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Posted: |
Jan 1, 2017 - 7:58 PM
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By: |
Dr Smith
(Member)
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Film music fans come from mixtures of several different camps. There are film devotees and historians who want to relive the score repeatedly, orchestral music fans who like the easy and modern appeal of soundtracks, and the collectors who like the rarity and exclusiveness of enjoying things not understood by the common fan. They are not usually typical blockbuster movie fans, except in the case of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, etc. We are the 1/2 of 1% who can enjoy a 75 year old movie and soundtrack because we appreciate cultural history and nostalgia. We are also the audio aficionado who listens to three different recordings of the same score for comparison purposes. We are a bit nerdy or of discriminating tastes, and pursue interests not followed by the masses. That said, we must build the CD and digital download market so that there will continue to be great historic releases, complete releases, and re-recordings of classic scores. I have done my part-I have several hundred film music CDs, and have bought soundtracks since 1980. Post more on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest-that is where billions of people live nowadays.
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I suspect there are more people, but its just that they fall into two categories: 1. People who like some of what they hear, but don't care enough to own it. 2. People with more limited and refined tastes who think they have all they'll ever want after buying twenty or thirty scores. Sometime some of the people in the first group get to caught up in a film emotionally, they'll want to purchase a score like "Titanic" and "The Passion of the Christ" (account for their sales, in the millions amongst the highest selling soundtracks of all time). The excitment eventualyl fades and you find bins and online sales ads trying to get rid of them. I can attest that sales of POTC were solely based on the emotional connection when the film came out and had nothing to do with the score itself. If it did, we would have sold many more copies of the 10th Anniversary Edition. Sadly, a great score fully expanded that failed to perform up to expectations...one of the rare expanded releases that made me cry. MV
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Posted: |
Jan 1, 2017 - 10:28 PM
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By: |
Rollin Hand
(Member)
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I continue to be amazed that in the entire world, with instant communication...internet: facebook, twitter, etc. there remains so few people interested enough in film music to follow and purchase the releases by our beloved small labels....Film Score Monthly, Intrada, La la Land, Kritzerland, Quartet, Music Box, etc. I remember when Elmer Bernstein had his Film Music Collection mail order business he continued to struggle to find enough people to support his outstanding endeavor. And looking back now I thought if he had the internet back then to reach everyone on the planet he would easily be able to stay afloat and then some to continue his club. But I'm not so sure now. True, we DO have those just mentioned labels putting out scores thankfully, but it does seem a tenuous business at best. When I read that James over at Tadlow has only sold 1200 cds of Obsession (just as one example), I shutter. I know our little hobby, so important us, is very specialized, but millions and millions of people go to the movies. It's so hard to fathom that so few are interested in the great music being released by the boutique labels. One could say that the Golden and Silver Age folks are diminishing, but that's where I scratch my head. With all the movie related info out there at our fingertips: websites, YouTube, you name it, you would think that another 10,000 out of those billions would discover and enjoy what we enjoy. That extra 10,000 would no doubt be manna from heaven for Tadlow, Kritzerland and everyone. I just don't get it! Now, picture the percentage of Golden age and Silver age aficionados! You'll be amazed by how narrow the percentage is
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I continue to be amazed that in the entire world, with instant communication...internet: facebook, twitter, etc. there remains so few people interested enough in film music to follow and purchase the releases by our beloved small labels....Film Score Monthly, Intrada, La la Land, Kritzerland, Quartet, Music Box, etc. I remember when Elmer Bernstein had his Film Music Collection mail order business he continued to struggle to find enough people to support his outstanding endeavor. And looking back now I thought if he had the internet back then to reach everyone on the planet he would easily be able to stay afloat and then some to continue his club. But I'm not so sure now. True, we DO have those just mentioned labels putting out scores thankfully, but it does seem a tenuous business at best. When I read that James over at Tadlow has only sold 1200 cds of Obsession (just as one example), I shutter. I know our little hobby, so important us, is very specialized, but millions and millions of people go to the movies. It's so hard to fathom that so few are interested in the great music being released by the boutique labels. One could say that the Golden and Silver Age folks are diminishing, but that's where I scratch my head. With all the movie related info out there at our fingertips: websites, YouTube, you name it, you would think that another 10,000 out of those billions would discover and enjoy what we enjoy. That extra 10,000 would no doubt be manna from heaven for Tadlow, Kritzerland and everyone. I just don't get it! Now, picture the percentage of Golden age and Silver age aficionados! You'll be amazed by how narrow the percentage is
Bingo! MV
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I have at times wondered about that too. I was really shocked that many of the 2016 lists of passed away celbrities had not mention of Pierre Boulez or Sir Neville Marriner or Nikolaus Harnoncourt... these are HUGE names in the "classical music world". But the mainstream public is more interested to what parties Kim and Kanye go.
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Posted: |
Jan 2, 2017 - 5:50 AM
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By: |
The Thing
(Member)
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I just did a quick google search for "dwindling audience for classical music", and read a few of the resulting articles. Demographics. Over the decades, the average age of listeners and concert-goers has risen significantly. Youngsters tend to be looking for more "fun" in their music. Attempts to bring some "fun" into classical music is often frowned upon (concert etiquette, discouraging periodic applause, coughing, dress codes etc.) Finance. It's very expensive to put on these performances. Orchestras that haven't gone bankrupt are relying more and more on charity to keep them going. Playing it safe with well-known music instead of taking risks performing anything newer and less familiar. Commercial radio stations dropping the less popular music shows. Music education taught at schools was also mentioned, including reductions in State funding for the arts. Then you've had the rise in popularity of reality shows like Pop Idol, and music becoming more disposable and trend-driven, with today's younger generation being more influenced by peer pressure than in the past. All these evolutionary changes happen much faster these days than they used to, so it can come as quite a shock when concentrating on a specialist interest and seeing its general appeal getting smaller over shorter timescales.
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I have at times wondered about that too. I was really shocked that many of the 2016 lists of passed away celbrities had not mention of Pierre Boulez or Sir Neville Marriner or Nikolaus Harnoncourt... these are HUGE names in the "classical music world". But the mainstream public is more interested to what parties Kim and Kanye go. Keep in mind that "classical music" ceased to sell decades ago. I remember a talk with a salesman of a record store about the future of "classical music": he was very pessimistic. That kind of music is designed for a generation of people that keep on vanishing.
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I have at times wondered about that too. I was really shocked that many of the 2016 lists of passed away celbrities had not mention of Pierre Boulez or Sir Neville Marriner or Nikolaus Harnoncourt... these are HUGE names in the "classical music world". But the mainstream public is more interested to what parties Kim and Kanye go. Keep in mind that "classical music" ceased to sell decades ago. I remember a talk with a salesman of a record store about the future of "classical music": he was very pessimistic. That kind of music is designed for a generation of people that keep on vanishing. Unfortunately, yes... culturally educated people.
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Some even say that they do not understand how I can listen to music without anyone singing. Response I hear most often.
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Film music is the most listened genre of music in the word. How so? Every human being in the world who watch a movie also listen to the music from that movie. They can't avoid it . Some of them don't notice the music, some do notice the music but do nothing about it, and some like us (very few indeed) became film music fans and start collecting scores. So yes, it is odd that there are so few film music fans given the fact that so many people hear film music at least once.
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