The Free Market's Resurrection of Classical Music
Remnant Review
One of the arguments that just drives me up the wall is the argument that there is such a thing as cultural Marxism. As I have written in the past, cultural Marxism is an oxymoron.
There is no such thing as cultural Marxism. Marx argued that culture (the superstructure) is the product of the mode of production (the substructure). This argument was turned on its head by Antonio Gramsci in the 1930's, but he had no influence in Marxist circles. Mussolini locked him up in 1926. While in prison, he abandoned Marxism. In his prison notebooks, he argued that there could not be a Communist revolution in the West because the West was essentially Christian. So, for the Communists to be successful in their pursuit of revolution in the West, they would have to undermine the prevailing Christian culture. In short, he said that what is fundamental is not the substructure of the mode of production, but rather the superstructure of culture. This is not Marxism. This is anti-Marxism. This is why cultural Marxism is an oxymoron.
There was never a Marxist revolution that lasted more than a few months in the West, and then only after World War I. The whole idea of an inevitable Marxist revolution was poppycock from day one. There were no laws of history leading toward proletarian revolution. So, whether we are talking about the original Marxist variety of revolution or the anti-Marxist Gramscian variety, the whole idea was nonsense. It ended forever on December 25, 1991, when the Soviet Union went out of business.
So, I do not take seriously the following statement:
It has been a great accomplishment of cultural Marxism and its adepts in the arts to separate in large measure our population from its heritage—a major step in the conquest of our culture and the transformation of our civilization. And the resulting atomistic individualism—a formless anarchy—is the exact condition desired by the enemies of our civilization.
CLASSICAL MUSIC: A NICHE MARKET
The author also wrote this:
Some of us are old enough to remember when the “Ed Sullivan Show” on CBS featured the then-new English sensation, the Beatles (1964), at almost the same time that NBC cancelled the long-running, classical music standard “The Voice of Firestone” (1963). Irrespective of the talent, or the inventiveness, or the catchy tunefulness of the Fab Four—something most of us would readily acknowledge—that appearance and what then followed like an avalanche represented a seismic cultural shift, and the opening of the floodgates, as it were. Soon, weekly national broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera were also off NBC, relegated first to public radio, and finally to a few private radio stations. And I am old enough to recall all sorts of rock groups which soon crowded out almost all other musical programming from national networks and local stations, largely exiling both country music and classical music to niche markets. (The country musical variety show Hee Haw only lasted on CBS for two years, 1969-1971, before cancellation and going into syndication. Other non-Rock programming soon followed.)
Classical music and country music were niche markets in 1964. They were niche markets in 1934, 1944, and 1954.
With respect to country music, this is a niche market that was rock solid. Consider Hee Haw. Wikipedia reports: "It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. RFD-TV began airing reruns in 2008, where it currently remains." Regarding country music, as of 2016, we read:
There's no disputing that on radio dials, country music is king. The format has been the most popular among American adults for several years in a row. Its 15.2% market share of the listener base dwarfs news/talk (10.6%), top 40 (8%) and adult contemporary stations (7.6%). Radio stations are flipping to the country format in large numbers: there were 4,002 monitored country stations in 2015, up almost 40% from the 2,874 stations in 2008. According to a new report by Nielsen, country fans aren't just listening: they're spending big bucks, too.Nielsen pegs the median household income for country fans at $65,000—26% higher than the national average.
I began selling records in the summer of 1956. Elvis Presley had made his debut nationally with Heartbreak Hotel early in the year. It was a country music record produced by the legendary country music arranger, Chet Atkins. Atkins even played guitar on the record. It was a gigantic sensation. It launched the national career of Presley. He and Johnny Cash the year before had created what became known as rockabilly. It was certainly country music.
TECHNOLOGY VS. CLASSICAL MUSIC
Classical music records were rarely bought in the mid-1950's. It had never been bought by most people. The reason should be clear: the time limits on a 12-inch 78 RPM record was about five minutes. So, in order to have a symphony on records, you had to buy a three-record set which is why a set was called an album. You had to keep turning the records over and placing them on the turntable. There was no aesthetic continuity. That changed with the 33 1/3 RPM record. This invention increased the market share of classical music in record stores. There were 33 1/3 RPM records made only for radio stations. They could play about 15 minutes. That was in 1928. The 12-inch vinyl disc was introduced in 1948. That led to the first resurrection of classical music. It was based on technology.
Almost a year ago, I reprinted a 2004 article I wrote for Lew Rockwell.com on classical music. I argued that there was a future for classical music based on the new digital technologies.
Orchestral music that is worth listening to today comes out of Hollywood. John Williams writes wonderful music. So does Jerry Goldsmith. They write for American movies, which target large audiences. Fantasia aside, Stravinsky never has made it to the big screen. There is still a market for good music. The movies provide lots of it without tax subsidies.The World Wide Web is promoting segmented audiences. Each special interest has its favorite sites. Classical music can make a comeback here.
Home school parents want to separate their children from the surrounding mass culture. They buy classical music CD’s for their children. They keep their children away from FM radio. Here is a future market for classical music.
Home schools and the World Wide Web are not run by the government. Here are obvious markets and distribution systems for lovers of classical music.
Chamber music and organ music are affordable to produce. The private sector can easily produce such music. Orchestras are far more expensive. There should be fewer of them. Cut the tax subsidies, and most orchestras will disappear for a time. But they will revive.
Today, lovers of classical music can listen to it free of charge on YouTube. They can listen on streaming music services. Technology has decentralized radically, and the result is lots of niche markets. The average person doesn't listen to classical music, but the average person never did. Orchestras could only be funded by the state. The large symphony orchestra grew up in the middle of the 19th-century with the expansion of philharmonic orchestras subsidized by the government.
A NICHE MARKET
I now return to the recent critic who says that the cultural Marxists were the cause of the decline of classical music.
The most egregious offense in all this was the disconnection of citizens, of the populace, from our civilization’s very rich musical inheritance. While my parents were not what I would call “classical music experts,” they at least understood and appreciated its value and importance in our society and to our culture. Just consider some of the scores (and subjects) of films of the 1930's until the early 1960's, think about the music used in early popular television programs like “The Lone Ranger” (1949-1957), or “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” (1955-1958), think of those memorable Warner Brothers cartoons, especially Elmer Fudd’s “I Killed the Wabbit,” or those Woody Woodpecker cartoons we also grew up with. How many of us still associate Rossini’s William Tell Overture with “Hi-Yo Silver!” any time we hear the final gallop of that piece being played?And, sure, the use of such music has continued in film, but certainly not with the broad influence or significance it once had. Nor with the role of connecting average, everyday citizens with their inherited culture. In our day the classical tradition occupies, it seems, a niche which grows smaller by the year, with fewer listeners and devotees, and with music impresarios attempting frantically to remedy the situation by heavy mixes of “pop” cross-over concerts, neither truly classical nor truly rock.
The everyday citizens never have an inherited culture of classical music. To imagine that it does shows an astounding lack of familiarity with the history of popular music. Classical music was elitist from the beginning. It was the music of kingly courts, tax-funded urban symphonies, and long-playing albums.
A few snippets of the William Tell Overture is hardly proof of the importance of classical music and American culture. Children stopped listening to the Lone Ranger in their teens in the mid-1950's. Most of them never knew where the music came from. In the 1930's, most families listened to country music in rural areas or dance music if they were urban. There were a few classical music radio broadcasts for the highbrow. But these shows always had a narrow audience.
If anything, the introduction of the long play vinyl album helped to bring classical music to the attention of a new generation, beginning in 1948. Then came high fidelity albums in 1953. But rock 'n roll appeared at almost the same time. In the record store, we sold rock 'n roll, musical comedies, some folk music, not much classical music, and only rarely an opera.
The masses never listened to classical music. They could not afford to attend symphony performances. It was an urban phenomenon. It catered to the rich and the educated. It was elitist music.
THE SECOND RESURRECTION
Today, this is all changing. This is because of digital technologies and the Internet. Classical music for the first time is penetrating the masses. Here is a remarkable report that was published in May 2019.
Revenues were $384 million in 2018.Streaming revenue was up 46% in 2018.
Worldwide, classical music constituted 35% of the adult population. It was the fourth most popular musical genre.
Here are graphs.
CONCLUSION
Cultural Marxism doesn't exist. It was not the cause of the marginalization of classical music. Classical music had always been marginalized. It was a product of tax-funded programs that subsidized the tastes of the urban elite. The arrival of mass market music through radio and records, beginning in the 1920's, led to the dominance of popular music. The free market let the masses buy the kinds of music they had always preferred. Classical music could not compete, especially with the older 78 RPM technologies.
This is changing, and it is changing fast.
The handwringing that we see in the conservative movement goes on and on and on. There are lots of things to be discouraged about, mainly in politics, tax-funded education, and government-created central banking. But the demise of classical music is not worth worrying about.
The free market is bringing classical music around the world to people who either could not afford it before or who paid no attention to it. The niche marketing that is possible because of the Internet is leading to a new appreciation of classical music.
It wasn't cultural Marxism that made classical music unpopular. It was the fact that classical music was funded almost entirely by the government. This is no longer the case. You don't have to go to an expensive music hall in a major city to gain access to classical music today. It doesn't cost much money. If you listen on YouTube, it doesn't cost any money.
The free market is now bringing what was an elitist form of music to the masses. This is not a cause for despair. It is a cause for rejoicing.