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Firms hit the right note with music lovers in China

Written by Tony Quested

Thursday, 24 July 2008

What a body! A Lodestone electric guitar, modelled on the BMW 3

A trio of local companies are striking a chord with Chinese music lovers.

Piano Auctions Limited in Cardington, Bedfordshire, and Essex companies Faber Music Ltd and Lodestone Guitars, hope the tills will soon be alive as they sound out potential Chinese customers.

Piano Auctions Limited holds specialist piano and keyboard sales in London four times a year and has more than 20 years experience.

It will be taking advantage of UKTI’s Trade Show Access Programme (TAP) – delivered through East of England International – to attend the Music China expo in Shanghai in October but has already identified the potential for selling pianos to the Chinese.

Richard Reason, at the Bedford operation, said: “A lot of newly rich Chinese parents have only one child – and that child tends to be spoiled. Among the burgeoning middle classes in China there is a large piano-playing culture but they don’t want Chinese instruments.

“We tend to collect some superb quality instruments from UK households, often when people have died. We also take instruments that the music shops can’t sell in a tough economic market.

“We are exploring ways through the Music China exhibition and our own knowledge of that marketplace to sell more instruments into China. There are difficulties that have to be navigated, such as shipment, methods of payment and rules that currently militate against Chinese people when they move money into another country.

“At present we don’t deal with delivery of goods bought through our auctions. That’s the client’s problem.

“But we will shortly be introducing what we call our ‘white glove service’ that will look at setting up pianos so they are to go ready for shipment. We next have to address the practical issues involved in selling more top quality pianos to Chinese buyers unable to come to our London auctions to bid.

“We don’t have all the answers just yet but believe the potential marketplace is so large that it is worth talking at the Shanghai show to potential dealers and distributors.”

Piano Auctions recently sold a Steinway at £72,000 – highlighting the potential in the marketplace.
Lodestone Guitars is a two-year-old company with a red hot, home-designed product and will be making a real play at the Chinese market at Music China.

The Chelmsford company may be young but the sexy design – leaning heavily on that of the BMW 3 Series body – has already made its guitars the instrument of choice for rock bands and individual artists.

Lodestone’s Chris Bates said: “Obviously we remain respectful of the accepted laws of electric guitar and bass building and reckon we have made an important evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, step forward in instrument design.

“Having said that, our design has introduced a number of groundbreaking developments and materials and we believe

“China could be a massive market. We’ve been manufacturing our Ashdown bass amplifier in China and now want to bring China into our target markets for international sales.”

Lodestone Electrics are available in a choice of metallic finishes and are shipped in high quality, padded gig bags. In addition to the stock, Professional Series models, Lodestone also offers an Artist Series in which musicians can choose from a custom menu of timbers, finishes, alternative pickup configurations and other options.

“Lodestone represents an exciting development for guitarists,” said CEO Mark Gooday. “In a market awash with derivatives of guitars designed 50 years ago and brand-engineered clones, it is gratifying to be contributing something new and valuable.”

Faber Music attended last year’s Music China show in Shanghai as part of UKTI’s TAP (Tradeshow Access Programme), which provides grant support for eligible Small & Medium Sized Enterprises to attend trade shows overseas.

Faber’s Phillip Littlemore said: “We decided to exhibit at Music China last year, but not specifically to market to China alone. Music China has developed into a very significant music show for the Far East and we were able to see both existing and new customers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong.

“We also met customers from Australia, India and South Africa – many of whom no longer attend the major European music fair in Frankfurt.

“As Faber Music publishes both educational products, for all instruments, as well as pop songbooks from well known artists and groups, we were able to show a complete breadth of our catalogue.
“Our reputation for producing high quality instrumental books, many with playalong CDs, was established among many of the Chinese we saw at last year’s fair.”

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