According to The New York Times, individuals turned to music to occupy their time during quarantine and stay-at-home orders this year. That’s why Fender gave away three months of free guitar, bass and ukulele lessons via Fender Play in March. Within a month, Fender Play’s user base grew nearly 500 percent to approximately 930,000 aspiring players learning on the app.
Recognizing this growing community of players, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is bringing back this offer – three months of free Fender Play – through the end of 2020.
To ensure those motivated by this record interest can get started with the right instrument, Fender has launched the findyour.fender.com interactive online guide, an intuitive web experience that demystifies the guitar shopping process to help match up new players with the right gear for their playing style and musical interests.
“Fender is increasingly focused on bringing new players to our industry as new players have fueled solid growth in guitar sales for over a decade and continue to represent the future of our industry,” said Andy Mooney, CEO at Fender. “Given the accelerated growth in new players entering the market this year, with most researching their buying decisions on-line, we created the FindYourFender experience to assist new players in personally selecting the ideal guitar, uke or bass for them to enjoy.”
FindYourFender offers a solution to the problem of not knowing where to start. The interactive guitar guide starts by learning about the user, including which genre of music inspired them to pick up guitar, the finishes and colors that match their personal style, and the price range they’re comfortable with. The online experience also offers simple, interactive tools so users can listen to what tones the company’s instruments and hardware can provide — eliminating technical jargon and instead letting users hear firsthand which sounds resonate most with their musical taste. After the user finds their perfect instrument, they’ll be directed to Fender.com and have the opportunity to find the closest Fender dealer. The FindYourFender microsite also takes into consideration the new player’s approximate budget.
“The current circumstances have made it harder for new enthusiasts to get the hands-on experience and expert advice they need before investing in their first instrument,” said Evan Jones, CMO at Fender. “For any new player to be successful in the long term, it’s important they get the information they deserve and right instrument from the start. All too often, the guitar buying experience can be overwhelming for beginners, but FindYourFender is one of the first interactive online experience to offer new players an intuitive, personalized solution.”
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