Label news: Sony unleashes post-classical
mainAlex Buhr, who used to work for Decca, has just rolled out his new label at Sony.
Based in Berlin, Alex has signed the Icelandic pianist Eydis Evensen (no label is complete without an Icelander), the French-US composer Uele Lamore, the ‘genre-bending’ Iceland band Hugar (too much ice?), and the Berlin electro-acoustic duo Stimming x Lambert.
Alex says: ‘In a musical universe that has, for the most part, moved beyond the confinements of genre, it is expression and values which tie musicians together. With XXIM we are creating a place to bring together likeminded acts whose visions we share, to support them in their musical and visual adventures, and to help them connect with the biggest possible audience. Our ambition is to create a strong, worldwide platform for highly individual, creative artists.’
Meta cross-over. Everything goes (or not, what’s the difference?).
The difference might be that the term “classical” now only drives buyers away, or so the marketers believe.
High-octane dejection.
“Our ambition is to create a strong, worldwide platform for highly individual, creative artists” . . . I love ‘label speak’. Has there ever been a label that has publicly stated, ‘our ambition is to NOT create a strong, worldwide platform for highly individual, creative artists’?
I remember Mylene Klass saying that she was going to provide the link between classical music and modern audiences in her post Hear’Say days. That went well. She’s doing ‘Dancing on Ice’ on TV this season, so perhaps we can expect to see Mr Buhr doing the same next year too?
The three major labels(UMG-Decca,DG etc,WarnerClassics and Sony Classical) are not an example of well run classical recordings companies. Warner has actually shown some planning with their release and some commitments to the “old” A&R strategy of the past. UMG is an embarrassment. A continuous rollout of brand new talent,issue one or two CDs/recording and one year later they are thrown into the dustbin with another group of brand new virtuosos. The worst is Sony Classical. Their output has become minuscule and ,for all practical purposes,they have no impact. Go to the Sony Classical website and one of the first artist that pop up is George Szell!
George Szell was great, indeed.
A complete mismatch between boutique material and the gigantic Sony marketing machinery that can only crush it.
Smoothies are the new food. Put everything in a blender and you need no teeth or cutlery. Convenience food! No work anymore, not for the body, not for the brain, paradise, no questions asked. Leave your brain at the entrance, and your payment information here… Welcome to [enter recording label of your choice]!
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
The Thompson quote is all too appropriate.
The problem is the commercialisation of classical music. The art form needs money to function, but too many people think the music is needed to make money.
Classical music as an art form is an end in itself and for the common good…. Hopefully the corona crisis will force some reconsideration of aims in the field.
Classical music, per se, is dead. The coup de grace is being delivered, as I write this, by covid, which will loom over us for many years to come. So we’ll be seeing a lot more of this, and quIckly.
One of the highlights of SonyClassical. Jonas Kauffman singing both parts of Mahler’s Das Lied Von Der Erde. How low will SonyClassical go? However,IMHO,the sound engineering is excellent. But they just produce crap,,,for the most part. I am still making up my mind about Igor Levit.