‘A Reed Before the Wind…’: Clarinet & Saxophone Reed Sales

Vitally important to the overall sound of both clarinets and saxophones, reeds can elevate even the most entry-level instrument or make the most finely crafted one sound like a defective, cheap product. These paper-thin pieces of cane truly punch above their weight in terms of overall impact and players develop fierce preferences for material, cut style, and – significantly – brand.

Read on to learn more about what suppliers are delivering the product that customers seek, as well as other trends in this market segment for 2024.

When compared to this time in 2023, sales of clarinet & saxophone reeds are…

Up: 34.4%

Level: 56.3%

Down: 9.3%

What types of materials are favored by your customers?

Cane: 97.2%

Unfinished Cane: 3.7%

Synthetic: 13.6%

What Reed Cut style is most popular?

Filed: 74.3%

Unfiled: 25.7%

On balance, for the larger “saxophone reeds” category, most sales are for which type of instrument?

Alto Saxophone: 85.4%

Baritone Saxophone: 4.1%

Soprano Saxophone: 2.2

Tenor Saxophone: 8.3%

There are 11 types of clarinet, but generally speaking which category of clarinet reeds are most popular at your store?

B♭ Clarinet Reeds: 98.2%

Bass Clarinet Reeds: 18.8%

E♭ Clarinet Reeds: 4.8%

“Specialty” Clarinet Reeds: 1.1%

For clarinet & saxophone reeds, which brands are the top sellers for your store?

D’Addario Woodwinds: 46.9%

Frederic Hemke: 6.3%

Giardinelli: 3.3%

Juno: 9.4%

La Voz: 15.6%

Légère Reeds: 25%

Mitchell Lurie: 24.1%

Rico: 75.3%

Vandoren: 87.5%

Between clarinet and saxophone, most sales of reeds at your store are for…

Clarinet: 46.9%

Saxophone: 9.4%

Evenly split between clarinet and sax: 37.5%

Have you been observing any significant trends in this market segment?

“The Légère Signature synthetic reeds are steadily becoming more popular with our professional woodwind players. It is the preferred reed for live performance.”

Joni Dey

Herter Music Center

Bay City, Michigan

“Being in a heavily populated Hispanic area, the reeds of choice are Vandoren Blue Box.”

Ed Intagliata

Cassell’s Music

San Fernando, California

“Slow decline in any brass and woodwind related sales”

Jacob Rendell

Case’s Music

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Canada

“With the continuing evolution of the reed market, we train our staff to be able to have informative conversations with our customers on the wide variety of available reed options for all woodwind instruments. We encourage our student customers to experiment with different brands and reed types to enhance their performance capabilities and technics. Additionally, we discuss proper reed care and maintence, and suggest a reed guard if applicable.”

Jerry Hamilton Vesely

Vesely Music

Parowan, Utah

“Band teachers have a huge amount of power when students are choosing what reeds to buy.”

Karen Copeland

SM Hanson Music, Inc.

Salina, Kansas

“I’m going to be interested to see trends going forward, especially with school sales, now that Vandoren has introduced MAP pricing which has greatly reduced margins.”

Al Stephens

Moore Music Company

Greensboro, North Carolina

“Lack of music programs in the schools.”

George Copeland

North Channel Music

Elliot Lake, Ontario

Canada

“With various reed product introductions recently, most of our pro clientele will try them but generally go back to their original tried and true.”

David St. John

Music & Arts

Gendora, California

“Synthetic reeds are going in popularity as the price of traditional cane reeds skyrockets. Especially the larger sax and clarinet categories.”

Roy Noguera

Laconia Music Center

New Hyde Park, New York

“Because of the manufacturer’s generous exchange policy, customers are more likely to try a Légère over other synthetic reed brands.”

Miles DeCastro

North County Winds

Potsdam, New York

“Since my store’s overall sales are up 30% over last year and reed sales are almost identical with last year, I have to assume that those sales are going online.”

Drew Parker

Separk Music Co.

Lewisville, North Carolina