Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

270 BRAND RELEVANCE
computers. Technological progress builds. The timing for the
player piano was fi nally right. The concept, which was improved
over time, hit its peak in the mid - 1920s. In its best year, 1924,
when over 300,000 pianos were sold, the player piano was the
center of home entertainment and held over 50 percent of
the piano market. Then phonograph records, the radio, and
fi nally the depression virtually killed the industry only six years
after its zenith.
Over fi fty years later, Yamaha Pianos brought back the player
piano concept but in a digital form. The Yamaha Disklavier
created a new subcategory when it was introduced in 1988. It functioned
and played just like comparable Yamaha pianos, except
that it also included a digital control system located outside the
piano that could record and then replay the performances of top
artists as well as beginners. In 1992, in the fi rst of several signifi -
cant upgrades, the electronics were installed inside the piano to
provide a fully integrated product. The Disklavier was a transformational
innovation.
Like the player piano, the Disklavier completely changed
the industry, in part by allowing those who lack the time or
talent to learn to play to have Sergei Rachmaninoff, George
Gershwin, or Elton John playing in their homes. A restaurant,
hotel, lounge, or retailer could have a quality performance in
place without hiring someone to play. Whenever that occurred,
Yamaha got priceless exposure for its piano. A library of discs,
the Yamaha PianoSoft Library, lets users play recorded versions
of the best artists ’ live performances. Most recently, users have
the option of getting live feeds off the Internet via Disklavier
Radio and can also download songs from the Diskla vier Music
Store.
The Disklavier offers considerable benefi ts for the professional.
A composer or arranger can explore variations of an execution
by altering the key or tempo of the piece when using the
instrument ’ s playback function. A vocalist or instrumentalist