YAMAHA INSTRUMENTS DO IT AGAIN IN MMR 2003
DEALERS' CHOICE AWARDS

—Disklavier "Three-Peats" as Overall Product of the Year—

BUENA PARK, CA (February 13, 2004)—In its 10th annual Dealers' Choice Awards, published in December and presented at Winter NAMM 2004 in Anaheim, Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) gave top honors to several key Yamaha Corporation of America product lines—including an unprecedented third straight honor for the overall Product of the Year.

Yamaha Piano Division General Manager Paul Calvin, Yamaha Senior Vice President Terry Lewis and Yamaha Disklavier Manager Cameron Shearer celebrate the Disklavier's third consecutive "Product of the Year" award from MMR.

Kurt Witt, Roger Eaton, Rick Young and Jay Schreiber accept the MMR Award for Band & Orchestra Line of the Year for the second straight year.

Yamaha Pro Audio & Combo General Manager Tom Sumner and Digital Musical Instruments Marketing Manager Mike Martin take home the P Series' award as Professional Digital Piano Line of the Year.

Calvin and Electronic Keyboard Marketing Manager Jim Levesque enjoy the Clavinova's status as MMR's Home Digital Piano Line of the Year.

"The Dealers' Choice Awards are especially meaningful to us because they represent the honest assessment of retailers," said Terry Lewis, senior vice president, Music Marketing Group, Yamaha Corporation of America. "That fact makes the awards very special indeed."

The thousands of professional retailers polled by the magazine named the Yamaha Disklavier series of reproducing pianos as MMR's Product of the Year for the third year in a row. In addition, the Yamaha Clavinova digital piano was selected as Home Digital Piano Line of the Year; the Yamaha P Series was its Professional Digital Piano Line of the Year; and in a repeat performance from 2002, the entire range of Yamaha's Band & Orchestral products was named Band & Orchestra Line of the Year in what the magazine described as "a hotly contested category."

"To have the Disklavier return to the top of these important industry awards is incredibly significant," says Cameron Shearer, Disklavier marketing manager, Yamaha Piano Division. "Dealers around the country know the market like no one else, and they're in daily contact with the most important people of all, the end consumers. To have them name the Disklavier Product of the Year three times running says a lot."

Jim Levesque, Electronic Keyboard marketing manager, Piano Division, Yamaha Corporation of America, is just as positive about the award for the Clavinova. "This is the eighth award Clavinova has received in the 10 years this poll has been conducted, and it represents yet another 'Clavinova Advantage,'" he says. "We are committed to constant improvement in these instruments, and it's gratifying to hear that people are responding."

"We are extremely grateful to the dealers who have recognized Yamaha as Band & Orchestra line of the year for two consecutive years," states Roger Eaton, Sales & Marketing Manager (winds, percussion and education).

"It's an honor to have the P Series digital piano line recognized," states Mike Martin, marketing manager, Digital Musical Instruments, "not only by customers, but also by dealers who are facing a very competitive marketplace."

MMR determines its Dealers' Choice Award recipients by sounding out musical instrument retailers across the country. The magazine sent out ballots with its October 2003 issue, made random contact with thousands of dealerships by fax and e-mail, and also solicited input from retailers it interviewed for an annual industry forecast.

For more information on Yamaha musical products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; telephone (714) 522-9011; or visit
www.yamaha.com.