Survey: DJ & Lighting Market

Advances to technology on all fronts are changing individual and shared realities at a rate that grows exponentially with each passing year and once-standard mainstays in all fields are falling by the wayside.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the realm of DJ and Lighting.  Even the nomenclature that defines the field is a relic of a nearly extinct culture: “Disc Jockey”?  How many working DJs are spinning vinyl – or any type of disc – in 2012, compared to 2002?  Heck, how do current numbers stack up against those from 2010, even?   “Lighting” today has more to do with Light Emitting Diodes than it does with any traditional “bulb.”  But people still want to hear tunes at clubs and parties, and folks still enjoy colorful splashes of light on the dance-floor and onstage, so the market thrives and evolves, as always.

MMR recently polled over 100 purveyors of DJ and Lighting gear to get their feedback on current and emerging trends…

Compared to this time last year, sales of DJ equipment are…

What price points are  doing best?

What trends have you been noticing in DJ gear sales – what types of products are moving, and who’s buying?

“Vinyl and CD have been dead for a while, but the physical controller has been showing weakness as well.  The high end is flooded with competing models.  The $50 controller is sold at Bed Bath & Beyond during the Holidays and sells for $25 afterwards.  The now-lower-priced mid level controller had better be simple to use and have a built-in sound card or it is getting returned.  There are a lot of ‘me-too’ products in this area and customers are confused by manufacturers’ multiple offerings. Meanwhile the bundled software may be different depending upon when the item was manufactured.  All of this confusion for the customer results in a lot of returns and erodes profits.”
Ken Udell
Audio-Depot 
Madison, Wis.

“Both low and high end are doing well. DJ controllers are king.”
JC Faxas
Guitar Center
Westlake Village, Calif.

“We’re losing sales to online dealers with very low pricing.”
Jim Andre
Bellevue American Music
Bellevue, Wash.

Compared to this time last year, Lighting and related equipment sales are…

What price points are doing best?

What trends have you been noticing in Lighting sales?

“When old lights break, people are moving to the new LED lights.”
Marc Rabin
Audio Design & Instruments
Port St. Lucie, Fla.

“Everything is LED. Uplighting sales are over.”
Bernie Howard Fryman
Audiolines.com
Lincolnwood, Ill.

“Intermediate and high-end product sales have dropped considerably for Audio-Depot, but I am not sure that other dealers will have shared the same experience.  Audio-Depot over saturated the local market last year with all of the lighting blowouts that we did.  In addition, we left ourselves with almost nothing to sell at the mid and higher price points!  LED dot lighting will continue to be replaced by LED gobos as this technology evolves.  I expect mid and lower-mid priced lighting to be the strongest trend for us moving forward as the dot lights get blown out and otherwise recycled in the lower end of the market.  The key here is to not stock too heavy as LED technology drops in price and fixtures are replaced with brighter, more feature-rich versions.”
Ken Udell
Audio-Depot 
Madison, Wis.

“Strobes & pinwheel lights are again selling to new & novice DJ’s.”
Dave St John
Gard’s Music
Glendora, Calif.