Del wrote: >It's no secret that the piano industry is rapidly shrinking. Usually, and it >is so in this case, a shrinking industry is the result of a shrinking >market. Yet the makers of pianos continue to ignore the largest single block >of new piano buyers -- the current piano owner -- by offering them nothing >better enough to entice them back into the piano store. And annual and semi-annual price increases at rates faster than family income increases don't help either. Band instrument manufacturers are just as guilty. My son wants to play the saxophone, so I went to check prices and absolutely could not believe the prices I was given. With housing, transportation, and health care costs rising at such a fast pace, combined with the increasing costs of new instruments, the average family simply can't afford new pianos at these prices, especially when they've got to buy a band instrument too. Also, we need more Billy Joels in the recording industry to spur interest in the instrument again. (Remember the days when you actually saw pianos on MTV and VH1?) I can't think of one piano playing commercial recording artist who has emerged in the last two decades. The piano industry itself ought to be scouting every nook and cranny for talent with the ability to resurrect the piano in commercial music. Simultaneously, schools of music need to acknowledge commercial music as a legitimate form of musical expression which serves to compliment classical music, and encourage its development, rather than snubbing noses at it. My 2 cents, Jeff Jeff Tanner Piano Technician School of Music 813 Assembly ST University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 (803)-777-4392 (phone)
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC