The whole music industry is shrinking. Part of it was the iTunes business model dropped the average purchase price from $12-15 down to $1.30-$3.90. Bands now release songs to support their tour instead of touring to support their album sales.

Plus you have an aging customer base that is not being replaced by younger customers. Younger customers are going straight to EDM because the time to creativity is so much shorter.

Finally, you have a customer base that is very rigid and un-innovative. Everyone wants a 65 classic reissue with 57 vintage whosies-whatsits and patent-applied-for dohickies.

Guitar Center has an outdated business model (lots of inventory within a retail storefront) compounded by the shrinking market so no surprise there.

Gibson tried to diversify they just really really sucked at it.

My hope is that Gibson absorbs Epiphone's current product line into a "traditionalist cork sniffer's brand" and then lets Epiphone go hog-wild. I would love to see mass produced young-and-fun guitars like what is coming out of Fano, Novo, and Airline/Eastwood. No more Fender/PRS/Nash/G&L/Suhr/Grosh strat/tele clones in 3-color starburst. So tired of that.