I am based in Birmingham in the UK. The 1 man band market is very very small.Dont know about the rest of Europe.But here most of the players are hobbyists.I have been to most of the demos of he new keyboards when they come to the Westmidlands and the vast majority of the people who attend are pensioners with lots of money but hey are into their toys in a big way.They tend to upgrade their instrumenst every year or so chasing the latest technological breakthrough which is more often than not yet another repackaged keyboard. Most of tyhe younger peole hat i know want a yammie motif or roland fantom .They have very little knowledge of arranger keyboards. The restaurants and small pubs and wine bars over here are ripe for the aranger market as the performers are far more affordable than a live band and more exclusive which adds to the apeal of a restaurant. I have been approached to play at several restaurants but i cant sacrifice the time. If only more could be done about the image of arrangers and their profile.

When people hear & see an Arranger KB artist playing there is a hugh amount of Music &/or Singing to Absorb to the senses...with the influx of so many other hightech ways to make music that people are now exposed to its sometimes a bit hard to "believe" so to speak that only ONE PERSON can be doing all this music vs the thought of a DJ/karaoke/ Backing trax etc etc which they see all the time in bars, weddings etc...lets face it gigging Arranger artists are a minority & this compared to years ago when the hightech competition wasnt an issue & more people played more less computer driven music....
Are we accepted? Yes......Are we believed? most times? Are we dwindling out? very slowly.....can we extend our exsistence? if you find your niche` in the music world.....
There are two battlefronts within this topic......being accepted/respected by other Musicians........& being accepted/respected by by the audience.......time will tell

Donny,
If you have Keyboard Magazine, March 2006 issue, take a look at page 16.

Kind of on this subject, but not arranger-specific, Scott Healy wrote a small article that I found interesting titled "Think Globally, Gig Locally".

He hits on things like playing the gigs in the pre-digital stone age (150lb Fender Rhodes, Ouch!) and the abundance of work for musicians during those times.
But, he says, we are not an endangered species.



[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 03-30-2006).]

Actually the situation here in Hilton Head, South Carolina is pretty much the same as Spalding's in the UK... I don't know of anyone local using arrangers except me. There's lots of solo guitar/singers here that use drum machines and those phrase loopers that seem to be popular. A few solo/duo acts I know use midi files here and there.

The few music stores in my entire region all carry the most stereotypical products, usually in a setting that is dominated by guitarists blasting in one corner while hip-hop wanna-bes and rabid kids unleash mayhem in the other. That's the worst place to try out keyboards usually.

I've just accepted that I have very specialized needs and that no local store is going to carry what I use or be as well educated about the products in question as I am. I have no brand loyalty at all and no single source for my purchases. Everything I buy is via internet except for the few purchases I make when I travel. I do base purchases on price because once I buy something my relationship with who I buy from is usually done. With free shipping and no sales tax, the internet is my local music store.