October 21, 2001
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:The market at work
"The classical recording industry seems to be collapsing, and aggrieved music lovers are looking for someone to blame."
These are the words of Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times. Classical record labels are downsizing right and left, simply because they aren't making money with the vast majority of their catalogue. The classical catalogue includes about 60,000 (often redundant) titles, while its share of CD sales has decreased from 7% to 3%.
Many of my friends who also love classical music find this a tragedy. Tommasini seems to end his article with a shake of his head and a suggestion that "the Internet is here to stay. If we want classical recordings to survive, we may just have to embrace it." Well, yes. Alternate means of distribution sure can shake up an industry.
Classical music's demise is the fault of the listeners, the artists and the concert venues. It is the Cadillac of the music business, in the sense that it refuses to evolve from catering to an aging but wealthy demographic. My wife and I subscribe to several series at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere. At roughly 40 we are bringing the average age down substantially. Concert-goers noisily unwrap cough drops and contract 30-second cases of Tuberculosis between movements. We are all too close together and, the burden of silence weighs heavily on everyone. We make Wimbledon spectators look like soccer hooligans. And, as Tommasini points out, we don't need a 6th or 7th recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. If we did, there are 100 or so to choose from.
We have to remember this is not how classical music gained popularity. Chamber music, literally played in one's living room, and the amateur musician were a big part of this art form. It was not, as now, primarily a rarified prop for the elite, a place to be seen and to have your credentials taken. A century ago if they didn't like something they booed it off stage (this, in fact, happened to Stravinsky). Now, if a young composer with the right sponsorship flung cow dung into the audience while blowing a kazoo in his pants, the audience would clap politely and roll their eyes over dinner at the Russian Tea Room afterwards. Then they would look for a "safer"series next year. As a marketplace, too many of us are asleep. No wonder the artists sometimes have trouble getting inspired for a performance.
There are already signs of new life, much bemoaned by the competing establishment. Labels like Chandos and Hyperion put out records of less explored works, and offer great production values (terrific sound, for instance). You realize, when listening to these newer labels, that the definitive recording does not have to be Barenboim or Zuckerman. Also, vital artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma, are using their appeal to draw in more listeners, "crossing over" and experimenting with new forms. We see the same organizational phenomenon here as elsewhere, namely that big companies are good at delivering products the marketplace tells you specifically it wants, in a survey or marketing study. Smaller organizations are better at stimulating demand for newer concepts (although Sony broke the mold with the Walkman). The latter approach, creating demand, is riskier, but economically more explosive and more fun.
It isn't the music. Classical repertoire often seeps into the mass consciousness. Barber's Adagio for Strings was made wildly popular by Platoon, even showing on the pop charts. After Amadeus, Mozart's symphonies were heard everywhere. So much of the classical repertoire can inspire deep feelings, and is rewarding to the repeat listener. It can be rebellious, soothing, tragic or though provoking. It doesn't just make you wish you had gone to the bathroom during the intermission. While it may be downsized first, we will someday read about the "renaissance of classical music". There we will find the people who capitalized on the innate appeal of this art form, rather than rather than its establishment fund-raising appeal. Innovators will use all the new media, technology and marketing available to them. I say, let the market evolve. A dramatic change in the production of new CDs doesn't threaten the music, only the halfhearted way we consume it.
Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at October 21, 2001 12:56 PM | Technorati inbound links