Always a strong segment within the band and orchestral market, clarinet sales have been particularly strong of late. MMR recently spoke with four major suppliers to learn what trends are shaping the craftsmanship, marketing, and retail of the popular woodwind.
Compared to this time last year, how are clarinet sales for your company – up, down, level?
Joel Jaffe: Only halfway through our current fiscal year, YOY results show a 62 percent increase in total clarinet sales, with a 111 percent increase in accessory sales (clarinet barrels, bells, and mouthpieces). Not including master orders, this is shaping up to be a great year.
Francois Kloc: Buffet Crampon student, performance, and professional clarinets all experienced healthy growth in 2015, exceeding expectations in many areas. We are especially pleased with the increased market share for the E11, E12F, Festival, Prestige, Tosca, and R13 clarinets in the soprano segment. Our bass clarinets, both student and professional models, have been extremely popular as well, which was boosted by the Tosca model we added to the line a few years ago.
Bob Lichty: Sales are up for us right now on all levels – student, step-up, and professional.
Brian Petterson: Sales of Yamaha clarinets are at an all-time high. The past 12 months have been incredibly successful, largely due to the exciting new product introduction of the Custom YCL-CSVR clarinets at the 2015 NAMM Show. This, along with improving market conditions, has led to increased demand of Yamaha clarinets by both dealers and consumers.
What trends have you been noticing with respect to construction of clarinets – materials, methods of assembly, et cetera?
BP: The recent production innovations with Yamaha clarinets have been through the use of materials that help prevent cracking. For example, our Duet+ construction combines physical elements of wood and resin and represents the melding of old world craftsmanship and technological advancements, making our instruments less prone to cracking and yielding better sound production. Duet+ now extends across our clarinet and oboe lines and are now best sellers. The intermediate level YCL-450NM clarinet has clearly established itself in places where the climate can be harsh and unpredictable, wreaking havoc on a wood instrument. The stability of the lined inner bore of the upper body joint is exceptional. Interestingly, the benefit to players is not just the added stability but also the consistency of the inner bore, which makes Duet+ Yamaha instruments the most consistent wood-body instruments available – even more consistent than the all-wood models!
JJ: Artists of all skill levels are becoming less impressed with traditional old-world manufacturing techniques and are more focused on the quality and consistency that modern-day, technologically advanced manufacturing provides.
BL: With regards to materials, the biggest changes right now are in pads – more and more manufacturers are going to synthetic pads as they last longer and handle the unpredictable weather for marching better.
FC: Overall, it seems some manufacturers are experimenting with different materials and added mechanisms to separate themselves with a unique identity. Others seem to be in search of that perfect combination of innovation and sticking with “what works,” to varying degrees of success. For us, acoustics are what matter; you play and listen with your ears, not your eyes, as I often say. Of course, it is a combination of perfectly crafted key work and acoustical design which provides the players with an experience we have managed to offer for over 190 years now. Our teams work daily on using the technology we developed and the “savoir faire” of our craftsmen and women in order to make instruments worthy of bearing the Buffet Crampon logo.
For your brand, what model clarinet is the best seller?
FC: Our E11 wood student clarinet remains an excellent performer for us in the student/step-up segment. As mentioned previously, the R13 continues to dominate the professional soprano clarinet market. The Prestige and Tosca bass clarinet models are also our best sellers in their category.
JJ: In total number of units, our Alpha B♭ Clarinet, a synthetic model designed for students and intermediate players. However, the soft launch of our new Beta Bb Clarinet, an intermediate wooden model at $1,250 USD, shows enormous potential. Orders during, and after NAMM, exceeded projected sales by 430 percent.
BP: There is always higher sales volume at the student level because of the school rental market. The YCL-255 is the foundation of the Yamaha clarinet offering. However, the intermediate YCL-450N and professional level YCL-650 are also best sellers in their respective categories. We are very excited about our current inroads into the custom clarinet market, though. The biggest success over the last year has been the new Custom YCL-CSVR clarinet.
BL: In our student line, our best seller is our Selmer CL301. For the step-up market it is our Selmer CL211, and our pro Bb best seller is the new Presence from Henri Selmer Paris.
The clarinet is a remarkably versatile instrument, featured prominently in jazz, samba, klezmer, and even occasionally rock, as well as classical. Have you been noticing any styles of music embracing use of the clarinet lately?
BP: It is always great to see the new and exciting ways in which the clarinet is being used. There are so many genres that are available to clarinetists these days. The traditional genres for the instrument, such as jazz and classical music are strong and are likely to remain that way for years to come. At the same time, there are a large number of students performing on the cutting edge of new music literature, and with electronic or digital accompaniment. Some areas where we have seen more activity lately is in genres such as Dixieland and Banda music. We are working harder than ever to connect with players of all types and understand the needs they have as performers. This constant research and development helps both Yamaha and these players push boundaries.
FC: It’s refreshing to see clarinet crossing so many different genre “boundaries.” In addition to the styles you mentioned, we have also been thrilled with the clarinet’s involvement in our play-along app “Urban Play,” available as a free download for Apple and Android devices. Urban Play allows young clarinetists to play along with some of our Artists in more contemporary, modern “grooves” while working on music fundamentals in a hip, fun way. The results are really amazing! For non-clarinetists, the Urban Play app also offers the same capability for brass and other woodwind instruments.
JJ: Through dealer orders and online analytics, we are seeing increased demand from amateurs and retirees – people who studied clarinet in high school, but went on to successful careers as doctors, lawyers, professionals, et cetera. These people are rekindling their love of music, joining community bands and orchestras in the process.
BL: It is very interesting to see the rise in popularity of Klezmer. I believe some of the interest is that it is a challenge for the player. It is something outside of the standard repertoire. It is also fun to see a revival in jazz, with players like Julian Bliss putting together Benny Goodman tribute tours. While progressing the academic and classical repertoire is essential, these outside forms are also great for piquing interest.
What do you feel are some of the key methods employed by successful retailers when it comes to sales of the clarinet?
BL: Any clarinet, by nature of manufacture, is a unique instrument – each one an individual. Whether it is a Leblanc, a Selmer, or a Henri Selmer Paris – or a Buffet, or Yamaha – they all have a unique voice. The key to any retailer that wants to service the advanced player is to have a variety in stock from which the player can choose, and to have a highly qualified clarinet technician on hand.
JJ: First and foremost is exceptional customer service by staff who understand the needs of clarinet players. These individuals not only educate customers, but also guide them through the buying process. Having a repair shop with skilled technicians is also a huge benefit to retailers focused on increasing clarinet sales. That is why Backun Musical invests in advanced sales and repair training programs for its dealers.
FC: Creating a broad appeal for the clarinet certainly helps. One method is the cross-genre participation mentioned in the previous question. We also feel artist involvement is key when promoting our clarinets with retailers. Our artist roster is second to none and many of our retailers have had great success partnering with our artists for in-store events and advertising campaigns. Artist “hand-selection” for retailer stock has also been a very effective tool for some of our dealers. Having an artist travel to our North American headquarters in Florida to hand-select instruments specifically for a dealer has resulted in many success stories, both for clarinet specialty shops and more mainstream music retailers. I would add that the main quality of this industry is the relationship we are able to build with our dealers, which is very unique. It allows us to help them grow and be long-term partners and often ends up morphing into friendships.
BP: The most important thing for Yamaha is to forge a strong, collaborative relationship with our dealers – to be partners in sales and marketing initiatives. The success of every promotion or program we put in place depends on the ability to work alongside our dealers to create mutual benefit. Working with dealers who are creative in their sales and marketing efforts is an exciting opportunity for us! Successful retailers have knowledgeable sales staff that understand the products and the market as a whole, and can impress upon their customers important concepts like production consistency and the need to try an instrument before making a purchase. They are also able to coach customers through the purchase and even make informed suggestions about mouthpiece and reed choices that work well with the particular instrument of choice.
What are your expectations – both for the clarinet market, overall, as well as your own company’s clarinet sales – for 2016?
FC: 2016 is already shaping up to be an extraordinary year for Buffet Crampon clarinets. The NAMM Show marked the world debuts of two new clarinets models: The Tradition professional clarinet and the Prodige student clarinet. Tradition marks an unprecedented collaboration of American and European Artists on an all-new professional clarinet bore design, the first such collaboration in the 190 years of Buffet Crampon. The Prodige student clarinet represents the most serious evolution of student instruments since Buffet Crampon started producing the B10 and B12 decades ago and borrows a bore design from the popular E13 entry-level professional clarinet. Its price-point, combined with this all-new design, makes it an immediate frontrunner in the student clarinet market. Along with our current student, performance and professional clarinet offerings, we have great expectations for our entire clarinet range in the coming year!
BL: At Conn-Selmer, we are optimistic about the year ahead in clarinets. Henri Selmer Paris has done great work on the professional line, our step-ups continue to perform well and we have very reliable, well-respected student clarinets, so we expect a good year ahead!
BP: We expect to see continued strong demand for premium quality instruments during the upcoming year. This includes durable rental instruments, as well as options for the step-up market, advanced players in high school and college and professional clarinetists. Our forecasts for the next year are strong and we are planning to support dealer sell-through with major promotions and programs throughout the year. This includes efforts to highlight our Yamaha 50th Anniversary of wind instruments production, the springtime Graduate to Yamaha rebate promotion, the industry-leading Step Up to Yamaha fall rebate program, and a host of other exciting promotions we will be introducing throughout the year to encourage sales through all sales channels.
JJ: Industry data shows band and orchestra instruments remaining flat, which is juxtaposed by our previous and current sales trends. Following NAMM, we are seeing a dramatic increase in orders from school music dealers, with master orders more than doubling YOY. This is in addition to the anticipated launch of our new Model F professional clarinet debuting later this year.
