Why Media?

Robert Levine wrote:

“If San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Nashville (which are very different kinds of orchestras) ‘know it is important’ and ‘…have made [media] an institutional priority,’ they must have felt that the investment was going to yield some corresponding benefits. Other orchestras, as demonstrated by their failure to ‘shoulder the labor costs associated with traditional agreements,’ evidently disagree. Is there any reason to believe that either point of view is correct?”

I think we are hearing good testimony in this panel discussion that the investment in those orchestras is in fact yielding benefits. John Kieser, in his current posting, points to an increase in the quantity and quality of touring opportunities for the San Francisco Symphony as a result of recent electronic media initiatives. Paul Frankenfeld (see Day One) wrote eloquently about the Cincinnati Symphony’s rich recording legacy and the tangible benefits from many decades of involvement that have accrued to the orchestra in terms of the ability to attract touring opportunities, corporate sponsorship and music directors. The Nashville Symphony is a marvelous success story, sporting a new hall and dramatically increased budget size and ticket sales. (See David Stearns’ current posting in which he points out that it is not enough to merely engage in recording activity. In order to be successful, as in Nashville, recording must be done well in terms of choosing the right projects and partners.)

I do not believe that orchestras that have refused to shoulder the labor costs associated with traditional agreements necessarily disagree on the question of benefits to the institution from electronic media activity. Parties in a bargaining relationship may from time to time engage in pressure tactics in order to achieve their objectives. The live recording model that is the basis of the new CD agreement is the result of such pressure. The cessation of activity brought the parties – the AFM and a group of managers -together to negotiate a mutually acceptable way of moving forward. It is the hope of all concerned that this model and/or the existing session recording model that continues to work well in several orchestras will result in an enhanced level of recording activity.