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
