Does anyone still listen to the pianoforte these days?

In a world dominated by hip hop, r&b, and rock in all it's various formats, does anyone still listen to just the plane old pianoforte?

Not only does pop culture totally ignore this genre of music, it buries it deep into a lump genre of reference called Classical, and sadly that is all you will get, the same great historical composers and their compositions we have all heard over and over into adnauseum.

So, is there a current market for creative pianoforte composers?

The answer can be looked at in two ways, each determined by who you are and how you approach obstacles.

One could argue that in today's modern musical climate, there is no space or need specifically for the pianoforte as it is already widely used in pop, country, hip hop, rap, etc . . . and if you did, you would be forever releasing covers of the masters just to stay relevant on the Classical stations and aficionados.

I disagree and argue that today's musical climate is the perfect storm for the Solo Pianoforte to take a leading position on the music scene.

O.K., so now that you are done laughing, hear me out . . .

1st we already stated that the pianoforte is used heavily as the foundation for most hit songs in every genre of music from hip hop to country and everything in between, so that is exactly why it will work, the general populace is already predisposed to hearing and listening to piano.

Second, Solo Piano crosses all language barriers, as does all instrumental music, but the piano more than any crosses over universally, as apposed to using a sitar or didgeridoo which are indigenous sounds to a respective place and time.  The piano is universally accepted in every culture across the planet.

3rd, Solo pianoforte is the cleanest and purist music one could listen to, to heighten the senses, and awaken the chakras.

4th, The field is wide open and prime for someone to step in and make a dent.  Unlike other musical genres that are overly saturated with new contenders dropping new releases daily, who could compete in a semi rigged system.  The Solo Piano genre is so wide open the doors are begging pianist to walk through.

5th and this is the big one, I think people are generally tired of the run of the mill music pumped out by the mindless media puppet masters.  Face it, how many times can you listen to the same 3 words being repeated in the 3 minute song, played 3 times and hour? . . . over it.    My personal belief is that with what people now have to access, gather and listen to music, will change the style and genre of music as executives will now be selling it differently.  Kind of like video games, the arcade games were meant for you to die quick so you would put in more quarters, once home systems came out those games lost their appeal since there was no real consequence to losing just reset and go, so they started creating games that would lure you in and take long periods of time to play.  

I think music will follow this trend since advertisers don't have to shove an ad on us every 3 minutes between songs, now they can be more creative and it is a win win win for everyone.  Artist get airplay, advertisers make money, and people finally get a real choice in what they want to here.

I have chosen the pianoforte as my voice, but there are many other genres that are wide open for the taking, some haven't even been defined or created yet, forge your own path with your music and art, don't let anyone tell you your doing it wrong.  The only thing you can do wrong is to stop altogether, believe in yourself and persevere.

Also, be careful how you define success, as it comes in many doses!