Insight, foresight. Klaus Heymann at 80.

Klaus Heymann, the German-born entrepreneur and visionary force in the classical music recording industry, celebrates his 80th birthday on October 22, 2016. His name needs no introduction to people familiar with this website, a name synonymous with making classical music available to a much wider audience than was the case prior to his founding in Read More …

To stream or not to stream?

A lot gets written about streaming music. It isn’t all true. Perhaps even more frustratingly when it is true, it isn’t always the whole truth. Here are ten misconceptions about music streaming, which I’ve attempted to explain. If you have questions, please use the comments section, and I’ll do my best to answer them or, Read More …

5 misconceptions about digital-only releases

If you’re shopping on iTunes or ClassicsOnline, listening on Pandora or Spotify or Naxos Music Library, you mostly don’t care where else a record is available. You’re just happy you can listen to it however you choose. It wouldn’t affect your life if the album never came out on CD at all. I have, though, run into some strange Read More …

Top ten digital stores: where do people actually download classical music?

According to the Nielsen mid-year report, record sales in the US are up for the first time since 2004. That’s obviously great news for musicians and labels, but it’s also good for the record-buying public—more sales means more recordings to choose from. CD sales for the first half of 2011 are actually a bit lower Read More …

5 ways to connect your computer to your stereo

I spend most days at the office trying to come up with ways to get music onto your computer. I’ll try to sell you downloads and subscriptions, direct you to websites and encourage you to rip your CDs. Before I give you the hard sell on any of that, it’s only fair to tell you Read More …

2010 in Review

The classical music industry did reasonably well in 2010 but not as well as expected—we had hoped for a better year than 2009 but economic uncertainties in North America and Europe meant that business was not much better in 2010. CD sales remained stable—some independent labels did better than in 2009, others did worse but Read More …

Looking to the future

Let’s face it, we haven’t been hearing a lot of good news about the economy lately. These tough times have also pushed the already strapped classical music industry into making some very tough decisions. Eleven layoffs at the City Opera, followed by workers asked to stay home for two days because there wasn’t enough money Read More …