Lyric hits the right corporate note

Lyric founder Severo Panganiban

Diversification.

It’s a one-word strategy that has kept the music playing, so to speak, for 54-year-old Lyric Piano Corp. in an industry which has to keep up with constant technological changes, says its president Alma Joy Cristobal.

“We integrate and diversify in technology-related music products, like instruments, and sound reinforcement brands such as Peavey, Yamaha, JBL and TOA—products known worldwide,” says Cristobal, daughter of the company’s founder Severo Panganiban, who now sits as board chair.

Established in 1964, the company started as a supplier of parts to piano manufacturers. It was four years later when Lyric began manufacturing its own pianos in Navotas.

Panganiban, who took up Architecture at the University of Santo Tomas, was able to fulfill his dream of running his own business after working as a piano cabinet designer, says Cristobal.

“During the ’60s, piano was a major part of entertainment aside from radio. With the good demand and requirement of various schools and private homes, it was a booming industry,” says Cristobal. “Having a piano at home during those years was a status symbol of the rich.”

Severo Panganiban gives a brand new Lyric Piano to the first prize winner of the piano division of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists during the early 1970s

By the 1970s, Lyric was exporting its creations such as the Lyric Traditional, Lyric International, Lyric Modern, Lyric Elegante. It also began distributing international piano brands such as Samick from Korea, and Kohler & Campbell, Wurlitzer and Baldwin from the United States. By 1998, the company became the exclusive distributor of brands such as Boston and Steinway & Sons.

With the production of electronic pianos and keyboards, the popularity of acoustic pianos began to dwindle, which led to Lyric’s first expansion of its product lines. “[Features] like portability and additional sounds and tones were what the new market [then] was looking for,” says Cristobal.

Soon, Lyric became the music shop Filipinos know and love today: a reliable store that offers a wide range of instruments and other audio equipment. The company has 30 branches, and is still looking to expand their reach across the country.

Cristobal also gives credit to the partners they work with which aid them in their diversification. One of Lyric’s newest business partners is TOA Electronics Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of TOA Corp. Japan, which specializes in the production of public address, intercom, evacuation, prosound and background music systems for various establishments and venues.

“TOA allows us to integrate into the commercial market,” says Cristobal. “We can now even cater to the needs of government institutions and public infrastructure.”

Another tech trend which Lyric has proudly kept up with, says Cristobal, is the use of software applications linked to musical instruments. The company carries brands which she says make use of apps to make instruments more fun to play.

“Musical instruments plus smart gadgets equals new gen music,” adds Cristobal. “To continuously grow, technology integration should always be a part of the product’s added value.”

And while Lyric has no qualms about continuously diversifying their goods and services, Cristobal emphasizes that their vision and company direction has stayed the same since day one: to sell good products and provide good aftersales service.

Sounds like one strong way to ensure that the music never ends for this family-run business.