Drum equipment price increases 2014 to 2024

Rattlin' Bones said:
Is there some empirical stats that show really that acoustic drum sales have been in decline since 2008?
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Some data according to Statista. This is drum set sales in the US only.

"The number of drumsets sold in the United States increased by 4.7 percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, approximately 111,000 drumsets were sold in the United States. Despite the growth in drumsets sold in 2021, the total amount of units sold that year was still roughly 60.6 percent lower that year compared to figures from 2005."

https://www.statista.com/statistics/452893/number-of-drumsets-sold-in-the-us/

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striker said:
Some data according to Statista. This is drum set sales in the US only.

"The number of drumsets sold in the United States increased by 4.7 percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, approximately 111,000 drumsets were sold in the United States. Despite the growth in drumsets sold in 2021, the total amount of units sold that year was still roughly 60.6 percent lower that year compared to figures from 2005."

https://www.statista.com/statistics/452893/number-of-drumsets-sold-in-the-us/
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Thanks! The total amount of units sold in 2021 was still approx 60.6 percent lower that year compared to figures from 2005. That trend is a steep downward slope that started well before COVID like 10 years before. I had no idea.
 
It's also just common sense.
There are very few popular records with acoustic drums on them. Most being electronic influenced.
Secondly, we live in dense urban areas with less tolerance. So many people opt for much quieter e-drums.
Third, playing music as a hobby or potential money earner has fallen behind gaming and social media as choices for younger people.
 
Yamaha Rider said:
Hell's Bells. SIXTY percent!
It could be that music is just not a big deal to the younger generation.
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I think they still like music but mostly listening to it by streaming Spotify, Youtube (music), Tidal, Apple Music, etc.
And the ones who do like to make music probably are using PCs, tablets or other devices/apps instead of (having to learn how to play) traditional instruments.
 
I'm not surprised by those scores, I would be interested in a wider graphic (90's sells). It would be interesting to see if it's the same for guitars and bass. Around me I noticed, as it has been said, less teenagers are interested in playing instruments. All the people interested in instruments and gear seem to be over 40.
The sells may be fine because - again around me - people around 40>60 tend to accumulate equipment, many guitars, effect pedals, shell bank, cymbals. But less and less youngsters come to us asking about music and all. when they do, they say they "create" loops on computer.... shhhhhhhh..
Music is becoming more and more something you consume, less something that defines you as it used to be.
 
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Drums and cymbals were extremely expensive in the 1970's (along with synths and guitars). What was cheap were sticks and heads (as consumables). In my opinion, drums have never been cheaper, with excellent quality lower budget kits and a lot of competiton in the snare drum market. I find sticks and heads are extremely expensive now, which is a drag.
 
Haven't bought an individual pair of sticks in years and I'm glad of it, they've gone from steep to f'ing vertical price wise. Shameless shout out to Pellwood sticks who've sorted me out for about 15 years buying bulk. Heads are a joke. I used to reskin my tom batters a lot and snares even more so but now a set of tom batters will last me a year and I change my snare head every three months.

The vintage market has gotten a bit silly and cymbal prices have crept up. The craziest increase is acros, supras and BBs

If you're buying midrange drums you're getting insane bang for buck and on the used market I've noticed 90s/00s starclassics, masters and even the odd cheeky collectors are very affordable
 
striker said:
Some data according to Statista. This is drum set sales in the US only.

"The number of drumsets sold in the United States increased by 4.7 percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, approximately 111,000 drumsets were sold in the United States. Despite the growth in drumsets sold in 2021, the total amount of units sold that year was still roughly 60.6 percent lower that year compared to figures from 2005."

https://www.statista.com/statistics/452893/number-of-drumsets-sold-in-the-us/

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I hope those folks who have been in the market for a very long time can comment on what I am about to say. I was thinking about this data and if this data is correct, the NEW drum set unit sales have gone down in US.

However, isn't this period between 2005-2014 the period that the internet listing of the USED drums started to flourish? Isn't this the period that more people started to trade on Craig's List, Facebook, Reverb, and Ebay instead of buying NEW? So, perhaps the NEW drum set sale has decreased, but the USED drum sales have increased in US.

Also, when I went to the NAMM 2024 show on a Friday, the foot traffic in the drum section was light to medium. However, the Guitar section was very crowded. Perhaps these days, there is a whole lot more interest in Guitars and Keyboard instruments than Drums. So, that may also explain the downward trend in NEW drum sales.
 
I don't think drum set sales have much impact on price rises. Most people are buying an affordable, budget priced drum set anyway.
I think it's clear that playing live music has gone backwards in terms of hobbies and career choices these days - behind a YouTuber career, or gaming, live streaming etc.
There are fewer places to play for a start.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I think it's clear that playing live music has gone backwards in terms of hobbies and career choices these days - behind a YouTuber career, or gaming, live streaming etc.
There are fewer places to play for a start.
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Right, can you blame young new drummers wanting to become the next El Estepario, Maytal, Cooper, etc?
 
Yeah, I wasn't really talking about Youtube drummers. More like Mr Beast is an idol to many, a viable career choice, rather than wanting to be the next Eric Clapton or Dave Grohl.
 
striker said:
I hope those folks who have been in the market for a very long time can comment on what I am about to say. I was thinking about this data and if this data is correct, the NEW drum set unit sales have gone down in US.

However, isn't this period between 2005-2014 the period that the internet listing of the USED drums started to flourish? Isn't this the period that more people started to trade on Craig's List, Facebook, Reverb, and Ebay instead of buying NEW? So, perhaps the NEW drum set sale has decreased, but the USED drum sales have increased in US.

Also, when I went to the NAMM 2024 show on a Friday, the foot traffic in the drum section was light to medium. However, the Guitar section was very crowded. Perhaps these days, there is a whole lot more interest in Guitars and Keyboard instruments than Drums. So, that may also explain the downward trend in NEW drum sales.
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There is always a different out of the box way to look at metrics, Striker. Good point. Yes this might be why new sales have declined - because of so many used kits now available on line. I now have access to thousands of used kits across the USA and The World.

I don't know when Reverb came into existence, or CL. FB is newer. Before those you had eBay which dates back into the 1990's. I wonder what trades data shows for used kit sales in same period of time?
 
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