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.

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.