Label scoop: Sony snatches sacked Decca man
mainWe hear that Alexander Buhr, former danaging director of Decca Classical, has joined Sony Classical as head of A&R based in Berlin.
Alex, when I last spoke to him was planning to stay in London, but this may have been an offer he could not refuse.
He was ousted at Decca last December in an internal Brexit-time coup.
He was hired by Sony classical’s new boss, Per Hauber, successor to Bogdan Roscic who was last seen vanishing into the Blue Danube.
He goes from a company that sells 100 classical music CDs a month to another one that sells 102 classical music CDs a month.
He must have friends in high places
Brexit-time coup? What on earth does that mean?
Nothing. Typical remainer sour grapes rearing its head, again.
Nice to see you again, by the way. I wrote your programme notes for your Lancaster recital back in the early 1980’s. Great concert it was, too. Many thanks.
Former Damaging Director?
So the recording industry continues playing musical chairs, and re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. But that iceberg ain’t going away, boys – this party ended a long time ago.
Sadly, it wont. Why? Because very much like the rest of the industry it is subsidized. S.Classical and Universal Classics couldn’t even pay the electricity bills of their offices with their GTM numbers, yet they provide a sense of exclusivity to those ecosystems. They will continue to hold more and more importance in a world in which a monkey playing the violin can “make it” if it has enough Youtube viewers.
Labels provide differentiation from the masses in a world in which everybody with an internet connection is a “musician” and every iPhone owner can be a “Film Maker” and “music Producer”.
They will never go away. Its a game in which numbers don’t matter, artistry doesn’t matter, quality doesn’t matter. The emperor has not clothes, nobody says anything, and they keep selling the idea of “el sistema” ad nauseam.
All that matters is to be “IN”, to be part of the inner circle of “buddies” who can artificially shape a career overnight, if the financing is right. Its the proverbial “It’s who you know” on steroids.
So when one wonders why is the arts seemingly on a perpetual state of crisis….WHY WOULD THAT BE?
The blind leading the blind…what could possibly go wrong?
Without the subsidy of the larger Sony/Universal ecosystem, would they even have money to pay for the Bus?
One slime ball meets the other slime ball (aka Per and Alex) match made in heaven