The streaming of classical music has soared and with it comes a whole new range of challenges and opportunities. Report by Ben Jones
© Guy Levy / BAFTA / REX / Shutterstock
Classical Challenge
22 Streams of classical music showed significant growth in 2018, up 42% year-on-year, compared to a 33% rise in the overall market. The result is that streaming now accounts for a quarter of classical music consumption. This is encouraging news for a genre that, like jazz, has been viewed as woefully under-served by the large, global streaming platforms such as Spotify. But the uptake in digital streaming of classical music also presents significant challenges for labels and listeners looking to respectively sell and seek out classical music in a digital 21st century world. Cut through the noise In 2018 Spotify – arguably still the biggest name in streaming – celebrated its first 10 years in operation. Whilst there is no question that streaming is now the primary source of music consumption for most people, reflected in the decline in digital sales in recent years, it may not necessarily serve all fans and genres in the same way. It’s worth noting, for
© IDAGIO / Diana Vaidanych
The retail classical sector was in buoyant mood in January when BPI figures revealed that sales and streams of classical music had increased by 10.2% on the previous 12 months. An estimated 2.23 million classical albums or their equivalent were purchased, downloaded or streamed during this period.
example, that classical is still a physical CD-dominated market, accounting last year for nearly 60% of all classical music consumption in the UK. Last year Hypebot.com reported that around 24,000 tracks were uploaded each day to Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Music and other streaming services. The sheer amount of music uploaded means it can be hard to cut through the noise (no pun
“For musicians not to be retrievable in the digital space is a problem.” Till Janczukowicz, CEO of Idagio The Musician • Spring 2019
Till Janczukowicz (left), the CEO of Idagio. The 71st British Academy Film Awards (above right) in February 2018.
intended), both in terms of new music curation and back catalogue exploration. There are several bespoke providers that focus solely on classical music, believing that the existing giants do not sufficiently cater for the genre. Thomas Steffens, CEO of Primephonic, explains how the company came about. “We were concerned about the future of classical music, because we know that streaming is becoming the dominant channel and classical music is under-represented, because it does not work as well. Classical music is around 5% of all music consumption worldwide, including radio, live ticketing and physical. You would expect it to be 5% of streamed music, but it’s only 1%.” Steffens outlines four key issues of concern when accessing classical music via digital streaming services: “It’s about the ability to
