If that's your girl you better watch your back

It's true. Sex sells, even in classical music. As a classical music marketer, I definitely believe that having an attractive, youthful image associated with performances makes a difference--for many prospective ticket buyers, not for all...

Personally, I think anyone who has something to do with the creation of music has sex appeal. Lyle Lovett doesn't look like Brad Pitt, but he sure floats my boat, with or without a pony. Lang Lang doesn't look like Nathan Gunn, but his playing is so sensual and passionate...*sigh*

Being creative means being totally hot, in my book, and perhaps that's how classical artists are bringing sexy back.

I think that an artist's talent speaks for itself, however, promotional photography of an artist that is creative and visually striking can compliment marketing campaigns for recordings and performances and help the artist stand out from the crowd. If a potential audience member is attracted to a musician's appearance, they will be doubly pleased when they hear that musician's performance. Classical artists need groupies too!

Somehow the photographs in which classical musicians are supposed to appear sexy always come off like glorified Glamour Shots. Like that Josh Bell shot looks really silly to me. The Lang Lang photo is not much better. Not sure what woman that is in the middle, but she's in the middle quality-wise also.

I always see these original and interesting photos of pop musicians and think "Why can't classical musicians have cool photos like that?"

All this is by way of saying that I mind it more when musicians are trying too hard to appear sexy. If a musician is succeeding solely on the basis of good looks, he or she will be brought down by age or audience realization at some point. And if not, it wouldn't be the first time someone untalented but attractive got to make a bit of money off the second attribute.

I understand your concern, Phillip, but I have to ask: Is this new? Or exclusive to classical music? If the violinist in your example were an investment banker and she went head-to-head with a similarly skilled candidate who was far more attractive, statistics say her competitor would fare better.

Yes, people will use every advantage they have to market themselves, in whatever field, and that includes looks. I'm not surprised to hear that advertisers in Chamber Music America are on to that. But I also believe that the market forces in classical music won't allow looks to trump all else. Being a hunk will provide a marginal advantage in classical music, as it does everywhere in life, but the quality of a musician's performance is simply too important to most artistic directors, most presenters, and even most audiences to allow it to trump all else. Perhaps, of the many skilled musicians out there, the most attractive will have an advantage. But would that be different from anywhere else in society? More importantly, as you seem to allude to, would it truly be different from any other era in classical music history? I'm skeptical. How many composers cast their muses in lead roles?

I think you're missing the point, and so is commenter Charlotte. It's not that there's anything wrong per se with playing up the attractiveness of a performing artist, especially someone with unquestionably superlative gifts, like Lang Lang or Ms. Hahn.

The problem is that, in theory at least, classical music is about values that transcend the visual, transcend the superficial, that are literally intangible. The superstars like LL who are competing for mass-media attention with popular culture icons, well, I certainly understand promoting the physical attractiveness side. But what's really pathetic is what we're starting to see at the level of basic classical-presenter concert booking, where groups from the get-go are touting looks as the PRIMARY thing setting them apart from the pack. I finally opened the Chamber Music America directory issue and found it incredibly depressing. Here's a group (good players too) who use three buzzwords to describe their group in their ad, "Beauty" being the first. They ain't talkin' 'bout the beauty of the Ghost trio, that's for sure.

What's depressing about it is that an atmosphere is being fostered where classical music (in its attempt to compete for attention with other pop culture formats) is starting to adapt the same emphasis on superficiality and transient appeal that reign supreme in commercial "culture." Is that so bad? Well, not necessarily always, but what about the female violinist who is kind of overweight and not particularly beautiful? What kind of chance does she have in that culture, regardless of how she plays?

As a presenter rather than an artist's publicist, I don't need to worry so much about the more "meta" problem of what happens when you brand an artist as sexy. (Though, isn't the (mis)perception that attractive people are necessarily less skilled pretty much universal, not really specific to classical music? Yet, at the same time, in our society they are more successful, on average ...)

I'll tell you this, though: we're presenting Nathan Gunn in a Valentine's Day recital, and I have every intention of using his apparent inclusion in this year's "People" sexiest list (alongside Lang Lang) as a hook. On the other hand, when we were pondering who to put on the cover of our seasonal brochure, we ultimately decided to go with an action shot of a violinist rather than Gunn's dreamy portrait. It just made the piece feel too much like an issue of GQ and not enough like a performing arts series. I guess you can be too sexy, at least for direct mail.