Longterm future of piano business

[Piannaman@aol.com]

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In a message dated 3/22/03 7:44:23 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no writes:


> > I am curious about others opinions on the long term future of the piano 
> business.  Piano dealers are going under right and left.  Used pianos are 
> at historic lows and even then do not sell.  There will always be tuning 
> and rebuilding business since there are still millions of pianos out there. 
>  But do you feel about the long term growth of our field.
> 
> Lets put it this way.... dont encourage your son to become a piano tech 
> unless he's either into a very bohemian life style, or intends on becoming 
> one of the few true all around artisians in our buisness
> 
> I predict that within 30 years there will be only 4 or 5 manufactures 
> making only very expensive instruments for an increasingly nostalgic 
> rational and for the few music lovers left who insist on acoustic music. 
> Everyone else will have keyboards of some sort or another. These will just 
> plain become too competetive for the low end acoustic side of our
> industry to survive.
> 

I see the demand for pianos being pretty steady in the SF Bay area, and I 
don't see an end to it despite roughly 20% unemployment around here.  But the 
prices are going up, and quality going down.  Dealers can't afford(or won't 
afford) proper prep, and people wonder why their pianos won't stay in tune 
and feel funny.

There are new Chinese factories cranking out hundreds of thousands of pianos 
a year.  I see a future in our business.  Maybe it isn't the future that you 
or I would consider ideal, but there will always be pianos.  Many of the best 
pianos will languish as baubles in 2,000 square foot living rooms.

Years ago, many people predicted that various other keyboard 
instruments(organs, synths, digitals) would push the piano out of existence 
except as a curiousity.  It will outlive all of those things.  

Dave Stahl

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