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Partially in response to the thread below about SACD versus LP I would like to draw people's attention to the latest broadside by the Cassandra of the UK classical music world Norman Lebrecht. This gentleman not only predicts that we are all doomed to iPodity but is also publishing a full length book called 'The life and death of Classical Music'. Personally I think he's living on another planet but then what do I know? I only attend live music multiple times per month and buy far too many SACDs & RBCDs all the time!! Sadly this man is a very influencial opinion maker in this country.So, it is not just that multichannel is dead (as confirmed by the 2304 issues currently on SA-CD.net), but also the entire genre of classical music is also slipping into oblivion. Wow! I'm really frightened.
Dave
Follow Ups:
Although the appreciation of classical music involves subjective values and judgements, it seems to me that the question of whether or not the classical recording industry has died, or is dying, is at least partly an objective one. - What are the stats regarding trends in sales of classical CDs, SACDs, etc., and attendance at concerts and opera performances? What are the sales per capita? (Maybe this was all discussed in the body of the Lebrecht article, which I didn't see.)For example, I'm wondering what the percentage of all sales of recorded music in 2005-2006 was of classical music, and how that compares with similar percentages 20 and 40 years ago. And, what percentage of the public attends classical concerts currently compared with 20 and 40 years ago.
I agree with the previous comments regarding the cutbacks in music appreciation classes and youth concerts as being one of the significant factors. Also, it seems pitiful to me for the Government to cut back on funding for classical broadcasts on NPR (funding that I understand was not substantial even in the best years).
Strange indeed. While driving home this afternoon tuned the radio on NPR and what do I hear? A report on a surprising increase on classical record sales in USA, in fact they pointed out that classical was the only genre that is experiencing a fairly healthy gains.
Go figure.
See link for a different perspective.
Robert C. Lang
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NT
Robert C. Lang
As a classical clerk at the now-former Tower Classical Annex in SF told me, Tower accounted for about 50% of classical CD sales in the US. (Not sure where he got that figure, and whether that included online sales or not, but given Tower's dominance here, I'm not surprised.) In any event, the clerk told me that he was proud of the fact that, in 'his' store, he was able to steer advice-seeking customers towards recordings and repertoire that they would not have otherwise considered. (He bragged that he was responsible for most of the CD sales in the US of a particularly obscure opera recording--he was probably right.) He was proud to have imparted his enthusiasm and knowledge to so many customers, and lamented that this type of personal service would no longer be possible after Tower closed its doors. Sure, online stores like Amazon come up with suggested CDs for you to try, but it's not the same as having a knowledgeable and friendly salesperson guiding you around a store, talking about CDs of music or performances you may have never even thought of before. Admittedly this kind of service has become increasingly rare anyway, but I still hate to see it disappear altogether.If the Tower stores did indeed account for 50% of classical CD sales here, I can't help but feel that only a small part of that will be made up by increased online sales, whether actual CDs or downloads.
And I think that the constant messages of impending death are overrated. As other posters have pointed out in this thread and in others, it is the distribution system for music that is changing. IMO the only thing that's dying are silver discs. But they are being replaced by a far more efficent music distribution system - the internet. The efficiency of the internet as a distribution network for music means that there may well be more classical music available for sale - not less. It just won't come from major labels and be sold through large record stores.I also believe that those who worry that this means I-pod quality for everyone are also mistaken. CD-quality downloads are now available though Music Giants and they are talking about MCH DVD-A quality downloads. As long as there is a market for hi-res classical music, someone will sell it. Capitalism like nature, abhors a vacuum and the profit margin for selling electrons over the net can be pretty impressive.
nt
Frustratingly - no - I don't think there is an online copy. I was given a copy of the magazine by a friend. The perpetrator (author) has a website however - not that it helps a lot. I expect that his book will generate more reactions that we *can* access.
Dave
there are some of us who would agree with your statement "I think he's living on another planet" but . . . uhm . . . for different reasons than you, no doubt. ;-) (No doubt, for the same reasons, there are some of you on your side of the Atlantic who have the same feelings about us!)On a more serious note, even in the Philistine U.S., there does not seem to be a lack of interest in live performances of classical music. For example, its nearly impossible to get anything but a standing room single ticket to the Washington Opera here in The Capital of the Free World. The great bulk of the house is sold out to season ticket holders.
Of course what is happening is that the economics of the major record houses (collapsing because of the rise of Internet distribution) no longer permit recording contracts with the big symphony orchestras around the world that once was the norm, primarily because the scale required for a profitable recording under that old, inefficient distribution system gets higher and higher. On the other hand, as you undoubtedly know, Internet distribution has allowed these orchestras to self-publish their work (I have several by the LSO). By combining the recording session with a live performance, the volume requirements for a profitable sale are greatly reduced, so the business lives. Not to mention the smaller labels, like Pentatone that continue to record less expensive orchestras from Russia and Eastern Europe and "audiophile" labels like Telarc that continue to record some orchestras in the United States. If anything, from what I read on these boards, such activity is greater on the eastern side of the Atlantic than on the Western side.
And, the increasing penetration of high-capacity Internet connnections raises at least the possiblity of Internet distribution of high-quality audio, rather than low-quality, lossy-compressed audio that is the norm right now -- with the potential to realize savings resulting from the neeed to distribute the recording on a physical medium that must be transported to the end user.
In the U.S. at least, the bigger issue for concern IMHO is the reduction of the number of avenues by which people are introduced to classical music, with the death of mass audience broadcast radio and the curtailment of children's exposure to classical music performances in the public schools. When I was a kid growing up here in Washington in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the National Symphony Orchestra came to schools and played; and school children were bussed to Constitution Hall to hear National Symphony Orchestra concerts. I don't think that happens any more.
I grew up in the DC suburbs of Virginia at the very same time you did, but I guess that the National Symphony saw no need to visit the schools in Arlington or Fairfax counties. My home was regulated by parents who considered classical as "longhaired music," so my only exposure to it was at my own initiative.You make a valid point about the kids today not having much exposure at all to this genre, but in truth, peer pressure being what it is, kids don't take kindly to being thought of as an oddball for being different; they don't read Shakespeare or poetry either.
No, it's much more important that we have out tax dollars used on the schools to teach them how to operate a cash register in a fast food restaurant.
I graduated from Washington-Lee High School (in Arlington) in 1967 and distinctly remember the NSO playing there . . . in the gym.
A father had two children in tow about 5 or 6 years ago. They each had about enough of listening to recordings on the stations Borders has available and one child said to his Dad he wanted to go home to listen to Chopin and the other agreed. I couldn't believe my ears! :)I had no exposure when I was young and it never really interested me until a few years ago. I may be mistaken but I feel one's musical interests change and classical gets incorporated somewhat later in life. No one I ever notice while I'm in Borders browses the classical section that is young. It's middle age or older folks.
...and I browse the shops for classical music...but seriously...I think the doom and gloom scenarios are a bit premature.I came to appreciate classical music in my teens as a result of a kindly uncle who asked me to listen to some of his classical recordings one day. He asked me if I liked any of them. I did.
From that point forward, I started listening to how classical music was used in movies and television (as a general background to "cultural" entertainment). This led me on a journey of discovery made possible by Compact Disc and its successor, Super Audio Compact Disc.
I started this journey during the late 1990's when the business model was still brick & mortar and physical media. To me, classical CD was a smorgasbord of treasures that I eargerly enjoyed. I feel that physical digital media in the form of CD and SACD bring concert quality audio to the masses, who otherwise would not be exposed to it via the concert halls.
Tragically, live classical performance (in the United States) remains to a large extent an isolated and elitist undertaking where audiences are segregated along racial and socio-economic lines (verified by just looking around at the audience before the concert starts). Attemtps to expose school children to classical music had been almost completely abandoned by the time I finished middle-school and sadly this form of cultural enrichment is now a thing of the past.
Due to high ticket prices for live orchestral concerts in the United States, I actually attended my first live orchestral concert in Munich, Germany (the Munich Philharmonic). I had a unique and surprising experience that evening.
The audience for my first concert was predominantly over 40 (perhaps over 50). I seem to have been seated in the "young people's" section though because most of those seated in my immediate vicinity were under 25. Many of these young Germans had never attended a classical concert before and actually asked me (a person who aquired his entire musical education from listening to classical CD's just a few years prior to the concert; it was my first concert too) for information about the concert, the artists, and the repetoire, which I eagerly shared with them (I did know a thing or two about the repetoire). I was tickled by the whole experience.
I was shocked that young Germans like young Americans had received so little exposure to classical music. Young Germans growing up in the lands of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms were as ignorant of this musical heritage as any youth in the world. Funny.
In Europe (unlike the States), live classical concerts are still underwritten by governments and thus ticket prices remain significantly lower than they are in the States. Surely, this situation should encourage more young people to attend such concerts? This did not appear to be the case.
I must assume then that like the States, schools in Europe have largely abandoned classical music education for youth.
It's funny that on both sides of the Atlantic now, Opera concerts are thriving but orchestral concerts are not. Could this have something to do with the lack of music education in schools?
After returning to the States from Germany, most of my exposure to live classical performance has been on college campuses where student orchestras are quite good and most concerts are free. Every now and then, I will attend a concert given by one of the professional orchestras but it's rare due to exhorbitant ticket prices. During those rare visits, it's obvious that the audiences (for American classical concerts) are older and limited to higher socio-economic groups (I still don't understand the need to wear furs and mounds of jewelry just to hear music...but maybe that's a hold over from the customs of the past).
As far as recorded music, I think SACD is the best possible thing that could have happened to recorded classical music. In my opinion, it's the closet to the concert hall (in terms of quality) of any recorded format and SACD seems to have revived interest in classical music amongst collectors. I do no currently see downloads as a viable medium for the distribution of high quality music.
While SACD is definitely a niche format, the niche appears to be growing as the demand for high quality audio continues to grow. I think that classical and jazz music lovers are fueling this demand.
The music business seems to be splitting along different lines according to genre. Pop music seems to be fueling downloads while classical and jazz music are fueling the steady growth of SACD and other high quality physical media. I predict that physical media will be around for some time to come (at least for the next decade).
I wonder about this 'high ticket prices' thing. I don't get the impression there's a lot of difference between USA and UK in that respect. In this last week I've paid for several concerts varying between $40 and $140 per seat - admittedly the top price one was unusual, it was the Berlin Philharmonic!! I spot checked the Baltimore Symphony (my son lives there at present) and they are circa $50 to $80. Would you count this as 'high' compared to attending pro football or basketball? I would not, premier league UK football is well over $100 per seat.
Dave
I am glad you have bucks to spare but for me anything over $40 a ticket is high...it's more economical for me to buy recordings.
No question about that.
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Don't despair, I keep my violin in the closet for such an occasion.
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