Nowhere to go

We do get world-class artists touring through central Iowa, and there are always CDs for sale at the gigs, always on labels I have never heard of. Most recently these include the Leipziger Streichquartet on MDG, and the Claremont Trio, three pretty girls who (somewhat to my surprise, I'm ashamed to say) played the hell out of the Shostakovich Trio Op. 67, on Tria Records. Performers will have to make their own work available, and many of them have been doing it for years. After all, in the digital era it is easier than ever. And maybe it will be better than being tied up with the egos at a major label, as they once were.

Rereading my earlier entry about an online listening station, what I meant was that anyone could submit their playing. It will go through a selection process, a peer review type before being played on the station. It will lend some credibility to the entry. It is much easier than landing on a recording contract. Listeners don't have to depend on record labels for what they get to hear. Performers have an oppotunity to be heard without going through grueling competitions or an impossible manager. Deatails can be worked out to find the right direction to pursue.

Personally, I don't see why not being on the front of a recording store is a problem. I rarely get to visit one.

We could have an online listening station. Musicians can submit their recordings to a panel of judges or a group of refrees made of peers to be posted on line for general public to listen and buy. Much the way scholarly research is published in scientific communities.

Going on line will help reach the largest audience and keep the cost low, both of which classical music recording industry needs.

Send them to ArkivMusic.com for online sale?

What is to be done?

Simple. We all do what we believe in.

If you wake up each morning with a desire to record music, to get listeners to connect with the music you believe in, that's what you will do.

And if you have enough money to throw at the task, enough ruthlesness and energy to gather enough fellow believers to make things happen, you will end up with a record company.

And if you're eg the late Ted Perry, Alan Bates, David Finckel, Oliver Weindling or Manfred Eicher, then most people will end up believing you know what you are doing.