2023: The Amorphous Blob That Is The Classical Recording Industry
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- Опубліковано 31 гру 2022
- Get ready for another year of the classical music industry throwing its "stuff" against the wall and hoping that some of it will stick. That is what passes for classical music marketing these days, but it wasn't always so. Join me for a brief trip down memory lane, to the days when labels actually informed consumers about their upcoming releases. Yes, it really did happen!
From 1990 - 1995 I was classical music manager for a large (regional) CD Store based in North Carolina, and in a lot of ways it was a dream job (kid in a candy store)
As part of my job "perks" I would get free copies every month or quarterly of the "MAGAZINES" so I could stay on top as well as the relationships you would develop with regional reps....It was awesome and so much fun!!!
The entire shopping/hunting/searching experience was a happy chore.
And don't forget labels "physical/hard copy " catalogs😲
Times have changed, but now we have you😁
Thanks for everything you bring to the table.
Happy New Year and Keep on Listening!
I had a couple similar jobs. Managed a classical only record store. I spent all the money I earned there on records. Never saved a penny. Like a drug dealer getting high on his own supply. I lived and breathed records. My dreams were about finding that elusive shaded dog in mint condition. A sealed copy would be equivalent to nocturnal emission !When we were forced to close, it hit me hard that I kind of wasted several years. I hadnt advanced in life and had only thousands of LPs to show for it. Had a lot of fun, and I was content to be lazy and poor. The advent of CD broke the addiction cycle . Made a ton of lovely friends though.
Before Google and UA-cam, we only had the primative PHONOLOG and Schwan catalog. The young people today don't understand the hardships we endured. Music is too easy to acquire, so it's not as meaningful. We had to walk 5 miles in the snow to get to the record store. Then we'd browse for 4 hours and not buy anything!. Tell that to a kid now, they don't believe you!
Dear Mr. Hurwitz,
I am 81 and still an avid record collector an audio buff. An essential and eagerly awaited parution every month and during oh so many years was the irreplaceable Schwann catalog.
,
I am 17, so I have never experienced having a big list of everything coming out. It does make me somewhat jealous of your generation because I end up finding new music through conductors that I follow on instagram as well as your channels reviews. I know that classics today is more of a review platform, but what if you managed to wrangle a bunch of labels to get you lists of upcoming releases? I mean, the best way to get exactly what you want is to do it yourself. I am really not exactly an expert in this field, so there’s probably a lot more finessing involved, but I think that having a list like that would be a welcome addition to anywhere really.
My biggest regret is loss of the monthly Schwann Catalogue. I have a couple decades worth in the basement.
It was fun. I saved my allowance to buy records. In high school I got a job- so I could by records. I had 10000 plus LPs that I carted all across the country. And my collection of live opera tapes. Everything I spent all my money on is available FREE on UA-cam. The thrill of putting on an album, reading the liner notes, putting it in a protective cover and filing it....something your generation will never know. Us old timers never predicted it would end or the way the industry were go. Browsing in record stores for hours was my favorite pastime. Hurwitz keeps part of that alive, but CDs are also old technology. Happy new year!
@@jefolson6989 That does sound great! I know that a lot of my friends are getting into LPs, but I usually just use Apple music, as it has everything I need, and I am unemployed, so I can't afford the LPs (or CDs for that matter). I hope I'm not toppling the industry...
Oh, to be 17 again! Good luck, my friend. You are embarking on a journey that should last you a lifetime, and offer you endless pleasure.
I remember the days when the major and minor labels would produce big, glossy catalogs every year, usually with new and upcoming releases marked. I still have a couple of Deutsche Grammophon and Decca catalogs from those days; nice to flip through the pages now and then.
Your point about knowing ahead of time what would be released, planning to buy it, etc, is so right on.
A very happy new year Dave…thank you for almost single-handedly keeping the classical music ecosystem rejuvenated on the Internet. As regards the amorphous blob, my take is that nothing really will improve. Basically…Major labels are not interested in giving us proper product communication…it appears as if the collectors have to adapt to available sources of information which are mostly online stores. There are also certain blogs which have alert contributors especially with regards to box sets. Let me give an example…the upcoming release date of the Ansermet stereo box on Decca has been pushed multiple times and we have blogs which have healthy discussions on reasons and possibilities…the same case goes with the Haitink Concertgebouw giant box…there is a lot of conjecture on the pricing of the jumbo Abbado box…so I think the solution should be collector driven…maybe an availability and new release wiki or blog where the collector community comes together to fill the lacunae…we need to help ourselves…
I'm better informed of new releases than I was forty odd years ago, because I opt in to emails from the labels. Not the "majors:" I've no idea what they're trying to do. But I get regular emails on new releases from the various labels under Chandos, Hyperion, Cedille, etc. Most importantly, I get a weekly email from Classics Today with new reviews. As listening to music isn't my job, I have only a few hours a day for listening, so I cannot keep up with this stuff as it is.
I stream, so Qobuz fills my "Discover" screen with a dozen new releases and rereleases each day. It's truly an amorphous blob, although they're getting better at including capsule reviews. But classical music is a side line, so it's not well curated.
What I miss most is broadcasts from the orchestras, and I don't know why they don't stream them. (Actually, I have a fairly good idea that its due to contracts with the unions and venues that make it uneconomic, even assuming you could find a sponsor.) Wigmore notifies me of streams of their weekly programs, but they're broadcast in a compressed format so the sound isn't great. Playing outside of the studio might take some pressure off contemporary performers that aren't wack-a-doodles to do something "different." Regardless, it's nice to let someone else select what you hear once and a while.
About the only thing that is around today which gives a hint at what's going to be issued on classical labels is the U.K. based Presto Music site. Presto is a retailer of physical and downloaded product. On its home page is a sub-tab under the classical tab which covers new and future releases. It's an inadequate substitute for the type of yearly announcement you discuss, but it seems to be the only thing out there.
Glad to spend the first few hours of 2023 in your usual style - straight, hilarious acerbity ..
Let us celebrate the tumour blob! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Auckland! This expat American loves your work and I have been with you nearly since the beginning! You have taken my love of classical music to an entirely new level, or several. Let 2023 be a wonderful year for you and yours (the 20K+ subscribers including yours truly).
Same to you! Thank you for sticking with me!
Hello David and all readers...Happy New Year 2023...and we have started the year with this wonderful posting...and it's true...we would like to know what's coming up...I just hope that someone is reading or listening out there in the record industry ...let's enjoy this new year with great music and these wonderful postings, GV
I remember the era well. I used to make regular trips to Tower Records in Boston where I spent much of my meager income on CDs. There were not only the upcoming releases listed in magazines, but catalogs issued by the major labels which one could grab for free. I recall a Deutsche Grammophon catalog which listed an upcoming recording of Beethoven's Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas with Rudolf Serkin (it even showed the cover). I waited and waited for that recording, but it was never released. I later learned that Serkin had cancelled it at the last moment.
A Happy New Year David!!!
Happy New year! Dave.
Happy New Year to you, David
Happy New Year. Dave and friends!
I loved those September HF issues and the lists of new releases, many of them listing not only recordings by company but the month each was planned for issuance. It would stay out on my desk or coffee table for a year. When the CD era began many of us would replace our old vinyl with the new format when made available.
Happy New Year, Dave!
In my collection of classical related materials, I have two old magazines: a copy of Musical American from 1957. It's huge, something like 11 x 14 and several hundred pages. It's a fascinating thing, full of interviews with then upcoming artists, ads for new LPs and hi-fi gear, record reviews and artist management information. Then a 1968 copy of Stereo Review which had that long and important article about Louis Moreau Gottsschalk by Robert Offergeld. Just browsing either mag makes me sad to realize just how much we've lost with the demise of the printed word. Believe it or not, our local newspaper had not only classical record reviews but also information about new releases. I remember being thrilled to read on day that Lorin Maazel's new, complete recording of the Tchaikovsky Manfred was about to be released. Then I went down to the record store (I miss those, too!) until I finally found it. I guess what with things like Spotify who needs record stores anymore.
Happy New Year everybody! You're absolutely right. For years I've found it excessively difficult to keep up with all the new publications. It seems almost like clique would deliberately try to make the classical music industry implode.
I purchased the I Musici 83-disc box-set thanks to your recommendation - it was shipped in a box within a padded box. Thanks! PS: I loved the 1991-2004 era: lots of used Classical cds for sale at great prices.
I purchased that I Musici set as well. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I hope you do as well.
Thanks Dave. It is an ORDEAL trying to find a decent schedule of new classical releases these days. Streaming music platforms have been especially poor in this department. Have a great New Year!
Not only do the so-called "major" labels issue tons of recital albums, but each one of them absolutely has to have a TITLE. Usually these TITLES are cutesy-poo things; I guess something actually descriptive such as "Scriabin Etudes" or "Brahms Late Piano Works" just won't do, in the minds (if you can even call them that) of a label's PR people. Besides, the TITLE is what sticks in the mind of the average Grammy Award voter who may know zilch about classical music, and while many classical listeners couldn't give a fig about the Grammy Award, they presumably pump up sales, because the average slob is more inclined to buy Something That Has Won Some Kind Of Award than something that hasn't.
I began making fun of these TITLES years ago, when some major artist had a CD released that was called "The Berlin Concert." "Wow," I thought at the time, "after all these years, someone has actually had the idea of having a concert, in Berlin, of all places! What won't they think of next?"
My proposal is: Unless it's actually and demonstrably descriptive and helpful, classical releases should no longer be allowed to have TITLES. I'm absolutely convinced that this idea won't fly, because the people (again, if you can even call them that) who ruin, er, I mean, run the so-called "major" labels cannot comprehend the ideas of descriptive and helpful.
And while I'm at it, fie upon Amazon's useless listings of new releases that some idiot believes to be "Classical." Right there at the top is the blind Italian lawyer with the fuzzy-wuzzy face, wisp of a voice, and a massive PR campaign. Then there's some...THING called "Trustfall" and then, God help us, Whitney Houston. Isn't any sentient creature minding these lists? Ans for goodness' sake, I LIKE Peter, Paul, and Mary, but they don't belong here either. And continuing down on the list, I'm convinced that the only reason there's a symphony by Rued Langgaard is that the work itself happens to have a TITLE, "Cliffiside Pastorals." Whoever Jeff Bezos hired to be in charge of this thing probably got the assignment as a punishment.
And don't get me started on Apple. When they bought and killed Primephonic, they said they'd have their own Apple Classical section by the end of the year. Ahem....
Happy New Year from this amorphous blob. Advance listings etc. were good in '87 but already down from a coherent height in the analogue era. I too used to cherish and absorb all the catalogues in their entirety, though now I'm less certain that was a healthy tendency :) I don't know how or if Classical plans to survive, but we do seem to have a surfeit of mundane/random product: thanks for railing against that, too, DH.
I loved the upper west side tower records when I was younger. Top floor. It felt like it had as much classic media as the Lincoln center library haha. I’d always walk out with some real bargains. Should have guessed then things weren’t going well for them…
I used to get similar 'catalogues' for major publishers. like Penguin. Great to sit and flick through hard copy. I then went out and bought stuff that I wouldn't have known about. It's hit and miss now.
David: to your point, Presto Classical is showing 1,920 current new releases, and 600 known future releases! . . . That's for classical alone!!!
Hi All - so this situation has honestly bothered me for a while now and I thank you Dave for bringing this topic to the fore again. Besides one of our communite members mentioning various specific websites doing their 'coming soon' stuff, Naxos does a wonderful job and also Presto Classical has a newsletter they send out once you subscribe using your email address - it has new releases upcoming (Classical & Jazz) and other news - it really is very helpful.
Dave, I am loving, loving your Fabulous Concert Series, after honestly not giving it a shot at the beginning I have gone back now for the second time through them all and I can tell you that I am so very impressed with and enjoying of this wonderful series. Your knowledge continues to defy logic.
I'm so happy you stuck with it! Thank you!
Happy New Years Dave! I think we'd all understand if you took a holiday or so off, but then what would I do each morning?
Your observations generate lots of reactions, but first I'll point out one of the drawbacks of the magazine era. They made money on ads, and they needed to keep advertisers (audio equipment and labels) happy. So there was a tendency to give favorable reviews, particularly in the magazines with the largest circulations. I remember cancelling my Stereo Review subscription when it went a whole year without panning a single piece of equipment or classical album.
Many of the discs I buy come from a local supplier, who works from home and is also a friend, and I've been waiting for almost six months now for some of my orders. On one occasion after I had written to him for an update, he replied that he was expecting to receive a large order that he had placed and was sure that some of the discs I was after would be amongst them. They weren't, and I'm still waiting! In the "old" days, when there were record shops, one could often go into them and find an area where the latest releases were displayed and you could buy them on the spot. Where I live, those days have long gone.
This rant about how we don't know what's going to show up and when, or where, and what markets, etc. is so bang on. Really have to wonder what is going on behind closed doors. If we're being generous, maybe covid/supply chain make things more complicated? Like: what happened to the jumbo Ansermet box that was supposed to come out last May?
Also the continual complaint that they've forgotten 1-2 albums from a big box reissue seems like a flip side of the same problem. They don't know what's coming and they also don't know what already went!
The labels also used to publish beautiful glossy catalogs of all their releases, that I could sometimes pick up at record stores.
I know now that even people involved in the recordings (like the producer/engineer) may have no idea when a release is coming out until it's already out, and I find out from Presto or someone when it was released.
Even without subscribing to these magazines, you had a sense of what was coming out just by belonging to Columbia House's and RCA Music Service's classical music record clubs. Or by listening to WQXR. Or reading Ovation magazine at the library. Before the "information overload" of the Internet, we had a good handle on new classical releases.
As you say, the big labels no longer seem to have a recording program like in the old days, so perhaps there isn't as much to let the public know about? The smaller labels never had much press to begin with unless their distributors like HM in the US advertised. A few labels like the Australian Eloquence line still publicize their upcoming issues on their website. You can still see ads in Gramophone and Record Geijutsu. Seems like the Japanese market still is strong enough for their distributors to keep placing ads. E-zines like Gramophone, Fanfare, and your CT are a source of what's just been released in the form of reviews. Since physical media has become a niche market, there aren't a lot of pressing plants like before and schedules don't seem to be kept. Look at the backlog of big boxes from Decca. Stuff from 2022 has been pushed back to 2023. I suspect that the limited runs for issues that come and disappear like many of the Blu-Ray audio discs don't make it worthwhile to advertise. They usually sell out with no re-pressings. (Perhaps licensing issues?) The only big box getting a re-pressing appears to be the Szell box. As far as the "New Recordings" issues, I think some of them listed only fall releases so that they got out word in time for Christmas for brick and mortar stores. Not really useful in the age of on-line purchases. In the old brick and mortar days, people would make regular visits into the store to buy print zines and find out new releases from the buyers like at Tower. Some of the PR sent in the old days were misleading as well. I recall one of those "what's going on in the studios" articles in High Infidelity saying that Decca planned a Die Walkure with Karajan and the VPO. What actually came out was the Leinsdorf/LSO recording.
In the 1990's I looked forward to catalogs of new releases, in deluxe booklets, from the major labors - DGG, Philips, London/Decca, EMI/Angel, Hyperion, Nimbus, etc every year (or was it every 6 months?) That was also when Tower Records had classical-only annexes inside the main stores or even separate stores. Happy times no longer.
I especially looked forward to the colorful and informative ads by the labels trumpeting their monthly releases...those were the days... :(
You said that at some point it became too expensive for magazines to get newsstand distribution. Before that point it must not have been. What changed, and why?
Many factors--too much to go into here, but one of them was the requirement that magazines give full credit for returns of unsold copies, which in some cases exceeded the value of actual sales.
You have 20k + followers. What was the circulation of High Fidelity at its end? I think you may be the buyer’s guide in place of the magazines for many.
Thank you so much for this! I am both a jazz and classical listener and the jazz scene is at least as bad. If you find someone putting together a list please let us know.
The Jazz scene is worst. The number of jazz streams are so low, jazz is nearly totally irrelevant. Breaks my heart.
Diapason Magazine is still there, ( it is in french) . A great magazine!!!
Yech.
In the future, humanity will invent electronic computing machines that will help solve this communication crisis.
Happy New Year, Dave! I suspect that the classical music industry has been taken over by accountants who are not themselves music lovers but who see the bottom line. I further suspect that they wouldn't be interested in producing what you suggest, unless they thought there was a profit in it for themselves. They may even have thought about doing what you have suggested, but decided that it just isn't worth it. The big money now is with promoting mediocrity to the masses: a pretty face, something politically correct, a different angle,these are the things they are interested in today. Classical music is a hard sell with little reward, so they don't bother.
Maybe someone listening to this will create that website
I stopped my subscription with Gramophone (I still read the more plebian but useful BBC Music). HOWEVER, I rely on Dave for reviews.... I watch Dave....then go to UA-cam and look for it...listen...see if I like it and then decide whether I wish to purchase etc.
You must work 7 days a week come Hell, Highwater, or January 1.
Why is it like this, doesnt the lables wanna sell?
It's strange, that's for sure.