Classical Music in Contemporary Music Industry - Essay Example

ical Music in Contemporary Music Industry Introduction Music is one of the more enriching aspects of human life. It has innumerous variations and it is hard to find a man who does not enjoy some kind of music. Music enriches our soul, cures depression, inspires the mind and it equally touches the heart of every individual irrespective of class, creed and religion. It is a beautiful medium that can convey the message of peace and brotherhood across international boundaries. Music can do wonders where speech and great writings fail. During the eighteenth century, music was begun to be considered as a work of art, and this created a distance between the performer and the work. This developed a type of musical lyrics in which the musical notation emerged as just one of the many written sources that provided information. Such information enriched an individual with musical comprehension, its works and performances. Performance of classical music became entirely dependent on how well the performer construed the essence of the musical score and lyrics of that music. The advent of gramophone record and its impact on music has contributed towards the decline of literacy in classical music. This has diffused classical music that surpassed the conventional connection between the subject matter of music with its social context and performance venues (Dahl, 2009, p.66). This paper explores the classical music in contemporary music industry. Music can be inspirational for all although its preference may decline with age. As per one research, it was found that young people give more importance to music than adults and therefore they listen to music more often. Moreover young people prefer listening to different kinds of music in all occasions as opposed to adults who prefer specific kinds of music mostly in private context (Bonneville-Roussy et al., 2013, p.703). Music as an inspiration and relaxation has been proved by many researchers. Today, music is used everywhere from shopping malls to dental offices since it is both stress reliever and a positive force on psychology (Joyce, 2003, p.5). The decline of classical music in the contemporary era According to Kramer (2008, p.13), classical music is almost like a “living museum, living precisely because it is a kind of museum, and, like a museum, a place that exhibits new works as well as old”. The state of classical music in modern time is mostly shaky. For several years, classical music has experienced a steady decline in its popularity especially in America. There are many symptoms that prove this fact like a weakening CD market for classical music, lack of fund for symphony orchestras because of declining audiences, and Internet becoming an important source for listening and downloading different kinds of modern popular music. Traditionally, popular radio stations were the major platforms for presenting classical music, but even these stations are shifting towards all other kinds of music. Even the recording industry is not willing to invest in producing classical albums due to declining status. The television networks which previously had their own symphony orchestras now refrain from playing classical music during prime time (Kramer, 2008, p.1). Globalization is another factor that has contributed towards the decline of classical music in the global arena. It has a profound and sustainable effect on the relation between the music industry and the broad cultural sphere. One major impact of globalization is that musicians are becoming less and less classical music oriented as they are shifting their genre more towards multi-lingual music means the kind of music that can be understood and appreciated by people from every culture and society. Since, today musicians are involved in performing music for all cultures and every genre of music, therefore it can be ascertained that musicians are required to be knowledgeable about various musical genres. Remaining fully aware about different musical genres can enrich a musician’s experience as well as can increase opportunities for the musician. Today, musicians claim that they practice classical music in order to imbibe its discipline and they practice modern music because of the freedom of performance. According to one survey, almost 75 percent of the 292 classical musicians practice music belonging to two genres other than classical. Majority of the musicians have emphasized that classical music alone cannot sustain their career for lifetime (Bennett, 2008, p.75). The major conflict between classical music and modern commercial music is that the former needs a comprehension of music that is presented primarily by the musical performance, and also its intrinsic and internal properties. Unlike commercial music, for classical music the importance of listeners’ responses is secondary. In case of commercial music, its popularity depends more on its market demand than genuine demand for quality of music. In essential, classical music “does not ignore its listeners’ desires, but it is shaped by its adherence to internal, musical demands that are often at odds with the pleasurable immediacy commercial success requires”. However, there has been a growing popularity of specific forms of classical music in recent decades like “nineteenth century Italian opera arias or baroque concertos” (Johnson, 2002, p.27). It has been observed that the amount of popularity that classical music is garnering is because of its approach as another kind of commercial music. For instance, like the above mentioned popular classical music, only those types of classical music are gaining popularity which has the features of commercial music. In other words, those types of classical music that can be easily comprehended by amateur listeners are becoming successful since they are regarded as a kind of popular music. Today popular music, which is more noted for the manner is which music is used than its musical style, has broadened to include classical music. In short, the style of music has not altered but the manner in which music is listened to and the value system attached have altogether changed (Johnson, 2002, p.27). Classical music business In the last two and half decades, classical music has spread its wings among the non-traditional listeners. There are several major factors for such proliferation. Firstly, classical albums are being released by adapting the parameters of pop culture like in the year 1989 Nigel Kennedy recorded Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by using pop marketing skills. Today, Internet has become ubiquitous and downloading music from websites is an extremely common phenomenon. Therefore, the second contributing factor is amalgamating Internet with trade and marketing of classical music. For instance, since the launch of iTunes by Apple in 2001, there has been a monumental downloading of music as it reached one billion by 2006. Moreover, performers like Barbara Hendricks resort to selling their music albums over the Internet without any fixed price. All these elements have broadened the sphere of classical music among all kinds of music lovers (Carboni, 2011, p.196). According to 2009 report of the UK music industry, in the year 2009 the valuation of the music industry in UK was £3.9 billion which is an increase from previous year by 5 percent. Moreover, there has also been an increase in private investments in the UK music industry by 3 percent, a large part of which is attributed to the rising sales of classical music albums (Carboni, 2011, p.215). Marketing technique is another vital factor that enhances market standing of all products and music is no exception. The last two decades have witnessed a big alteration in the marketing campaigns for classical music. In the year 2002, Monastery of Sound was a classical recording released by Warner Classics based on Gregorian chants. The idea was to induce people to listen to the album during late night. For the purpose of marketing, national newspapers and popular radio stations were used. This way, the focus was both on capturing a large section of the UK population as well as on emphasizing the quality of the music. The list of songs was taken from long deleted CDs of Gregorian chants which means obsolete music was recreated and marketed to non-classical listeners (Carboni, 2011, pp.201-202). In another instance, classical music marketing attempted to capture the sensual aspect of modern buyers. In the 1993 release, Sensual Classics which was a compilation of famous classical music were recorded in CDs with cover picture of an attractive looking couple. The motive was to encourage consumers of all preferences to buy the album (Carboni, 2011, p.203). It is important for adults to take positive steps in encouraging children and adolescents to listen to classical music. The first step should be taken in schools where teachers can induce children to go through symphonies by popular composers and also explain the form in detail (Johnson, 2013). Today when youngsters are seeped in vandalism and anti-social activities, classical music is slowly gaining foothold as a widespread solution since it is increasingly being recognized as pacifying force on young minds (Jackson, 2005). Conclusion The future of classical music depends on the young generation. The important thing is to drag them away from the glam and glitter of reality musical shows like American Idol. The solution does not lie in forcefully taking children to concerts where they will experience nothing other than boredom. Instead, it will be more fruitful if they are made to watch old movies which have classical soundtracks. Max Hole who is head of Universal Music’s classical music business believes that classical music needs to be spread among the non-traditional listeners like the youth and also who believe that classical music does not fit the parameters of elitism (Clark, 2013). References Bennett, D.E. 2008, Understanding the Classical Music Profession, Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Bonneville-Roussy, A. et al. 2013. Music Through the Ages: Trends in Musical Engagement and Preferences From Adolescence Through Middle Adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.105, No.4, pp.703-717 Carboni, M., 2011. The Classical Music Business. In: P. Rutter, ed. The Music Industry Handbook. N.Y.: Routledge, pp.195-223 Clark, N. 2013, Orchestras must ‘ride the wave of change’ or die, The Independent, [online] Available at: [Accessed April 22, 2014] Dahl, P. 2009. The rise and fall of literacy in classical music: an essay on musical notation. Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol.56, No.1, pp.66-76 Jackson, M. 2005, Music to deter yobs by, BBC News, [online] Available at: [Accessed April 22, 2014] Johnson. J. 2002, Who needs classical music? N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Press Johnson, S. 2013, Queen’s official composer: youngsters are ignorant of classical music because of ‘elitist’ attitude, The Telegraph, [online] Available at: [Accessed April 22, 2014] Joyce, C., 2003. The effects of classical music and new age mood music on relaxation states. M.A. in Psychology. Roosevelt Univ. Kramer, L. 2008, Why Classical Music Still Matters? Univ. of California Press Read More