Piano sales are dropping. Here’s how today’s generation is learning the instrument in a new way

There was a time when pianos were a fixture in many American homes. Gathering around the instrument to sing and dance was a family tradition, undoubtedly altered by the spread of streaming services and social media. 

Despite plummeting sales in recent years, the piano continues to find its way into people’s homes. 

In 1925, it was estimated by the Blue Book of Pianos that 306,584 pianos were sold, while only 17,294 were sold in 2024, according to a music industry census. 

Hannah Beckett, a piano technician in northern Virginia, can attest to the fact that fewer people are buying pianos.

“It’s been a hard year,” she said. “It’s kind of a perfect storm of a lot of geopolitical events, economic status, general trends in the culture.”

Beckett said people have been forced to make decisions that may not involve purchasing a pricey musical instrument.

“Millennials are struggling to get a house, let alone a piano to put in it,” Beckett says.

One option is a digital piano, which offers a smaller, more affordable options to its acoustic counterpart. 

“You still have people buying entry-level uprights and entry-level baby grands,” says Chris Syllaba of Jordan Kitt’s Music.  “But you still have many, many more times that number that are buying digital pianos or even hybrid pianos.”

According to Beckett, a new generation learning on digital pianos isn’t a bad thing. 

“Because at least a digital you’re going to have accurate sounds, accurate notes, the keys are going to go up and down,” she explains, a problem that older acoustic pianos can pose for beginners. 

Beckett is optimistic about the future of playing the instrument.

“At some point, you’re going to start looking for musicality, for emotional expression, for shaping phrasing, for some of the things more advanced musicians are interested in,” she says hopefully, adding, “we’re going to see a resurgence of piano playing. I think we’re all kind of weary of screens at this point.” 

Anna Grazulis

contributed to this report.