A glance at which radio programmes people like to listen to and what music they stream only confirms what we all suspect – that classical music is really at the margins these days. But there is still, for now, a public interested in new works. Putting music for film and TV series to one side, how does new serious “classical” music get made?
It’s relatively easy for an instrumentalist who already works with a record company to write his own music, get it recorded swiftly and publish it. But what of large-scale orchestral works which demand immense efforts from composer and performers?
New works can be commissioned by orchestras, who are happy to present “world premiers”, and also by festivals such as the BBC Proms who like to present new works on the first night. Broadcasters like BBC Radio 3 also commission several pieces every year. But these pieces might take years to write and will be performed possibly only once and for a paltry fee. The biggest names of contemporary classical music can of course command more – at around $1000 per minute! The composer will be paid say 4,5% of the box office takings for a concert, out of which he has to pay a share to the publisher. The major publishers like Faber Music, Cavender and Boosey & Hawkes do more than just editing and preparing scores for each instrument. They also act as intermediary, marketing and creating opportunities for performance. Composers have to use them so that they can focus on composing. Royalties from TV and radio are nothing to speak of, and composers will usually sign over the copyright of their music to their publishers. This is a very long-term investment for these publishers since they’ll expect earn small amounts for years to come.
The fundamental problem is that classical music fans do not have much appetite for new compositions – they prefer to listen to the established greats – so the economics of writing new music are not attractive.