Originally Posted by Bostonian
Originally Posted by puffin
I have never heard of music competitions either. I thought kids went to music to learn to play and to improve on their own performance.
They do, but some children and their parents dream of becoming professional classical musicians. The job market for classical musicians is so bleak that competitions can serve a useful winnowing purpose. If you aren't winning them, you can certainly continue to play for enjoyment and take lessons, but you will likely not make a good living from classical music.

I was listening to a radio talk about the current state of the careers of professional classical pianists - the panel seemed to agree that the performers outnumber the audiences (it was said tongue in cheek).