80% of digital modellers & c buyers are bedroom players according to marketing researches

[Desertdweller]

why would anyone in this culture be surprised? economic power doesnt live with working musicians, its guys who work in offices playing for stress relief on weekends. and i say this not to put anyone down- its just true. i think its apparent in the tonal choices of a LOT of products that low volume playing is the market its shooting for.

Also sometimes many of us were working musicians in our 20s, but with family and careers it shifted from a life focus to a hobby as the music market is super saturated and you earn waaaaaaaay more on average from uncool jobs like accounting, management, or finance than you ever would playing guitar.

We still want amazing tone and clarity though, so top-end gear it is!

 

[sleewell]

Sounds about right.


Used my QC at home and with my band yesterday. Different presets. At home I use amp and cab sims. With the band I only use it for effects.

 

[Gary_W]

In every field that can be a profession or a hobby, this is the way it is. If there were no enthusiasts who fund their gear habit with a regular day job, there would be far less development of gear overall….. the market size would be tiny if you were only selling to professionals.

I haven’t gigged in years. I still buy gear occasionally - I’m genuinely excited to get a Helix Stadium when I can. I’m hoping to gig again but, if I don’t, never mind. It still brings me a great deal of enjoyment to play and write the occasional song. That’ll do; it’s a funny old world and any creative hobby that brings you joy is a good thing. On top of that, my amateur arse is supporting the industry which in a roundabout way helps the professional musicians who rely on it for a living.

 

[paisleywookiee]

The market for modelers, tube amps, AND guitars is driven by hobbyists.

Yeah, professionals don't guide the market, hobbyists do. Without hobbyists, the MI industry wouldn't exist.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I mean, 80% is A LOT. It's like bedroom players are guiding the market.

I even thought it would've been more.
I mean, look at pretty much any guitar centric forum, folks regularly playing live are the vast minority.

It's pretty obvious for some other reasons, too. I mean, if you are regularly playing live, you've possibly settled for a certain setup and don't flip things around often - the good old "never change a running/working system" thing. As a bedroom player you just don't need that reliabilty and/or familiarity as much (if at all). For example, I've read it almost countless times that people are selling their main device in advance of some new kid on the block that sometimes isn't even available already, let alone tried and trusted.
As someone regularly playing out, you simply cannot afford doing things like that, you need your main setup all the time and in case you purchase something new, you'll keep your working setup until you've taken the new thing through its paces.

And fwiw, it also shows in how some units are designed. They often and pretty clearly don't focus on live playing related features but rather go for "content". Sure, the really big boys have both camps in mind, but the majority of lower tiers doesn't.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Yeah, professionals don't guide the market, hobbyists do. Without hobbyists, the MI industry wouldn't exist.

While I absolutely agree, I would rather say they "dictate" the market (and no, I've got no hard feelings as it's just obvious), whereas certain professionals may still "guide" development into one or the other direction. As in serious companies rather consulting professionals when it comes to a certain feature set, but once that is done, they go for "content" to please the bedroom camp. That's pretty much as well the reason why there's, say, countless amp models that nobody in the real live playing world would usually care about at all.

 

[paisleywookiee]

While I absolutely agree, I would rather say they "dictate" the market (and no, I've got no hard feelings as it's just obvious), whereas certain professionals may still "guide" development into one or the other direction. As in serious companies rather consulting professionals when it comes to a certain feature set, but once that is done, they go for "content" to please the bedroom camp. That's pretty much as well the reason why there's, say, countless amp models that nobody in the real live playing world would usually care about at all.

Oh yeah, agree for sure.

 

[Richard_G]

I'm not surprised at all.

And to be honest, I'm just glad that anyone—whether hobbyists or professionals—still cares about guitars, guitar gear, and guitar-driven music. I'm more worried about whether that will still be the case in the not-so-distant future...

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I'm not surprised at all.

And to be honest, I'm just glad that anyone—whether hobbyists or professionals—still cares about guitars, guitar gear, and guitar-driven music. I'm more worried about whether that will still be the case in the not-so-distant future...

Well it was going by the wayside and the Guitar Hero and Rockband video games revived it.
Im fairly certain it’ll happen again when the bottom is about to fall out again.

 

[laxu]

Well it was going by the wayside and the Guitar Hero and Rockband video games revived it.
Im fairly certain it’ll happen again when the bottom is about to fall out again.

On the flipside, with the way music is often cyclical, rock and other guitar-centric music will possible eventually become more mainstream again.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

On the flipside, with the way music is often cyclical, rock and other guitar-centric music will possible eventually become more mainstream again.

That train I’d say has left the station and won’t come back.

 

[metropolis_4]

Guitar is very widely used outside of rock and guitar based bands

 

[Lysander]

I mean, 80% is A LOT. It's like bedroom players are guiding the market.

I thought this was well known for some time now? There's way more people collecting hardware and plugins to noodle at home than actually putting out music, and it's not a new trend either.

 

[Sascha Franck]

On the flipside, with the way music is often cyclical, rock and other guitar-centric music will possible eventually become more mainstream again.

With AI music likely taking over the recorded business any day soon, if human made music will still be a thing, a lot of it is likely gonna be happening live. And guitars are pretty much a staple to transport that "liveliness" to the audience. So they might indeed see lots of use again. Of course only given the first premise, namely more people interested in human music attending live events, will become true.

 

[paisleywookiee]

With AI music likely taking over the recorded business any day soon, if human made music will still be a thing, a lot of it is likely gonna be happening live. And guitars are pretty much a staple to transport that "liveliness" to the audience. So they might indeed see lots of use again. Of course only given the first premise, namely more people interested in human music attending live events, will become true.

What about real humans performing AI music? God that’d be sad.

“Here’s the latest one from Meep Bop Borp!”

 

[OrganicZed]

The irony for me (as I suspect is the case for many people) is that I can play with much higher SPLs at home than I get to push when I play live.

I regularly run sound in the venue I play at and I have been told that they want the total band mix to be between 80-85 dB measured at the desk (approx. 50 feet from the stage). We run a silent stage with the drums micd in an isolation booth.

At home I get to play at 100-115 dB+ on the occasions that I have the house to myself.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I regularly run sound in the venue I play at and I have been told that they want the total band mix to be between 80-85 dB measured at the desk (approx. 50 feet from the stage). We run a silent stage with the drums micd in an isolation booth.

Wow, so not louder than an air conditioner. Nothing says rock and roll like a Trane.

 

[newholland]

The irony for me (as I suspect is the case for many people) is that I can play with much higher SPLs at home than I get to push when I play live.

I regularly run sound in the venue I play at and I have been told that they want the total band mix to be between 80-85 dB measured at the desk (approx. 50 feet from the stage). We run a silent stage with the drums micd in an isolation booth.

At home I get to play at 100-115 dB+ on the occasions that I have the house to myself.

im not saying this in any way as a slight to YOU, but fuuuuuuuuck that. 80-85 db. theres no reason to WATCH that live. itd be absurd topay to watch grown humans play rock music that quiet. id be embarrassed FOR them. whats next, a touch typing exhibition? gad.. ridiculous.

 

[ChordInversion]

1. More products are designed and marketed towards home players, not working musicians. It seems like most gear was marketed towards working musicians in the past

That certainly could be. If so, manufacturers realized they were making a huge mistake. Only a tiny fraction of musical gear is used by working musicians.

 

[ChordInversion]

While it is obvious that most players don't gig, that 80% is sound like a big number, even if is about the digital world only.

I don't know maybe beacuse I've never been a bedroom player, as far as guitar goes, it's hard to belive that there are so many people that don't feel the need to play with other human beings.

I'm a home player, but I play with other people from time to time. I just don't do it with an audience.