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It's estimated that over 30 million kids in China learn to play the piano a year.
However, recent data indicates a significant drop in interest in piano education.
While the demand for piano lessons may be on the decline, the value of music education should still strike a chord.
Right.
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For today's program, I'm joined by Xin Yu in the studio and Josh Cotterell on the line.
First on today's show, the piano, often hailed as the king of instruments, enjoyed a golden age in China, especially among millennials born in the 1980s and 1990s, many of whom likely have childhood memories of either taking piano lessons themselves or having classmates who did.
World class superstar pianists such as Long Long and Yu Jia Wong have ascended as defining symbols of that era.
For decades, there was a high demand for piano education, which in turn fueled various piano related industries, from manufacturing to tutoring.
However, in recent years, the enthusiasm surrounding the piano appears to have been waning in this country.
So before we talk about what factors have contributed to this decline in the piano craze, let's take a step back and see what are the driving forces behind the piano craze early on in the 1980s and 1990s in this country?
Yeah.
So back in the 1980s and 1990s, we definitely saw rapid economic growth in this country.