Doublereed Archive - Posting 000022.txt from 2008/09

From: philfrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] The death of the classical music industry?
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:24:53 -0400

Bravo to Ladonna!

The classical radio station KDFC (now online as well) is a good example
of a classical institution that has been thriving, to where it is now
one of the most popular stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. They've
accomplished this by focusing on making the programming such that a
casual listener need not feel ashamed or intimidated. I don't think
they get a cent of government subsidy. (Not that I am against
subsidies!)

Catch phrase they often use: "Casual, comfortable, classical, KDFC.
Life is good here."

They've added a lot of silly but entertaining bits, such as once a day
programming a pair of pieces with some far-fetched but amusing theme or
connection, and have trivia questions & prizes. They program film
scores as well as classical arrangements of pop tunes, or play lively
renaissance dances with original instruments. All this serves to make
the station a lot less intimidating and fun for people who are casual
or new classical listeners.

The majority of the programming does remain solid classical repertoire.

Now, a lot of folks might deride these changes and say they are
"selling out." But it seems to me this is what works and is appropriate
for a medium that serves as background music during the day in
countless commercial establishments. An ensemble that only has to sell
500 tickets or so can be a lot more specialized than a medium that
reaches audiences in the 10,000's and up. And a lot of these beginner
listeners will become comfortable enough to move up the musical food
chain.

Maybe the Canadian radio station can adopt some of these changes and
make them work for their audience as well. At the least, it seems they
need to do some more research to learn what puts off and what attracts
their audience. Wasn't there something about communication in the arts
being two-way?

I wonder how much the inherent "abstraction" of music without words is
an issue. There are lots of pop tunes that popped into my head as soon
as Herb made the comment about songs being popular. For example, Herb
Alpert had so much success at creating tunes without words, wasn't he
able to create his own record label: A&M? Maybe this isn't what was
meant by abstract?

A lot of great classical is at least as tuneful and catchy, and not
being bound by the song format, can create works with vast dramatic
vistas. So, maybe there should be some distinctions made about the
meaning of the word "abstract." For example, one could consider music
that does not connect to people emotionally to be more about states of
alienation than abstraction. Though I have seen "shoe-gazing" listed as
a genre in the pop world, I don't know that it has a very big audience.
Then, there are also composers like John Cage for whom the often clever
ideas demonstrated in the music are of greater interest than the
emotional connection. But that is a far remove from the "Unfinished,"
"New World," or "London" symphonies, to name just a few abstract works
that live and breath, that have an emotional, dramatic life of their
own.

One of the districts in the Bay Area that is holding onto home prices
is the area around the city of Lafayette, known to have an actual music
program in its public schools. I'm not sure folks have put this
together yet, that music in schools equates to higher home values, but
it seems to be true. If knowledge like that was more widely known,
perhaps there would be more school music programs.

I am looking forward to a rejection of the notion that government is
"the problem." I suspect this comes from a distrust of
multi-culturalism. Inevitably, an inclusive program will also serve
those who's values one does not agree, just as when KDFC programs a bit
from a Harry Potter score, annoying a classical "purist." All one has
to do to scuttle a government program is emphasize the bits that are
culturally off-putting to a key portion of the electorate. But the very
fact of Obama's nomination suggests that the U.S. of A. is on the path
to outgrowing a lot of its provincialism.

Phil Freihofner
Albany, CA

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