As an ambassador of ANOTHER LOOK AT MUSIC, a project aimed to bring back the excitement of listening to the past, present, and future Art Music.

Why an online store?

I have been visiting the websites of great classical and pop artists, looking for differences. I was trying to understand how they address the same audience, the user on the other side of the screen. I soon realized that most musicians use their webpages to build their brand though they are rarely engaging. Moreover, classical musicians focus on their repertoire while pop musicians tend to be much more commercial. ‘Classical’ musicians want to be hired or followed while ‘Pops’ want to sell you tickets or all kind of products.  Actually, only a few classical musicians had a shop. Moreover, the websites of Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, and many other pops and rock artists included products of all kinds in their stores. In contrast, when a classical musician has an online store, it is only to sell CDs, DVDs, and scores (have a look at the websites of Placido Domingo, Lang Lang, Leonard Bernstein, for example). Then you have The Piano Guys who are more up-to-date in the ways they address present audiences. You may want to take this tour yourself and then think better of your promotion.

What products should you consider for your promotion? Posters, programs, videos, blogs, social media… maybe other physical products… none? Pop musicians use them a lot! But, does your audience really need all this stuff? After all, the experience you offer is completely different! Moreover, I realize that you have actually worked a lot to be a classical artist and you have already adapted to the digital media. Nevertheless, should this set you apart? And, here is my final question: wouldn’t you like to attract new generations to classical music like pop musicians do with their music? How are you doing to address the next generation?

These are personal reflections that I share out-loud hoping this contribution can be useful to start designing new Art Music experiences for next generations. And in ANOTHER LOOK AT MUSIC, we just opened a store, and we are ready to help other musicians to customize their own products. You can contact me for more information!

KEEP IN TOUCH at ‘ANOTHER LOOK AT MUSIC’!