Piano sales fell off a cliff?Reporter investigation: The industry as a whole is suffering from a cold winter丨Cover deep mirror
Cover news reporters: Yan Wenwen and Xu Yuyang
There are fewer students learning piano, the piano is suddenly not selling, the price of the piano has dropped significantly, and the number of piano teachers has decreased significantly...... A blogger posted that the owner of a piano factory said that the piano had completely collapsed, and half of the piano factories closed down last year. The piano that was bought for 5 or 60,000 yuan in the past, no one asked for 5,000 yuan this year. The deputy secretary general of a musical instrument association said: In 2023, piano sales will decline off a cliff, and those who learn and buy pianos seem to have disappeared out of thin air overnight. Is piano sales really falling off a cliff? Is there still anyone learning piano? A few days ago, the cover news reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
The piano industry as a whole is cold (according to the interviewee)
The decline in sales started in '19 and is now only 15 percent of the peak.
Mr. Fan has been in the second-hand piano sales industry for more than 20 years, and this field can be called the barometer of the piano industry. He told reporters: "Nowadays, whether it is a piano teacher, or a manufacturer, including foreign brands, it has changed very much. This is miserable, it is not the miserable price. It's not that in the past, 50,000 or 60,000 pianos were sold for thousands of yuan, but this is not available. However, the shrinking number of people learning piano has led to a precipitous decline in piano sales, so the impact on the entire industry is great. ”
In Mr. Fan's view, 2023 is indeed a harsh winter for the piano industry, and more than half of many B-end dealers and piano stores have gone out of business. "I think there are very few people who can really say that there is no pressure and can operate normally. Whether it is an institution or a piano store, there should be no one who really can't feel the cold winter and can operate normally. ”
Mr. Fan believes that there are two main reasons: First, the income of the middle class has been affected to a certain extent in recent years. The middle class originally learned the piano as a relatively long-term plan for the future, but in the past two years, it has had a certain impact on both income and future expectations. The second point is a concentrated outbreak of everyone's "chicken baby" and "roll can't move". In the past six months, whether it is a discussion between teachers or parents, everyone thinks that since the results cannot be obtained, they simply forget it. "It's so hard to get a musical instrument, if you have this money, it's better to go out and travel, let off the wind in the suburbs, and do something happy. ”
According to Mr. Fan, the sharp decline in piano sales did not start this year, but began to decline as early as 2019. 20-22 is relatively miserable, and it will fall off a cliff from April 2023. "Today I am still talking to a few practitioners and friends about this matter, and at present, it is already a particularly good seller to maintain the previous 30% of the sales, the average is about 15%, and the worse estimate is only 10% of the previous sales, and it will be closed directly. ”
Will Mr. Fan still engage in this industry in the future? He said: "There is a high probability that there is no way to get it, and the factory has collapsed more than half of it this year, and basically it is not enough to make ends meet, and it is still holding on." ”
The overall decline in the training market makes it difficult for teachers to accept students
Ms. C, who works as a music educator in Suzhou, told reporters that her current student population is only half of what it was at its peak. "After the 'double reduction', my number of students on weekends has decreased a lot, and I can hardly receive students. Although eating is not a problem, other expenses have also decreased due to the decrease in students. ”
However, Ms. C still started her part-time writing job with solid basic skills and writing skills: "Since the second half of last year, there have been some manuscript requests, which can increase a certain income, or be able to get tickets for some performances, which is a small supplement. ”
Ms. Zhang, the principal of a local piano training school in Chengdu, said that her school has been open for several years, and it was relatively difficult to operate during the epidemic, but business has improved after the epidemic ends. But she also said, "The whole piano training industry business is really not good, although our school is okay, but it is mainly an individual business, and the overall efficiency of the school is not good." She mentioned that there was a familiar Chengdu piano training school, which just closed last week, "According to my understanding, some schools have even required students to pay for one lesson because it is difficult to support." ”
Ms. Zhang believes that the overall decline in piano training is also related to the diversification of parents' choices, unlike in the past, when everyone could choose only a few instruments. "Of course, there are still many people who learn piano, and most of them will give priority to piano. Because what it can learn is indeed the most comprehensive, but when you are older, you may start to divert to learn other instruments. Ms. Zhang said.
Learning the piano is no longer so blind for many parents (photo provided by the interviewee)
Industry experts: When the industry is cold, it can consider the impact of aesthetic education on future education more calmly
Lei Huanhuan (pseudonym), who is engaged in piano education and operation, told reporters that although the piano training and piano sales market is cold, the number of participants in piano competitions has not decreased significantly. The events she runs have the same number of participants in 2023 as in 2019.
"In fact, the number of participants in influential international piano competitions, such as the Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition in China, has increased. Lei Huanhuan told reporters that the China Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition is an event with international influence and reputation, and has a great influence in the industry. Although the number of participants is small, because the performers have to play with the symphony orchestra, the standard is extremely high, and the ability to represent the Chinese piano in the international field is gradually emerging.
In Lei Huanhuan's view, it is not necessarily a bad thing for the piano market to encounter a cold winter, because music education should not be a market in the first place. "Buying more pianos does not mean that the foundation of family music education is good. Taking advantage of this cold industry situation, I think it would be a good thing if everyone could consider the impact of aesthetic education on the future of education more calmly. ”