So, as I mentioned before, I was having some trouble with the Web 2.0 application Idiomag. After contacting the website, they promptly replied and everything was worked out. Now I finally have some articles and media to look at! One of the first articles I received was a review for the newest recordings from opera singer Natasha Marsh. The article, written by Charlotte Gardner, analyzes Ms. Marsh's new CD and compares it to her debut CD entitled Amour.
Gardner believes that Ms. Marsh does have a lovely voice, but that it lacks any sort of depth to make her music truly special. Also, Gardner is not impressed by the fact Marsh re-recorded five songs that appeared on her debut CD. Gardner does recognize that Marsh has made quite an impression on European classical music listeners. Also, she does believe that Marsh has a great amount of talent. However, Gardner feels the music, overall, has been tampered with, not necessarily by Marsh, but perhaps by the producers.
I went and took a listen to Marsh's new CD. Overall, I would say that it is a nice collection of classic arias and compositions. Personally, I enjoy listening to singers who have a bit more body to their voice, but Marsh does have a well trained instrument. She is definitely someone I can see becoming a much bigger star in the future. Perhaps she will even make an impact in the United States' music scene!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Idiomag.com
To be completely honest, I have had some trouble using this new tool idiomag.com. For whatever reason, my "personal magazine" has not been working properly and I have not been able to view any of the articles that have supposedly been selected for me. So, I have decided to give it a few more days and I will see what happens. In the mean time, the website provides a help-email-line so I have contacted them. Hopefully everything will be worked out soon!
Assuming that idiomag.com actually works (I do believe it does and that this is a legitimate site), this tool has the potential to be incredibly useful to its users. My favorite aspect of this tool is that it brings together articles from all genres of music. I like that they have split classical music into several categories including classical, opera, and avant garde. This says to me that they realize classical music is an important genre, as well as that they are taking the time to pay attention to all genres of music, not just pop and rock. This is also useful to us because we can narrow down our interests if so desired. For my interests, I marked all three of these sections as my most favorite genres, so the magazine will include articles pertaining to all of these styles of art. For other users though, they have the option of only selecting one genre.
I think this web 2.0 application is important for anyone in the classical music field because it allows us to see what is going on in the music scene as a whole. Marketers are constantly coming up with new ideas to get their music to their target audiences. Sometimes these ideas can be used for more than just their personal genre. Also, it is always possible to expand on their ideas and to make the marketing plan your own. Classical musicians are well aware they are in an up-hill battle at the moment. To succeed, I think they need to pay close attention to the rest of the industry.
Just to clarify, I am not suggesting that classical musicians attempt to become main-stream musicians. However, I do think there is something to be said for classical musicians to earn back some of society's attention and awareness.
Idiomag.com allows users to share articles, movies, and mp3's with their friends. Communication is everything in this industry. To have the option of sharing news with your friends is important because it keeps more and more people aware of what is going on in your genre of interest. In classical music, I feel as though we spend too much time practicing and not enough time communicating to the audience or to fellow musicians. The news articles on this website provide the reader with insight into new artists, concert series, and everything in between. If we share this new found knowledge with our colleagues, we have the opportunity to support new artists in the genre and to make classical music more well-known to the newer, as well the older, generations.
Hopefully idiomag.com will start cooperating with my computer soon, because I do believe this could be a great tool for any musician. I will keep looking for other web 2.0 applications that might be of use to all of you classical musicians, as well as those of you who are non-musicians, but interested in the genre.
Assuming that idiomag.com actually works (I do believe it does and that this is a legitimate site), this tool has the potential to be incredibly useful to its users. My favorite aspect of this tool is that it brings together articles from all genres of music. I like that they have split classical music into several categories including classical, opera, and avant garde. This says to me that they realize classical music is an important genre, as well as that they are taking the time to pay attention to all genres of music, not just pop and rock. This is also useful to us because we can narrow down our interests if so desired. For my interests, I marked all three of these sections as my most favorite genres, so the magazine will include articles pertaining to all of these styles of art. For other users though, they have the option of only selecting one genre.
I think this web 2.0 application is important for anyone in the classical music field because it allows us to see what is going on in the music scene as a whole. Marketers are constantly coming up with new ideas to get their music to their target audiences. Sometimes these ideas can be used for more than just their personal genre. Also, it is always possible to expand on their ideas and to make the marketing plan your own. Classical musicians are well aware they are in an up-hill battle at the moment. To succeed, I think they need to pay close attention to the rest of the industry.
Just to clarify, I am not suggesting that classical musicians attempt to become main-stream musicians. However, I do think there is something to be said for classical musicians to earn back some of society's attention and awareness.
Idiomag.com allows users to share articles, movies, and mp3's with their friends. Communication is everything in this industry. To have the option of sharing news with your friends is important because it keeps more and more people aware of what is going on in your genre of interest. In classical music, I feel as though we spend too much time practicing and not enough time communicating to the audience or to fellow musicians. The news articles on this website provide the reader with insight into new artists, concert series, and everything in between. If we share this new found knowledge with our colleagues, we have the opportunity to support new artists in the genre and to make classical music more well-known to the newer, as well the older, generations.
Hopefully idiomag.com will start cooperating with my computer soon, because I do believe this could be a great tool for any musician. I will keep looking for other web 2.0 applications that might be of use to all of you classical musicians, as well as those of you who are non-musicians, but interested in the genre.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Share Some News, Maybe Even Your Own Feelings
How do you get your news? Do you read a newspaper? Maybe you flip through an occasional magazine (hopefully something more than just that style magazine, but I'm not here to judge). Perhaps you like using the Internet as your main source for up-to-date information. Every news station, newspaper, radio station, and other form of communication has a website at this point. Sometimes it is difficult to find the exact information we are looking for. For example, newspapers have the arts and entertainment sections, but what if we are only interested in reading about the opera? Or maybe you only like hardcore metal. No matter what genre you are interested in, the selection in usually limited.
After searching online, I have found what could potentially (keyword, potentially) be a great source for music lovers interested in reading about their music scenes. Idiomag.com is a relatively new online source that provides its' users with a free online magazine. There are numerous features to the website which make each person's experience personalized. The point of this tool is to create an online magazine with news articles, videos, mP3s, and more, that is all geared to the specifications of the reader. For example, when you first sign up for the tool, they ask you what your favorite styles of music are. They have a complete list of genres including opera and classical. Furthermore, they ask you who some of your favorite artists are so they can better match you to news articles.
There are several other features that all pertain to making sure you are getting the magazine you want. At the bottom of each page of the magazine, they ask you whether you "love" the article, or whether it should go in the "bin", meaning there was nothing about the article that interested you. Finally, there is a button to the right of your magazine that explains why this article came up in the first place. The idiomag.com team explains to you why certain tags for the article matched your specified interests. If you disagree with their decision, you have the option of saying that this article does not match my interests.
Idiomag allows its users to add their personal magazines to their blogs as well. Though I have opted not to use this option, it is one more way to generate communication amongst those interested in this subject. The information is all free, so if you feel comfortable with your blog readers seeing your music magazine, this would be a great way to connect and generate new conversations about the classical music field.
Overall, idiomag.com is relatively new and therefore appears to still be in development. It was started in 2006 by a few men and women in England. Their purpose was to create a multi-media experience for their readers, including text, audio, and visual components. As of right now, they have roughly 100 different sources which provide the website with all of their material. Each day, idiomag.com puts together six new articles for you to read. Though this is not a substantial amount, the website is still growing so it is likely they will expand the number of articles you will automatically receive each day.
Right now, their classical section is not quite as popular, but as I said before, they are still expanding. In the future they should have a larger quantity of articles just for us classical music geeks. If you are a non-classical music lover (myself included in that), this site is great for more popular music genres.
This site incorporates so many different features (multi-media, personal reviews on articles, share articles with friends) that it has the potential to become a great resource. Hopefully idiomag.com will continue to grow and provide their readers with an increasing source of new articles.
After searching online, I have found what could potentially (keyword, potentially) be a great source for music lovers interested in reading about their music scenes. Idiomag.com is a relatively new online source that provides its' users with a free online magazine. There are numerous features to the website which make each person's experience personalized. The point of this tool is to create an online magazine with news articles, videos, mP3s, and more, that is all geared to the specifications of the reader. For example, when you first sign up for the tool, they ask you what your favorite styles of music are. They have a complete list of genres including opera and classical. Furthermore, they ask you who some of your favorite artists are so they can better match you to news articles.
There are several other features that all pertain to making sure you are getting the magazine you want. At the bottom of each page of the magazine, they ask you whether you "love" the article, or whether it should go in the "bin", meaning there was nothing about the article that interested you. Finally, there is a button to the right of your magazine that explains why this article came up in the first place. The idiomag.com team explains to you why certain tags for the article matched your specified interests. If you disagree with their decision, you have the option of saying that this article does not match my interests.
Idiomag allows its users to add their personal magazines to their blogs as well. Though I have opted not to use this option, it is one more way to generate communication amongst those interested in this subject. The information is all free, so if you feel comfortable with your blog readers seeing your music magazine, this would be a great way to connect and generate new conversations about the classical music field.
Overall, idiomag.com is relatively new and therefore appears to still be in development. It was started in 2006 by a few men and women in England. Their purpose was to create a multi-media experience for their readers, including text, audio, and visual components. As of right now, they have roughly 100 different sources which provide the website with all of their material. Each day, idiomag.com puts together six new articles for you to read. Though this is not a substantial amount, the website is still growing so it is likely they will expand the number of articles you will automatically receive each day.
Right now, their classical section is not quite as popular, but as I said before, they are still expanding. In the future they should have a larger quantity of articles just for us classical music geeks. If you are a non-classical music lover (myself included in that), this site is great for more popular music genres.
This site incorporates so many different features (multi-media, personal reviews on articles, share articles with friends) that it has the potential to become a great resource. Hopefully idiomag.com will continue to grow and provide their readers with an increasing source of new articles.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
How Are We Going To Fix This?
As a classical musician, I have played my fair share of pieces, everything from Beethoven, Stravinsky, to new art that is just making its debut to the world. I always enjoying listening to the applause after the performance, not because I am that self centered, but because you can get a sense of just how much the audience liked the music, or disliked it for that matter. When I was in high school that applause was always roaring because....well the audience was made up of parents and friends. I guess they did not have to be so nice, but they were so I know that we all appreciated their love and support. As I continued to perform in new venues and the audience expanded to include everyday classical music lovers, I realized a change in the applause. When the piece was considered to be modern/contemporary, the applause was never quite as energetic.
While the classical music industry has been in what we might call a "recession", orchestras, as well as the rest of the classical music community, have finally started to realize that contemporary music is not for everyone. Some of the world's major classical groups, like The Met, are leading the way in fixing this problem. They have helped make the classical community realize that contemporary music is not for everyone. However, they have found there is a large target audience for modern classical music. In order to bring that audience, they must market the music differently from the more standard music of Bach and Brahms.
This issue of how to market contemporary classical music has finally made its way to the forefront of important issues to resolve in the classical music world. The biggest reason for this is that orchestras were having trouble staying afloat, simply because there was not enough money coming in from ticket sales. If there is no money coming in, the orchestra cannot continue to perform concerts.
I think another important factor is that orchestra management, and of course other group like operas, realized not everyone enjoys contemporary music. That is not a bad thing though. Furthermore, they found that they could not force contemporary music onto their listeners. There is always going to be an audience for classical music and contemporary classical music. The community has finally realized that the audience is not the same for each genre.
While the classical music industry has been in what we might call a "recession", orchestras, as well as the rest of the classical music community, have finally started to realize that contemporary music is not for everyone. Some of the world's major classical groups, like The Met, are leading the way in fixing this problem. They have helped make the classical community realize that contemporary music is not for everyone. However, they have found there is a large target audience for modern classical music. In order to bring that audience, they must market the music differently from the more standard music of Bach and Brahms.
This issue of how to market contemporary classical music has finally made its way to the forefront of important issues to resolve in the classical music world. The biggest reason for this is that orchestras were having trouble staying afloat, simply because there was not enough money coming in from ticket sales. If there is no money coming in, the orchestra cannot continue to perform concerts.
I think another important factor is that orchestra management, and of course other group like operas, realized not everyone enjoys contemporary music. That is not a bad thing though. Furthermore, they found that they could not force contemporary music onto their listeners. There is always going to be an audience for classical music and contemporary classical music. The community has finally realized that the audience is not the same for each genre.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Contemporary Classical Music
Classical music has been hard hit, many would say, because of its transformation over the past century. If any of you have listened to contemporary classical music, you will know that it is not like anything you have ever hear before. It is, for a lack of a better word, unique. Most of it is incredibly complicated. The musicians are required to play at their highest level because they must use all of their concentration to keep up with constantly changing time and key signatures. Also, the audience is put to the test much more than during the earlier stages of classical music. It is sometimes difficult to pick out the melody or the meaning behind the music because there is so much (or sometimes, so little) that is happening.
Contemporary classical music in many ways was not created to be an audience pleaser. If you talk to a modern day composer they will tell you that they are creating the music as they hear it and that giving the audience a "boring", traditional piece is not acceptable. They would rather see the audience dislike their piece than see them sit their not thinking about the piece being played. Though I have not found many contemporary pieces that I enjoy, I can appreciate that composers are trying be controversial in their styles.
Audiences have been declining, however. In an article entitled The Right Kind of Advertising, Sequenza21 explains that the Met saw a huge decline in box office sales. By 2006, they were only selling out 10% of all of their performances, a number they had never come across before.
Contemporary music had a drastic effect on box office sales because the majority of regular opera and symphony goers do not understand the music and would rather hear a more traditional piece like Don Giovanni. So the question is, how can orchestras sell tickets to new operas, even if the music is not like anything people have heard before?
Marketing is everything for this new age of classical music. The Met, for example, was able to overcame its slump in ticket sales by putting together a new marketing plan.
This marketing plan was perfect because they targeted the market that was most likely to be interested in contemporary music. They realized that their are separate audiences that attend traditional classical music concerts and contemporary classical music concerts. As a result, the marketing plan for each segment must be different in order to attract consumers.
In Greg Sandow's blog, he also investigates the power of marketing, especially with contemporary classical music. He believes that orchestras need to be more aware of the the types of audiences attending their concerts. Like Sequenza21 mentioned, there are several difference types of people who enjoy classical music. As a result, in order to attract as many consumers as possible, you must separate the market into several segments. Within each segment, the marketing plan is going to be different because each segment holds different values and characteristics.
Sandow makes an interesting point when he says the orchestras should not be so worried about the internet. Well balanced marketing can encourage listeners to purchase music online and attend concerts more frequently. He is even so bold as to say that orchestras should offer more free concerts. I actually like this idea because it would give people an incentive to attend a concert with contemporary music. Many people avoid the symphony all together because they have a pre-conceived notion that they are going to hate whatever contemporary piece is being played. If they were to attend a free concert, however, they might find that they actually appreciate contemporary music and that they would be more willing to purchase tickets in the future.
Contemporary classical music in many ways was not created to be an audience pleaser. If you talk to a modern day composer they will tell you that they are creating the music as they hear it and that giving the audience a "boring", traditional piece is not acceptable. They would rather see the audience dislike their piece than see them sit their not thinking about the piece being played. Though I have not found many contemporary pieces that I enjoy, I can appreciate that composers are trying be controversial in their styles.
Audiences have been declining, however. In an article entitled The Right Kind of Advertising, Sequenza21 explains that the Met saw a huge decline in box office sales. By 2006, they were only selling out 10% of all of their performances, a number they had never come across before.
Contemporary music had a drastic effect on box office sales because the majority of regular opera and symphony goers do not understand the music and would rather hear a more traditional piece like Don Giovanni. So the question is, how can orchestras sell tickets to new operas, even if the music is not like anything people have heard before?
Marketing is everything for this new age of classical music. The Met, for example, was able to overcame its slump in ticket sales by putting together a new marketing plan.
So a marketing task force was put together. For a modest budget, aided by contributions from a board member, the team was able to create dozens of different marketing initiatives designed to attract specialized audiences. New-age magazines yoga groups, anti-apartheid organizations, India groups, South African organizations, et al.
This marketing plan was perfect because they targeted the market that was most likely to be interested in contemporary music. They realized that their are separate audiences that attend traditional classical music concerts and contemporary classical music concerts. As a result, the marketing plan for each segment must be different in order to attract consumers.
In Greg Sandow's blog, he also investigates the power of marketing, especially with contemporary classical music. He believes that orchestras need to be more aware of the the types of audiences attending their concerts. Like Sequenza21 mentioned, there are several difference types of people who enjoy classical music. As a result, in order to attract as many consumers as possible, you must separate the market into several segments. Within each segment, the marketing plan is going to be different because each segment holds different values and characteristics.
Sandow makes an interesting point when he says the orchestras should not be so worried about the internet. Well balanced marketing can encourage listeners to purchase music online and attend concerts more frequently. He is even so bold as to say that orchestras should offer more free concerts. I actually like this idea because it would give people an incentive to attend a concert with contemporary music. Many people avoid the symphony all together because they have a pre-conceived notion that they are going to hate whatever contemporary piece is being played. If they were to attend a free concert, however, they might find that they actually appreciate contemporary music and that they would be more willing to purchase tickets in the future.
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