its all about distribution

over the weekend the la times music critic marc swed takes a tour of the counties major orchestras and makes the point that they all have one thing in common, they play inspired performances and engage their audience in interesting pre and post concert dialogue. swed also downplays the "old wine and in new bottles" marketing rhetoric and "music man" gimmicks of "specially programmed pda's", single's nights and video game concerts that orchestral managers are using these days to sell tickets. after sampling the best most of their performances, he points out there is no easy formula for success. "...big is not necessarily better. Fresh is better. Engaged is better. Rapport between orchestra and audience is better. Leading is better than following."

maybe the problem isn't just poor marketing and uninspired playing? much has been said about this summers less than inspired movie season, but what would happen if hollywood programmed movies like many orchestras? we probably would have been fed revivals of jaws, jurassic park, and star wars all summer (oh look how well that is selling) and would have to watch another new directors cut again of "classic films" (inspired performance). even if a night featured one of my favorite films, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't want to fight the traffic and parking when i could stay at home and watch the dvd. the current audience that is left to attend orchestra concerts reminds me of my baseball friends who obsess over their trading cards and statistics of their hero's who have long since retired.

the real problem is all about content. how many new compositions are performed each year that are as strong artistically as chinatown or the godfather, or as contemporary and fresh as miranda july's me you and everyone you know. the film industry has its own problems and have its share of trash, but there are still many more diamonds in the rough that come out every couple of months. the most anticipated new work coming out this fall is john adam's new opera dr. atomic which you can only see in san francisco. how long till anybody else can see it? will it ever have other performances? when you compare the promise of the current technology and with the reality of the classical musical world. its all about exposure. how many of these great "inspired" performances has anybody seen? how many people have seen a philip glass opera? the inability of arts organizations and composers to create easily accessible video recordings of their performances is probably the main reason the tradition is dying.

technology is now all about distribution. the new generation of file sharing programs like bitcomet and azureus make it easy share anything that can be digitally encoded online (books, radio, music, tv and movies). although most of the press focus on piracy, the free flow and dissemination of ideas is the true revolution. artists are bypassing traditional outlets like of newspapers, bookstores, tv, and radio to promote and share their creations online. blogs and podcasts have made it available for musicians and composers to discuss their creative process and send it directly to their audience.

luckily for us we don't have to wait around anymore for the orchestra to heal itself. technology has made it possible for us to to bypass "limited channels of classical music presentation" and make our own path.