The New World – Steinway & Sons | Music and Marketing

Unlike other piano makers, Steinway & Sons developed effective marketing strategies already shortly after the foundation. These took various components into account: 

In 1863, Steinway & Sons acquired a plot of land on East 14th Street in Manhattan, where a stately building with a white marble front was erected: Steinway Hall. This “hall” housed two concert halls for 2000 and 400 listeners respectively, as well as exhibition and sales rooms: If guests wanted to reach one of the concert halls, they would inevitably pass the magnificently staged, contemporary piano collection. The inauguration of Steinway Hall took place in October 1866. In 1925, the house was replaced by a new, larger building at 109 West 57th Street, near Carnegie Hall. The latter was sold in 2013. 

The Steinway Hall featured up to 70 concerts per season and contributed to promoting the “Steinway” label. The first star pianist that William Steinway (1835–1896) was able to engage for a nationwide concert tour, performed on Steinway grand pianos, was Anton Rubinstein (1829–1894). This 1872 tour became a gigantic success for both the manufacturer and the artist. It was the starting point for the “Steinway Artists” tradition, continued by the company until today, featuring prominent names such as Sergei Rachmaninow (1873–1943), Swjatoslaw Richter (1915–1997), Glenn Gould (1932–1982) and Lang Lang (*1982). 

In 1902, the grand piano with the serial number 100,000 was produced – and installed in the White House as an “instrument of the nation” for US President Roosevelt (1882–1945). The campaign “The Instrument of the Immortals”, created in the 1920ies by the advertising agency N. W. Ayer & Son for Steinway & Sons, still counts as one of the most successful campaigns in US advertising history.