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Piano advertising

December 22, 2003 By

Here are some freely paraphrased responses to my post on piano advertising (by which I mean piano companies blazing their brand name on the side of their pianos):

   — from a music publicist: Thanks, I hate it too!

   – from the publicist at a mid-sized orchestra: Get over it! Commercial sponsorship is here to stay.

To which I can only answer, sure, but shouldn’t there be limits? Advertising, all over our culture, is spreading out of control. In the past year or so it started showing up on supermarket floors. Today, in the business section of The New York Times, I read that it may very well appear on airplane tray tables, and on overhead luggage bins.

And then, from my blog colleague Drew McManus, this typically individual response. Go for it, Drew!

Personally, I always like to see the name of the piano because I always listen for the sound and tone quality being produced. I especially like to get surprised once in awhile by hearing a warm Yamaha or a Kawai that doesn’t sound like glass breaking. I often find myself looking at brass and wind player’s instruments in order to identify the make/model with binoculars because I hear a sound that strikes me one way or another. (Yes, I’m one of those people that brings binoculars to concerts. And not those pretty but useless “opera glasses” either, but a good pair of high quality optics).

12/22/03 10:22 AM | filed under: main |

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