YAMAHA Piano Dealer “The Piano Guys” in St. George, Utah Outscores The Harlem Globetrotters to Take Top Spot in YouTube Contest

Photo: From Left to Right - Standing Jeremy Crawford, Shaye Scott, and Tel Stewart
Kneeling - Paul Anderson and Devin Graham

Musical Artists Jon Schmidt, Jarrod Radnich, and Steven Sharp Nelson
Lead the Team to Victory

As sales and marketing gurus continue to explore ways to utilize the new media, it appears that The Piano Guys have struck just the right chord.  Up against big names like The Harlem Globetrotters, The Piano Guys took home well over half the votes to determine that it was the most deserving of the “Most Up-And-Coming” You-Tube Channel among the top four chosen by YouTube to compete in its June contest.  The world-wide contest took place over the course of a week-long voting period, ending just last Wednesday, with the winner’s channel being posted on You-Tube’s home page today and expected to be seen by over 40 million viewers.

“We were extremely excited to even be chosen by YouTube to be part of this contest, and to win the entire thing is hard to grasp,” explains Paul Anderson, the owner of The Piano Guys.  “We started producing our videos as a way to market our Yamaha piano business and show the public and our potential customers how special these instruments are and how fun music-making can and should be. What ended up happening was that people from around the world were drawn to our channel’s music videos where we bring to light the amazing talent of the artists we work with – Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Spencer Schmidt, and Jarrod Radnich -- and these artists’ work also highlights the fun and entertainment value people can have playing and listening to live music,” continued Anderson.

The Piano Guys videography team includes Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, and Shaye Scott, who were joined by Devin Graham for the Michael Meets Mozart video featuring Jon Schmidt on piano and Steven Sharp Nelson on cello that is one of two videos headed toward one-million views on The Piano Guys channel. The other video headed for the million-view mark is Jarrod Radnich performing his copyrighted arrangement of a piano medley from Pirates of the Caribbean, which is the same arrangement he “virtually” performs “live” on a Yamaha Disklavier each day at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland.

The Piano Guys team has a goal of introducing one amazing music video each week.  “We are producing ‘cool’ music videos of talented musicians performing their best work, and it takes a lot of work and creativity to be true to the artist’s music and performance while keeping the YouTube audience’s eyes glued to the video,” explained Tel Stewart.   Anderson added, “But it’s well worth it.  We’ve had many people tell us that they are returning to their piano lessons or have decided to start playing – all because of seeing performances of our artists and the kind of music that they make and share.  It’s a good feeling and good for business at the same time.”

For more information on the artists or The Piano Guys visit www.ThePianoGuys.com; www.JonSchmidt.com; www.JarrodRadnich.com; and www.StevenSharpNelson.com.