Crowd-funded Classical Music

[doversoul1]

I learned on today’s Record Review that the AAM’s Brockes-Passion was crowdfunded. I assume this is nothing new and in fact there was a thread about a friend of a forum member’s plan to record by this method.

Will this method of recording bring about significant changes in classical music and its recording? It is a good thing or are there any worrying aspects? Or is it so common now that there is little point in talking about it? If that is the case, what has changed in classical music and its recording?

[pastoralguy]

I suppose the fore runner of this was when Walter Legge had a subscription to record the works of Hugo Wolf back in the ?1930's. Other recordings have been sponsored by groups such as the Vaughan-Williams and Delius trust. Surely crowd funding is the modern equivalent.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I suppose the fore runner of this was when Walter Legge had a subscription to record the works of Hugo Wolf back in the ?1930's. Other recordings have been sponsored by groups such as the Vaughan-Williams and Delius trust. Surely crowd funding is the modern equivalent.

- and the Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas.

[teamsaint]

Nothing new under the sun. Crowd funding is really just the old publishing model using C21 technology.
My suspicion is that it will continue to grow in popularity, with some positive and some negative results.

It will engage the already interested, and grab a bigger part of their available cash,( too often on “ added value “ limited editions) but it does provide a good route to market for some more marginally commercial projects.

[pastoralguy]

I wonder if this would be a good time to open a crowd funding page to record the Symphonies of George Lloyd with Sir Simon and the London Symphony Orchestra! (If only that £170,000,000 Euromillions had been mine!)

[doversoul1]

- and the Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas.

Host: please correct the title

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Host: please correct the title

Done. (I genuinely wondered if there was a new way of "streaming" money transactions - I suppose it's only a matter of time.)

I think that it's a good idea, and should result in more adventurous repertoires/performers getting published than was the case in the days when a handful of famous labels kept churning out Beethoven cycles - which, of course, resulted in some marvellous recordings (now available at almost criminally cheap prices) but which got rather ridiculous, considering th amount of repertoire that didn't get recorded at all.

[doversoul1]

Thank you Host.

Will there not be a risk of it becoming like unedited online publishing? And will ‘less attractive’, for all sorts of reasons, music have any more chance of attracting funds than it traditionally has?

[pastoralguy]

Series Question!

Suppose I DID have the money to sponsor a complete cycle of the George Lloyd Symphonies, how would I go about it? 'Phone The London Symphony Orchestra and book them having first booked studio time at Abbey Road? Ask Sir Simon through his agent if he's willing to conduct them and, failing that, find an up and coming conductor who has an interest in recording a top orchestra under superb conditions in a cycle of works whose recorded history is scant to say the least!

Questions, questions!

[teamsaint]

Thank you Host.

Will there not be a risk of it becoming like unedited online publishing? And will ‘less attractive’, for all sorts of reasons, music have any more chance of attracting funds than it traditionally has?

I think the answer to the second part may be that crowd funding enables a safe route to small but viable markets. For very many artistic projects there is definitely a market, but finding that market can be very tricky through traditional routes and with standard marketing techniques. Crowdfunding allows direct access to small but interested groups of enthusiasts, and incidentally,allows the producer a much higher proportion of the retail sale. So I think that crowdfunding will tend to allow better funding for “niche “ music, though I also suspect that high value releases ( signed compete 3 x vinyl + cd + dvd/ bluray surround sound sets of Kennedy’s Four Seasons with live performances and luxury booklet sort of thing ) will tend to dominate the market.

[Boilk]

Series Question!

Suppose I DID have the money to sponsor a complete cycle of the George Lloyd Symphonies, how would I go about it? 'Phone The London Symphony Orchestra and book them having first booked studio time at Abbey Road? Ask Sir Simon through his agent if he's willing to conduct them and, failing that, find an up and coming conductor who has an interest in recording a top orchestra under superb conditions in a cycle of works whose recorded history is scant to say the least!

Why Rattle and the LSO for the George Lloyd symphonies? I doubt Rattle and the LSO board would have the interest or time for a complete cycle, notwithstanding the perceived limited bang-for-buck factor with Lloyd. They are not that technically demanding and for probably a fraction of the cost could be commendably done by an Eastern European orchestra. I'm pretty sure that some Toccata orchestral CDs are coming in at under £20K in costs.