Recently, the luxury industry has slashed prices, and once-familiar brands have gone bankrupt and run away one after another.
Even the piano, which has never been worried about sales, has almost ended up in a situation where "no one cares".
With prices plummeting, teachers unemployed, and institutions closing, the piano market is now a reality.
How could the piano, the king of musical instruments that was once pushed to the altar, end up like this?
In fact, the discussion of "piano" nowadays is more inclined to talk about a commodity, but many people forget that the piano itself is just a "musical instrument".
Looking at today's piano market, a large-scale economic downturn is not a good thing for pianos.
How miserable is the piano market now?
It is no exaggeration to say: "As long as it is next to the piano, no one can "make money".
Of course, strictly speaking, the concept of "making money" here is:
If someone takes it as their main business, the income from the main business can not only meet their living needs, but also support other consumption expenses other than "eating".
In the past, there were many people who could meet this standard in the piano industry, but now if you don't lose all the money you earned in previous years, you can even think of it as having a rich family.
Ms. Wang is a piano teacher with 6 years of experience.
Because of her outstanding teaching ability, she has an excellent reputation, and there is never a shortage of student resources.
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During the time when there were the most students, Ms. Wang rotated from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. between the major piano stores, and even had to squeeze out the time to eat.
But since 2023, she has been uncharacteristically idle.
According to common sense, the number of students per year for a piano personal trainer is fixed.
After the old students have completed the examination, they will devote themselves to the process of cultural classes and will not continue to study.
At this time, the teacher will recruit new students and maintain a stable number of students.
But since last year, this opening has not been blocked.
In the whole year of 2023, Ms. Wang has only enrolled 3 new students, which is less than one-third of what it was in previous years.
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A decrease in the number of students means a decrease in income.
As another Ms. C, who is engaged in music education, put it:
"Although eating is not a problem, other consumption has also decreased due to the decrease in students."
Although the plight of the piano teachers is sympathetic, they have the least to lose in the market as a whole.
Mr. Fan is a second-hand piano dealer who has been in the industry for more than 20 years.
What is the situation of the "piano" now, I am afraid that no one knows better than him.
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Mr. Fan bluntly said that it is indeed a cold winter in the piano industry, but the decline in prices can only be regarded as the appearance, and the worst is still those dealers.
"I think there should be very few people who can operate normally," Mr. Fan said helplessly.
Nowadays, most of the people who can continue to insist are some A-level dealers with big businesses.
The subordinate dealers and branches that have bloomed everywhere should fall, and they should run, and the four words "mourning all over the wilderness" are not just talking.
Of course, the dealer's life is not good, and the loss of the enterprise is even greater.
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Hailun Piano's annual revenue in 2023 will be 297 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.56%, and its net profit will be -78.8548 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1047.27%.
In the first quarter of 2024, Hailun still did not stop its losses, with a revenue of 46.2304 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 38.87%.
Yamaha, the world's largest musical instrument manufacturer, reported a net profit of 1.37 billion yuan in fiscal 2023, down 22% year-on-year.
Not to mention Pearl River Piano, the total operating income, net profit attributable to the parent company, gross profit margin, and stock value in 2023 have declined, and only the debt ratio has increased year after year.
When a piece of gravel falls on an individual, it is a mountain.
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Seeing that assets continue to fall, many piano practitioners are insolvent, and some have to sell their houses and cars in order to stop losses in time.
However, the saddest thing is that the prices of cars and houses are also falling in the context of the downgrade of overall consumption.
Many people have lamented that the sunrise industry with a good prospect is why the sunset in just three or four years?
There is only one reason for the decline of any industry and commodity, and that is that consumers are not paying for it.
Why not pay for the piano, the main thing is to look at the "middle class" of piano consumers.
They tend to be well-educated, engaged in intellectual or technical work, earn well and save a lot of money, and no longer have to worry about food, clothing, shelter and transportation.
When they meet their physical, safety, emotional, and respectful needs, what they pursue is more than the requirement for self-improvement.
And the piano is a "good raft".
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Invented in 1709 by Italian Barto-Romeo Christopelli, the piano has undergone many evolutions in the past 315 years, and its status has always remained high, and it is a symbol of "elegance and nobility" in the eyes of the world.
In the peaceful and prosperous modern era, the piano with a halo has been crowned by the world as the "king of musical instruments", which is no better "tool" for the middle class who are not short of money and time.
However, even if the middle class pays for the piano, they can't afford the name of "the world's first piano consumer".
In fact, among the consumers who pay for this black and white king, ordinary people account for the largest proportion.
According to official statistics, as early as 2002, China has become the world's largest piano producer and consumer, and in 2001, it exported 50,000 pianos abroad.
However, the pianos produced by Chinese piano factories are more economical for ordinary piano lovers, and high-end pianos still need to be imported from abroad.
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At a time when refinementism and Western ideas are rampant, news about "ordinary families spending all their savings to buy pianos" is constantly emerging, and the contradictions and controversies caused by this are also rising day by day.
The piano, an instrument that encompasses all musical sounds and spans all vocal ranges, has also played the joys and sorrows of countless families in the 20 years of rapid development.
Time flies, the piano has gone through 20 years, and behind the infinite scenery is the doubts of consumers and the crisis that is about to become the twilight industry.
After 2020, the piano has begun to enter thousands of households, the piano is no longer the unattainable aristocracy, and playing the piano is no longer regarded as an elegant thing by people's madness.
The middle class that spent a lot of money has stopped, and the huge family wealth that was once saved by the dividends of the times has now been swept away by the torrent, looking at the car and looking at the house on the right, and the piano placed at home has become "the first person to be cut".
The parents who once sharpened their knives and lay flat to the "tenth-level", the involuted chicken baby is too draining, and it is better to enjoy the moment with this energy and financial resources, and the child is also relaxed.
When the delivery boy passed by the shopping mall where he picked up food, he couldn't help but show off his skills, causing countless shocks.
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The uncle at the construction site passed by the piano shop when he was eating, and played a song "The Silence of the Night Sky", although he was not very skilled, but he could hear that the foundation was still there.
They are praised by everyone, but how much they have paid for it in the past, and now the reward of this price is nothing more than that.
The reason why the piano is gradually being questioned is because all roads lead to Rome, but not everyone is suitable for the road to Rome, and not everyone is suitable for going to Rome.
Of course, for the analysis of the market and consumption, it is somewhat unconvincing to just say "piano".
As many netizens said: It can't be said that there are fewer people buying pianos, just say that the economy is not good, there are more tourists, and the economy is beginning to be vibrant again.
As the professionals say: "The cycle that cannot be escaped is not fate, but a new journey!" ”
Steinway, the "Hermes" of the piano, has a price of millions at every turn, and many middle-class people will stop and sigh at the existence of high prices.
However, in recent years, in the case of the declining piano market, Steinway's net profit in the last five years has grown by 83.9% year-on-year, which has shocked the jaws of many peers.
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On April 14, Steinway submitted an S-1 prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, planning to use "STWY" as the stock code to list on the New York Stock Exchange and prepare to be listed.
Why is it that the discounted and cheap piano loses ten times or twenty times, but the expensive high-end line has embarked on the "peak of life"?
In the final analysis, the piano market is no longer good, but it does not necessarily mean that the "piano" is no longer good.
Ms. Lei, who is engaged in piano education and operation, said that despite the cold winter in the piano market, in her opinion, the number of players participating in piano competitions has not decreased.
Does this mean that fewer people are buying pianos and more people are learning pianos?
It doesn't seem to make any sense. Ms. Ray said she doesn't think the piano industry is cold.
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In those days when piano training institutions and piano shops were prosperous, it seemed that the industry was thriving, but as an artistic tool, how many people learned the piano with an artistic heart?
The price is chaotic, the competition is serious, the students concentrate on the examination, and there are countless sales traps......
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the wild geese come and go from the south to the north, and sometimes, the decline of an industry is not a bad thing for the product itself.
Let the piano return to the piano, and let the music return to the music.
As the world-famous pianist Czerny famously said:
"If you ask me how to be a good pianist, tell me how many scales you practiced."
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Resources:
China Industry News: "Piano Crash Argument is Overstated, Adjustment and Upgrading Aim to Achieve Steady and Far-Reaching Results"
Jinan Daily: "The "Cold" Thinking Behind the Fever Reduction of Piano Training
IPO Early Know: "Steinway & Sons Piano Sprints to the New York Stock Exchange: Positioning Luxury, Sales in the Chinese Market in FY2021 of $117 Million"
Author: Again, and double
Editor: Ichiyigi