Music Preference and Personality

We're getting ready for our yearly inventory count at work. I've sort of been handed both the "band instrument" (really should be called orchestral, but that's too long for marketing) and "print music" departments over the last couple of months. As part of the preparation I've been going through the print bins to make sure everything is in order and will be easy to count. In a lot of ways it's similar to a library; there are different sections according to instrument, publisher, genre, format and so on. While sorting the piano music tonight I came up with a few conclusions. Most of these have to do with illiteracy, or more simply those who can not / do not follow the alphabet.

My list of illiterate customers is something like the following thus far in my discoveries:

1. Parents and teachers of young children. Several books in both our easy piano and big-note section were misplaced, and not anywhere near there proper location. It should be noted that our print bins are tall enough that the children which these books are for can not reach them of their own volition. AS such, it must be either parents or teachers looking at these. If parents, hopefully their children can benefit from the mind-stimulating activities they are being tutored in. If it is their teachers we have an explanation for why modern pop music sucks.

2. Fans of Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Just about every book we have by one of these two was grossly misplaced. Enough said.

3. Mozart and Bach. In our classical piano section, these are the only two misplacements of any significance. It should be noted that there was one Schuman piece misplaced, however it seems as though someone attempted to return it to its proper spot and did so in the most logical position they could find. Not a big deal. There were a few more Bach pieces misplaced, and the Mozart was far removed from where it should be. A couple theories here. first, we have about as much Bach as we do Romantic composers in general. It is simply a staple, and as such more likely to be misplaced. Second, Classical era pieces are again more abundant than either Romantic or Modern pieces, with Mozart and Beethoven at the forefront. We're a bit low on compositions by our friend Ludwig at the moment, so it's only natural that Wolfgang found n unusual home. Finally, both these composers seem to be used earlier as lesson material. Naturally, more copies are needed and younger players will be looking at them. These factor in to how many copies might be displaced. Brahms and Dvorak are sought after by more mature audiences who have the patience to search for them and return them to their proper location. finally, no one actually likes playing modern classical pieces, let alone pay for them. If I ever have to replace, or sell, a modern piece I will publicly apologize to all modern composers, after I wake up after passing out that is.

4. Christian piano. For being one of the smallest sections it was the messiest. It showed signs of pure laziness and indecision. I could go into more detail, but it would get rather offensive.

I'll keep you posted as I tackle the rest of the sections tomorrow.