From the article (couple of years back but worth a read)
“Going back to the research, 45 per cent of the guitars that we sold every year went to new players; 90 per cent abandoned the instrument in the first year (…). The 10 per cent of the salmon that make it through the dam have a lifetime value of $10,000 [each]. They buy five to seven guitars, they buy multiple amps, they drive the hardware side of the business."
Vail Resorts did some research years ago when I was in the industry and found that only about 10% of people who took a skiing holiday ever went again. This wasn’t some shitty little ski hill. Vail is a pretty slick operation.
They cited various reasons i.e the expense, how difficult it is to learn etc.