When the economy goes south certain selected industries actually thrive. For example movie ticket sales often soar upwards. That is because movie entertainment is generally looked upon as an "affordable luxury", and provides an escape for the problems going on in the real world. One of the biggest growth periods in the motion picture industry was during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many home based hobbies also tend to do well. Economists call this the "hibernation effect" because people take on less expensive activities at home in their off time rather then more expensive recreational activities. Examples of hibernation avtivites include cooking/baking, sewing, computer related tasks including gaming, low cost projects to work on in the garage, and physical fitness. Music is also a popular pastime when the economy goes bad. The horn that's been in the closet since the high school band days comes out, music stores experience a surge in sales for replacement guitar strings, and.... people decide maybe it's time to get that ol' piano tuned up again so it's playable. This isn't always the case and doesn't necessarily occur everywhere, but historically speaking a surge in music interest is probably forthcoming. It isn't likely to spawn much growth in piano sales since that's a major expense often requiring financing which is one of the things most are avoiding, but tech services are likely to see a surge to get existing pianos up to par. Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC