Playback - Winter 2009 - (Page 14)

COMMERCIAL 4 Ways a Recreational Perspective Boosted the Piano Segment It was at a Piano Manufacturers Association International (PMAI) board meeting in 2005 when Karl Bruhn, one of the forefathers of Recreational Music Making (RMM), spoke of market creation and music-making benefits rather than fighting over an ever-shrinking piano industry pie or focusing on specific features of each company’s brands. This speech planted the seed for PMAI’s involvement in an RMM program. A year later, PMAI launched “The 21st Century Piano Project” with a survey of the piano community (retailers, teachers, publishers, technicians, manufacturers) and consumers. The results showed 55 percent of recent purchasers indicated they had bought a piano for themselves rather than for their children. This figure inspired PMAI to develop an RMM initiative in partnership with the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) and the Retail Print Music Dealers Association (RPMDA). Brenda Dillon, project director for the National Piano Foundation and an RMM instructor, developed a successful pilot program at a senior center, which led to the award of a NAMM grant for the initiative. The piano segment identified four phases for implementation. The first two phases, which included outreach plans to expand the RMM teacher base and the production of a DVD set to train teachers and retailers, are now completed. The last two phases over the next two years will focus on four regional seminars designed to assist retailers to develop RMM programs in their sales territory and to boost consumer participation in RMM programs by the entire adult population. “It’s been said that we are not old until we replace our dreams with regrets and that there’s no expiration date on dreams,” says Dillon. “Recreational Music Making programs are primarily ‘dream fulfillment’ opportunities.” RMM participants see the benefits, but the industry has also experienced success from the PMAI initiative. Below are four ways the RMM concept has changed the piano segment: 1. CREATING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY The key to success has been the piano community (PMAI, MTNA, PTG and RPMDA) working together from the beginning. All of these groups submitted questions for the survey and took ownership in the future direction. 2. ESTABLISHING A SHARED PERSPECTIVE ON TEACHING The implementation of RMM programs led piano instructors to convert their thinking from teacher-centered to student-centered and to create stress-free learning opportunities. Using RMM concepts to teach enthusiastic adult students during the day, they expanded their income. Retailers are also seeing increased traffic with RMM programs in their stores. 3. DEVELOPING TOOLS FOR CONTINUED GROWTH The program systematically established the teacher and retailer resources needed to attract and support large numbers of adults eager to play piano. PMAI will continue to work with the piano community and NAMM, and will adapt future initiatives based on what has been learned to date. 4. PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO COMMUNICATE RMM articles have been welcomed by numerous publications, including American Music Teacher, Keyboard Companion, Making Music and the industry trade magazines. Also, several RMM organizers have been invited to present at conferences in the United States, along with the International Society of Music Education conference in Bologna, Italy, this past summer. 14 PLAYback

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Playback - Winter 2009

Playback - Winter 2009 Contents From the President NAMM Events Music in the News A New Year... a New Look at Technology Commercial Retail Reps in the Field Washington Watch International New Domestic Members NAMM Foundation Music Notes Resources Viewpoint

Playback - Winter 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.