Women are about to make a little more noise in the music industry. A new study from guitar manufacturer Fender reveals that women make up 50 percent of new guitar players in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
There are plenty of female musicians for aspiring guitarists to look to for inspiration, from Joan Jett and Joni Mitchell to Danielle Haim and Taylor Swift.
The company began marketing a millennial-focused line of guitars in 2016 with female acts like Warpaint and Bully after results from a previous survey three years ago demonstrated that Fender was ignoring its female audience. “The fact that 50 percent of new guitar buyers in the U.K. were women was a surprise to the U.K. team, but it’s identical to what’s happening in the U.S.,” Fender CEO Andy Mooney said. “The phenomenon seems like it’s got legs, and it’s happening worldwide.”
Although guitar sales have diminished in recent years, with guitar-producing giants like Gibson filling for bankruptcy, this statistic indicates that there’s still room for the guitar amid the hip-hop and electronic dominated charts.