Fender CEO Andy Mooney Encourages People to Take Up Instruments

<div class="block">Ander Mooney, Fender CEO, joined &#39;Stretching Your Dollar&#39; to talk about getting people to explore their creativity in the realm of music. Playing an instrument is an hobby that can be pricey but Mooney has some tips on where beginners should start and what to look for.</div>

Stretching Your Dollar

Stretching Your Dollar: Fender CEO Andy Mooney Encourages People to Take Up Instruments

Have you ever dreamed of learning to play a musical instrument? But assume it would be too expensive. Well, recently, Cheddar's Own Michelle Casilio sat down with the CEO of instrument manufacturer Fender to find out how you can embrace your inner rock star. Take a look. Thanks so much for joining us, Andy. So why is now the best time to pick up a new instrument? Well, I think uh anytime is a good time to pick up a new instrument. And I, I, I've always believed that a guitar is probably the most accessible instrument to begin your musical journey in terms of both price and accessibility. You know, you pointed out starting out a new hobby can be very expensive. So, do you have any tips on how to learn the guitar or the bass without breaking the bank? Well, the first thing you want to do is to kind of find out what is the ideal instrument for you. One resource to go to on fender.com is find your fender and it kind of leads you through a Q and A about what your preferences of music. Um What type of instrument you would like to play and then engage you towards uh potential purchases. Um If you're a younger player, my recommendation is always to begin with a nylon strong acoustic guitar. It's very easy on a, on a very forgiving on the hands. Um But often the, the easiest instrument to learn on is a kind of what's called a short scale uh electric guitar, um which we uh market under the Squire brand. And in some cases, the Fender brand, I know you mentioned Squire and Fender. But what are some brands in the Fender family that might provide some good value for beginners? Well, I think some of the best value that are very um popular uh through the holiday period is our, our um starter packs. So for under $200 you can either get an acoustic or an electric starter pack. Uh that basically has everything that you need to get going. In the case of acoustic comes 33 quarter scale guitar, which is very easy to access for young fingers. In the case of an electric, it comes with an amp, cables, picks, uh gig bag, everything you, you really need to kind of pick it up underneath the Christmas tree and uh get going that afternoon. Now, Fender has also invested in many public school programs to get kids playing musical instruments. So, can you tell me a little bit more about these efforts? Well, we um we started the Fender Play Foundation, uh a few years back now with the goal of getting, uh, instruments in the hands of kids, particularly middle school age kids, uh, who otherwise wouldn't have access to them. We've distributed about 15,000 guitars to date. Um, but we're gonna continue that program into the future and, uh, we're donating 1% of any, uh purchase on fender.com, uh, goes straight to that foundation. Um, and we're currently working on, uh, an edu version of Fender play or online learning tool that would be made available for free to music educators in the school system anywhere in the world. Now tell people a little bit more about fender play if they're not familiar with it. Cause you know, music lessons can be pretty expensive. Y Yeah, so Fender Play you, it's a online learning service that you can access at your leisure. Um And again, it takes you through a guided instructional program with some very high quality instructors. It's video based. You can either um subscribe monthly in which case, which is for 999 a month. So fairly price accessible and it also comes with a one time 10% discount on any instrument that you would want to buy on fender.com or you can subscribe annually for 100 and $50. And uh there, there you can use a 10% discount for any hardware that you would buy on fo.com throughout the duration of that year. What else can we expect from vendor next year. Well as, as is the case in any year, about 25% of our business revenues every year come from uh entirely new products. Uh So, you know, most recently we introduced uh the Toe Master Pro, which is a very sophisticated uh amp and effects modeling system. We're gonna continue to evolve that product. But next year also is, it's the 70th anniversary of the fender stratocaster, which is the most iconic guitar uh in the world, the most uh the most purchased body style in the world. Um And then AAA body style that has endured for 70 years because it was really designed by Leo Fender around the notion of form following function. So we're gonna really celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Fender stratocaster next year. Well, thanks so much for joining us. That's Andy Mooney Ceo of Fender and thanks to Michelle Castillo for that interview and of course, Funder Ceo Andy Mooney.