In Wednesday’s (8/29) San Francisco Classical Voice, Niels Swinkels writes, “There was a time, not so long ago, that Klaus Heymann was accused of trying to destroy the classical music industry. … At first, nobody really knew what to make of the plain white CD-booklets with stock artwork and only a minimum of information. The packaging had a truly ‘discount’ feel to it, but the recordings—mostly by unknown Eastern European orchestras, conductors, and soloists—were actually pretty good. … Naxos has since grown from an odd-duck budget label to the largest independent classical label in the world, with a catalog of over 7,000 titles.” On the future of classical recording, Heymann remarks, “The business will basically move online. If, five years from now, there is 25 percent physical business left, we will be lucky. … Look at our Naxos Music Library. It was the first successful streaming business, launched in 2002 — eight years before Spotify. … I talk to conductors and soloists and they say, ‘We cannot live without the Naxos Music Library anymore.’ They use it as a database. … We are working on an online music encyclopedia that is totally interactive, a musical works database for the classical music industry, music education apps, an online music appreciation course; we are investing money in education. Our focus is on creating new digital products without neglecting the recording side.”
Posted August 31, 2012
