Businesses are complaining about their four “come and see” pianos in town and that their tone-deaf customers are driving them away.
To stop people bashing the ivories, one of four painted pianos has been removed from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.
Barrow Business Improvement District, (BID), placed the four pianos in various locations around town to encourage young people to get involved in the arts.
However, some traders complained that children viewed the instruments as toys or climbing frames. They were jumping on them and making loud noises.
(Lweft to right) traders Lynne McKenna, Pete Clark, Margaret White and staff from Mammy’s Café are unhappy with the noise from the pianos
Traders from Barrow market have complained that the recently installed pianos are negatively affecting their businesses
In order to prevent the general public from shaming the ivories, one of the piano lids was now screwed down
Mark Holmes is the co-owner of Harts jewellers at Barrow along with David. He said, “If they were playing Beethoven and Mantovani or anything nice, that would work.”
“But, it’s just children jumping up on them and making just an utter sound. While they may not be as horrible as carol sings, they can make the same noise.
Pete Clark, a fruit and vegetable vendor, sits directly across from the piano and says: “I thought it was really great idea. But, nobody knows how they work! It’s just a matter of children banging on them, making lots of noise. This is a silly thing now.
Amanda Cubin from One Stop Gift Shop said that “people aren’t coming to market because of them.” My mind is too scattered to focus on my work. I’m just going insane.
Lynne McKenna from Lynne’s Menswear added that it was distracting when she’d be counting up. It is very loud, and kids can bang on it for hours.
The pianos were also questioned by traders. According to them, they are only used for their primary purpose and cannot be cleaned after each use. Anyone who wishes to use the hand sanitizer has it available on top of all pianos.
As part of Barrow Music Initiative’s annual events, four decorated pianos were set up around Barrow.
Barrow BID released photos on Facebook of the instruments in September.
Colin Garnett (manager of Barrow BID) confirmed that one of the piano lids had been removed during half-term October because it was ‘too loud’.
Garnett explained that he has received positive feedback from people that it had brought them to the area. You can see other cities and towns that did it. It is about drawing people in the area.
Barrow BID installed the pianos on September 30 and Barra Culture launched #BarrowMusic to help with their implementation. The instruments were described as “good in principle” but “distracting, off-putting, and in actual practice.”
BID will use the pianos in a Christmas music trail. They will then be kept in storage in hopes of being used again in 2022.
“Every project that we undertake is designed to improve the quality of the visit for the people who come into our town. It was the idea behind the pianos that music and art could be encouraged in the area, especially among the younger residents.
“We have issues with young people in town and it is time to look at how we could inspire them artistically.” It’s not just paint and canvas. We’re using pianos to inspire people in this situation.
BID is using the pianos as part of Christmas music trails.
They will then be kept in order to be used again in 2022.