Sponsored Information – Blame it on children who can obtain music from iTunes with a swipe of a finger. Or level to a sluggish economic system. Possibly it is the truth that society as a complete, whereas nonetheless in love with music, would slightly watch TV than collect round a piano.
Regardless of the motive, piano gross sales have been lower than grand for many years, as fewer folks take up the instrument. With a median price of $16,000 for a brand new grand piano, it is easy to know why those that have an interest would possibly go for a cheaper digital keyboard or purchase used.
In response to the Nationwide Affiliation of Music Retailers, one of the best yr for brand spanking new piano gross sales was greater than a century in the past; in 1909 greater than 364,500 have been bought, and our inhabitants was solely 90 million.
At present? Our inhabitants has greater than tripled, whereas piano gross sales have reportedly plummeted to an all-time low. Solely 30,000 new pianos have been bought in 2015.
“Laptop know-how has simply modified the whole lot about what children are excited by,” mentioned Larry Advantageous, a Boston-based piano technician. “Persons are excited by issues that do not take a lot effort, so the concept of sitting and taking part in an hour a day to be taught piano will not be what children need to do.”
Which is why piano shops like Piano Man’s Piano Superstore in Faculty Park, Maryland, is being pressured to shut its doorways. The 32,000 sq. foot retailer focuses on late-model, brand-name, pre-owned pianos at discounted costs, catering to professionals in addition to rookies. The corporate usually reconditions and restores 20 to 30 pianos each month, however the firm mentioned its gross sales have been lagging.
Proprietor Nick Margaritas mentioned that because the onset of the recession, new piano gross sales have been dropping quickly and are solely half of what they have been in 2008. One other indicator that issues usually are not what they as soon as have been is that gross sales for the 2015 Christmas season — a peak time for the trade — have been the softest seen in years. Couple that with the blizzard of 2016, and the choice to shut an operation that was merely “too large to succeed” was a straightforward one, mentioned Margaritas.
High manufacturers resembling Steinway, Baldwin, Yamaha, Kawai and others have to be bought previous to the projected deadline of April 30. The Baltimore Showroom and Piano Service Heart that has been in operation since 1974 will, nonetheless, stay open.
For extra info, go to www.pianomansuperstore.com.
