Could Plushmusic supplant record labels? By Laura Battle

Could Plushmusic supplant record labels? By Laura Battle

Published: July 18 2009 01:57 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:57

It’s a chicken-and-egg question. Is the internet simply filling the void left by a natural fall in classical record sales or is it confirming and hastening the descent? The shrinking CD market has been well documented (and has been made all too apparent by the disappearance of the high street record store) along with growing speculation about the health of the classical record industry – but it’s difficult to determine the internet’s role, and whether it is online pioneers or traditional labels that are now calling the shots.

Since the mid-1990s the classical music industry has been accused of myopically cultivating a handful of profitable stars – many of them so-called “crossover” as opposed to echt-classical – to the detriment of up-and-coming musicians, who find it increasingly difficult to set up recording contracts. With the advent of broadband internet these performers and composers have been able to bite back by posting high-quality music samples and MP3 files on their personal websites or social networking profiles, and thereby undercutting the traditional dependence on labels. But until recently they have lacked support or a sense of community.

This looks set to change with the development of Plushmusic, a new kind of music website that went live last November and has just received its official launch. In the words of its founder and artistic director Adrian Brendel, cellist and son of the great pianist Alfred Brendel, it was “born out of the idea of giving musicians the opportunity to record things in a different way, and to use new technology for new projects”. The Plushmusic name might sound a bit kitschy (it could almost inspire a new subgenre of “easy listening” – heaven forbid) but its origins are reassuringly wholesome: in 1995 Brendel founded a chamber music festival in the Dorset village of Plush and the website has developed as an extension of its values and activities.

As at Plush, there is a strong emphasis on chamber music but there are also designated areas for opera, jazz and world music. Individual artists are given “channels”, where they can they can post free video excerpts or charge users for a complete streaming or download of a live concert recording. Classical guitarist Zoran Dukic, for example, has posted a number of free audio clips, while Julian Steckel has made available a film of himself performing Kaija Saariaho’s short piece for solo cello Spins and Spells, and pianist Aleksandar Madzar is charging £9.99 for a high definition recording of a concert he performed at last year’s Plush festival.

So far this section represents exclusively professional, hand-picked artists but elsewhere, under the “community” tab, anyone can set up a personal channel, and interact with forums and message boards.

There are, of course, already a number of sites that stream classical music, including Classicaltv and the Berlin Philharmonic’s own “digital concert hall”. But Plushmusic is the first to conflate the roles of record label, publicist, impresario and TV channel. As such, it hopes not only to support artists but also the wider network of arts. Music venues and festivals, for example, are likely to benefit from links to upcoming events and a blog, which proved a powerful publicity tool at last year’s Cologne Festival, where saxophonist Hayden Chisholm and his band performed a series of jazz concerts. And they are encouraged to become media partners with Plushmusic.

A number of high-profile companies, including Glyndebourne, the Wigmore Hall and the Cheltenham Festival, have already been convinced. As Brendel explains: “The flexibility of the site means that festivals and venues, as well as artists, can use it, and to a certain degree autonomously.” Glyndebourne is currently offering free clips of recent productions of Giulio Cesare and Hansel and Gretel and, for those of a sterner disposition, the entire performance of Tristan und Isolde to download for £24.99. An upcoming streaming of this season’s new Falstaff production, which will be free for a limited period, highlights the win-win nature of this collaboration: the Glyndebourne name brings new users to Plushmusic and, in return, the opera house gets wide-reaching publicity ahead of their autumn tour.

There will be many hoping the site will also offer some transparency on the smoke- and-mirrors world that is the classical record industry. All too often albums are tailored around a perceived personality or – where that individual has the influence or gumption – negotiated on a bartering basis: “You can have your quirky Schoenberg number if we can toss in ‘Song to the Moon’.” Here, however, artists retain creative and editorial control, and design their own playlists, whether it’s a programme of improvised jazz or back-to-back Bartók. Indeed, independence and flexibility are all part of the ethos: “We’d like to decentralise it a bit so that we can ask artists who we respect and admire to conceive of projects of their own and come back with some ideas rather than us just steering it,”Brendel explains.

Already pop labels and festivals are looking to websites like MySpace for a heads-up on flourishing bands, based on viewing figures and online reception, and it seems likely that the classical industry will follow suit. When asked if Plushmusic could pose a threat to the traditional record label, Brendel admits the project will prove “very subjective”, and explains that while Hyperion has been keen to engage, believing the project can be mutually beneficial, other labels have been less enthusiastic.

“It’s such a volatile space at the moment because no one really knows what’s going to happen in the short term or long term with the recording industry, but we’re seeing more and more general interest and we’re really encouraged by the reaction of musicians.”

It is, of course, early days, but if Plushmusic gathers pace and power the consequences could be quite provocative. Once sites such as this successfully supplant the role of record labels, it can’t be long before people begin to question the necessity of agents: if musicians can manage and market their own recordings, if they can nurture relationships with opera houses, music venues and festivals around the world, and interact directly with a pre-existing and potential audience, what need is there for middlemen?

www.plushmusic.tv