Who Killed Classical Music?
Who Killed Classical Music?
Maestros, Managers and Corporate Politics. By Norman Lebrecht. A Birch Lane Press
Book published by Carol Publishing Group. Pub. Price $24.95 B&N
Price: $17.46
Have you ever thought about getting a music degree or discovered after completing
your degree you don't have a concert career? Well, READ THIS BOOK! Learn to understand
how the music world works. Not the fantasy fed to you by music teachers, friends,
and others that you are the greatest talent since Beethoven, but how careers are
really made and the state of the art as it exists today. This book does not live
up to the title but it does get one thinking about the business aspect of music.
Lebrecht focuses on a few of the major companies that represent the biggest names
in the business and how, in some cases, they are managed and owned by other companies
that care little about the artist and even less, the audience. The goal, make money.
Not from ticket sales necessarily but corporate sponsors and government funding.
Is it true that these few companies have killed off classical music? I don't think
so. This book is about Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics--a study of a few
artists management companies. but not about the end of classical music. Though Lebrect
raises many issues that need to be discussed in the music world, there is an entire
music world not mentioned in this book, although the other music world is less prestigious.
I am not talking about academic occupations (because they have done just as much
as the few companies mentioned here to kill music) but performance careers.
Not every aspiring artists needs to be represented by Columbia Artists Management,
International Management Group, International Creative Group (though it would be
nice) there are hundreds of excellent management companies making money for artists
although none of them are listed in this book. The reason, they are keeping music
alive. They are not charging outrageous fees for themselves and the artists they
represent. I applaud these other companies for all the work they are doing. There
can be a music career for artists whose last name isn't Perlman or Muti.
So, pick up this book, learn something about the music world, but don't go away thinking
classical music is dead. Remember, the first half of a career is learning how to
play, the other half, learning how to make a living.
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