This is the future of classical music?

Top-selling classical downloads on iTunes

1 Barber's Adagio for Strings, Op 11, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
2 You Raise Me Up, from Russell Watson's album Amore Musica
3 Jerusalem, from the Last Night of the Proms Collection, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth
4 Duet from Bizet's the Pearl Fishers, from Andrea Bocelli's Aria: The Opera Album
5 Pachelbel's Canon in D, performed by I Musici, from the album 100 Classical Favourites
6 Nimrod, from Elgar's Enigma Variations, from the Last Night of the Proms Collection, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth
7 Land of Hope and Glory, from the Last Night of the Proms Collection, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth
8 Somos Novios, from Andrea Bocelli's album Amore
9 Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, performed by Vladimir Horowitz
10 Bach's Air on the G String, by the London Symphony Orchestra


From Big demand for classical downloads is music to ears of record industry
in today's Guardian.

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Comments

Shablagoo! said…
I guess the main issue for the serious collector is going to be compression. MP3s though all the rage are pretty much yesterdays news/technology when compared with lossless formats such as ape and FLAC. Though small size might be a boon, the reduction in the higher and lower frequencies required for compression isn't the same. For example Cymbals and similar instruments sound particularly awful in badly encoded/low bitrate MP3s.

Its a shame with the MP3 fad people accept less.
Anonymous said…
Not sure what your point is, Pliable.

If these downloads are mostly by people who would otherwise be buying "serious" classical CD's, then there may be a cause for concern.

I'd guess that it's more likely that these purchases are mostly by people who would not otherwise buy classical CD's. I find it hard to view this as other than positive, despite the ... well, "thin" nature of the repertoire. Not perfect or anything close to it, but positive.

And I agree with the words about "format" in the preceding comment. I would never call myself an audiophile, but I really have no interest in buying mp3 format.

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