we have as an industry is, if someone picks up a guitar for the first time, for every 10 people who start playing guitar, a year later, one person is playing, and nine are not. What can we do to change that ratio?
“And that’s our lessons effort,” he explains. “It’s like, how do we connect with people early in their music career and really get them deeply embedded so they’re going to be in it for the long term.”
Earlier this year, as wildfires tore through Los Angeles, Guitar Center launched an initiative to aid musicians impacted by replacing their instruments and gear. The programme ran through the Guitar Center foundation and lasted for over a month, with affected LA residents able to send in applications for one-off grants.
You can check out the latest products available from the brand or learn more about its lessons via the Guitar Center website.
The post “For every 10 people who start playing guitar, a year later, one person is playing, and nine are not”: Guitar Center is looking to create more “long-term” musicians – here’s how appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
