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In Reply to: While At Borders posted by Robertc88 on March 15, 2007 at 07:36:43:
...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).
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Follow Ups
- Well I'm young... - layman 07:08:56 03/16/07 (2)
- Re: High prices? - Dave Billinge 09:28:45 03/16/07 (1)
- Yep - layman 11:49:42 03/16/07 (0)
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