Naxos Futures 2017 - Spain

[jasthill]

Reading the foreword to the new Naxos 2017 catalog (PDF) Klaus Heymann mentions "a spotlight on Catalan composers Joan Manén and Ricard Lamote de Grignon from the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra".  Although right on the cusp of the repertoire for this venue the possibilities are intriguing. Joan Manén - Nova Catalònia symphony?  Ricardo Lamote de Grignon - Catalana Symphony?

[Alan Howe]

Here's a link to the 2017 catalogue:
http://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/PDF/2017_Catalogue.pdf#ViewLatestCatalogues

Please note, though: no details of any future releases featuring music by Joan Manén or Ricard Lamote de Grignon are given.

[eschiss1]

It's listed among projects they began in 2016, not finished in 2017. Maybe the recording of the Manen's violin concerto late last year is the beginning of a series of recordings containing his orchestral works, or something like that, e.g.?

[M. Yaskovsky]

It's very nice Naxos starts new projects, but, like cpo, how about ongoing projects? I mean the Weinberg-series, the Villa-Lobos symphonies, releases on Blu-ray Audio............

[Mark Thomas]

Many Naxos releases are dependent on third-party financial support. Which accounts firstly for their sometimes quixotic repertoire choices and, secondly, for the abrupt cessation or very long drawn out release schedule of promised series.

[jasthill]

FWIW - Here's a link
http://nmusicproduction.com/2016/06/27/recording-barcelona-symphony-orchestra/

that claims a recording of the music of Ricard Lamote de Grignon with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in June 2016 - but no mention of repertory, sponsor, or producer.

[Ilja]

To those looking for a taster: Lamote de Grignon's Simfonía Catalana can be heard on YouTube in an older recording.

[eschiss1]

Thanks btw for a link to that catalog. Some interesting things in there, anycase.

[adriano]

Here, from an interview with Klaus Heymann, something about Classics Online and Naxos' future in general:

KH: On the classical front, Naxos' classical streaming/download site, ClassicsOnline, first eliminated virtually all of its non-Naxos titles, and then shut down entirely. To get the scoop on that, and what's happening with the CD/download/streaming industry, I Skyped with Naxos's founder and head honcho, Klaus Heymann.

The ClassicsOnline story is simple. Given what labels charged the site for carrying their product, Naxos was unable to offer the service for less than $15/month. While the site did offer music from Sony, whose catalog Naxos distributes in the US, it could not attract either Warner and Universal, let alone smaller labels such as Hyperion. That was not what Heymann envisioned when he started it.

After ClassicOnline switched to only offering music from Naxos's family of labels—these include, in addition to Naxos, Marco Polo, Dynamic, Orfeo, Ondine, and Capriccio—and lowered its price to $4.99/month or $40/year, only a smaller number of consumers came onboard. The site still might have flown, had not its infrastructure provider decided to pull out of hosting. At that point, Heymann realized that, given the unexpected additional cost of developing the site, he could only operate at a loss. In short, no go.

What remains for streaming is the Naxos Music Library, which is primarily aimed at music professionals and educational institutions. That site now offers 320kbps streaming for premium subscribers, and 128kbps for standard. There are no plans to up sound quality to Red Book and beyond.

"We are primarily a content owner," Heymann said. "We're lucky we launched Naxos Music Library when we did in 2002, because we were the only streaming site."

Of course, there is also ArkivMusic, whose relatively faithful clientele currently accounts for 25% of total classical CD/DVD/Blu-ray sales in the United States.

"CD sales are not holding," Heymann said. "In 2015, we had seven new releases that sold more than 10,000. In 2016, not a single release sold more than 5000. There's still a stable market that buys 2000–4000 of everything. I am confident there will be CDs for another 5 or maybe 10 years. But the times of substantial sales are gone.

"I also think that downloading will shrink or shrivel. Our iTunes figures went down 30% from the year before. Streaming is making good money for people with vast catalogs who can build playlists, but it's not doing anything for album sales. People aren't listening to albums as much as single tracks.

"The business model where streaming services have to pay 70% of revenues to rights holders is basically not viable. I know, because I am both a rights holder and platform operator. In this environment, I think only platforms operated by entities with revenue streams other than subscription income will survive. I'm thinking of iTunes/Apple music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and hopefully Spotify (advertising revenue). I don't think any of the other streaming sites will survive, because they can't make a living solely from streaming.

"Naxos Music Library will survive because we own a substantial part of the recordings on the platform. And we will also continue to make money by licensing recordings for Hollywood TV series, movies and commercials; collecting royalties for public performance and on the radio, and our other services."

Where such a rapidly changing scenario will leave the recording and music business in five or ten years, and what will befall emerging artists, is anyone's guess. If Heymann is correct, there may be far fewer pretty pictures to contemplate.

Read more at http://www.stereophile.com./content/naxos-opens-arkivjazzcom-shutters-classicsonline#fp1fSZgOFPOpipbM.99

[Mark Thomas]

What a depressing read.

[Ilja]

Indeed. But let me focus on this quote:


"People aren't listening to albums as much as single tracks."


The experience from popular music is the exact opposite. A few years ago, when mp3s were sold separately, people tended to buy only the tracks they required because the rest was considered to be expensive "fluff" (anyone who ever listened to the B-side of a Police album knows what I mean). That factor has been eliminated by streaming services, where listening to one track or an album makes no financial difference. That influence, and the resurgence of the LP, has led to a return of the "concept album". A good example is David Bowie's final album, Blackstar.


There's a lot to learn from this. It is becoming customary to pay for access rather than ownership. Personally, I don't buy as many cpo CDs anymore because I don't want any more CDs and most of their stuff is on Spotify anyway. For the label there is an incentive, too. When I buy a cpo CD the company only receives revenue once. When I play their tracks on Spotify they get rewarded every time (not much, granted, but still). For that reason, even if I own the CD I play it on Spotify. No skin off my nose, and it may help them.


I saddens me that someone with the pedigree Heymann has been unsuccesful sofar in making a streaming model work. But I am convinced that any viable and sustainable business model for commercial classical recordings can only come from such services, perhaps in combination with luxury releases on LP. The CD is dying and in some senses already very dead.

[M. Yaskovsky]

From a technical point of view I really don't understand people prefer a LP over a CD. Back in the 80s I was so suprised I really could hear the start of a Shostakovich symphony on CD without the rumble and the hiss........... I'll be buying (SA)CD's till the very end.

[Alan Howe]

LPs (now) are fashion accessories. Period. The ultimate fashion accessory? Rattle's new set of Brahms symphonies recorded direct to disc (i.e.vinyl). The price? Yours for just EUR499:
https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/rattle-brahms-vinyl.html

[Ilja]

LPs (now) are fashion accessories. Period.

Very true, but that is exactly their strenghth. 499 Euros for a four-LP set is ludicrous by objective musical standards (and to be honest, exceptional even in the fashion space). But the lifestyle industry is many times larger than the classical music industry, and if someone can find enough people willing to spend money on such accessories, why not? The industry badly needs new streams of revenue.

[adriano]

As a conductor I would have the ethics to refuse to record for such a luxury product. And who is interested to pay so much for Brahms with Simon Rattle anyway? His sponsors I suppose... The Karajan recordings, remastered or not, they are gold in comparison. And look at all the magnificent monos with Bruno Walter, Furtwängler etc. This is absolutely perverse, including the people who buy this. During his Birmingham years Rattle would never having done such a thing.