Sales for the ukulele are absolutely taking off right now. This small, humble instrument has never been much of a sales juggernaut, but it is definitely getting some attention these days. There are a number of factors at play here that are contributing to it being so popular at the moment, and we’re going to look at a few of them. Maybe you’ll be convinced to get one for yourself after you read this.
Appearing at More Music Festivals
We are definitely seeing a resurgence of ukuleles at concerts and other musical events these days. There is a trend to use ukuleles instead of guitars partly as a way for the musician to be unique. With so many musical acts vying for attention right now, new artists and current artists struggle for a way to stand out from the crowd. The ukulele definitely has a different look and sound compared to the more standard guitar, but with so many acts using it now, is it still a unique instrument? There are even Yukefests popping up to celebrate the instrument, so it looks like for now, the ukulele isn’t going anywhere.
Simpler Than the Guitar
For the past decade or so, there has been a push among parents to see how much their kids can achieve at a young age. There is a trend to encourage education in all forms at as young an age as possible. You might have heard about mothers who read to their children in the womb, and of course we all know parents who have their kids engaged in extracurricular activities all week long. A lot of parents will start their children on musical instrument training at a young age, but what they often find is that the guitar is too tough for youngsters to learn. They see their kids’ frustration in trying to handle a six-string instrument, so switching to the simpler four-string ukulele seems like a reasonable choice.
Highbrow for the Hipster
Within the music scene today, there is a strong hipster trend. This trend can be characterized in a lot of different ways, but for the purposes of the ukulele’s rising popularity, we will characterize the hipster scene as appropriating what was once considered highbrow for the popular culture. Hipster is kind of the anti-cool movement made to seem cool, so taking the once highbrow ukulele and making it one’s musical instrument of choice is a definite hipster fashion, and as that scene spreads, we are seeing sales skyrocket for ukuleles.
Social Media Explosion
The way most trends get started these days is by what is spreading across social media. If an influencer starts to promote a product or brand, then that will usually see skyrocketing sales and interest. What we are seeing with the ukulele is trendsetters on social media taking to the instrument, either learning how to play them or photographing others playing them, and the social media fire just starts to spread from there. People who follow trendsetters on social media spread the word to their own friends and followers and stir up interest in a matter of hours. The speed at which this process works means that an item can go from being obscure to a worldwide sensation overnight.
The ukulele hasn’t been the beneficiary of anything quite so quick working that it became a flash in a pan. That’s the problem many internet sensations face, whether they be products or celebrities. With ukuleles, the rising interest has been like more of a slow burn, but a very steady, strong one.
We are seeing a lot of social media stars take interest in ukuleles, and as they show their interest sites like Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, the interest spreads among their followers. Ukuleles as an instrument of interest have proven to not just be a simple fad. They have stuck around for the past few years, seeing increasing sale numbers as more and more people gravitate to them. Sites like Music Groupies that help people find the right kind of musical equipment are seeing massive spikes in interest in regards to ukuleles, and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
The National Association of Music Merchants showed a jump from 581,000 in ukulele sales to more than a million in the period from 2010 to 2012. In 2016, more than 1.4 million of them were sold. It’s obvious that this trend is worth looking at. The ukulele has been wildly popular before, such as shortly after it first appeared on the Hawaiian music scene and during the ‘80s and ‘90s as a way to counterprogram against the rise of the grunge scene. The uke’s distinct light tones make it appealing to anyone who wants to hear uplifting music, so it’s no wonder it is reaching such a wide audience these days.