# Interesting revolution in classical music marketing going on



## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I've been watching an interesting battle go on in classical music marketing at Amazon. It involves an awful lot of money, and it isn't targeted at us classical music fans.

A couple of months ago, I noticed a bunch of mp3 collections like this turn up at Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Beethoven-Masterpieces-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B001NWULS0/

I bought a couple to see what they were, and discovered that they were licensed from BIS and other sources and were largely excellent performances. These sets have been at the top of Amazon's sales charts for months, and after doing a little Googling, I discovered that the company behind them, X5 Music Group is the second largest internet seller of classical music on the Billboard charts, right behind Universal.

X5 has wiped the floor with the major classical labels when it comes to online marketing. They're selling thousands of these inexpnsive mp3 sets every week, raking in tons of money for it. They know better than the big labels how to market digital downloads, and they're making much more money than Naxos with its subscription service,

So as I bounce through Amazon today, I notice something new. They've split the 99 Masterpieces into two sets... One of bleeding chunks bits, and anoter called "The Full Works Edition"...

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Beethoven-Masterpieces-Works-Edition/dp/B006DEK2ZU/

And I had to laugh when I saw this...

http://www.amazon.com/50-Must-Have-Beethoven-Masterpieces/dp/B0077FOFMA/

Notice who's gotten into the business of knocking out lookalike sets? Yep. EMI.

There is a huge market for classical music that hasn't been exploited since the days of the K-Tel TV ads and the Reader's Digest record sets... Average people. They don't want CDs. They don't respond to covers with photographs of "Sir Colin Hogshead-Schwatzkopff" emoting and sweating as he conducts a 150 piece orchestra. They don't want albums with titles like "Piccolo and Noseflute Concerto No 6 Op 34 after a series of Variations by Spaghettini". They want albums called "Best Classical Music for Relaxation" with pictures of people laying comfotably on fancy sofas, or "Everything You Would Ever Need By Haydn For 99 Cents" with a driver's. License photo of some chump in a powdered wig on the cover.

We classical music collectors may turn up our nose at this sort of thing, but X5 Music Group seems to know how to make hatfulls of money with recordings that have been dropping like rocks in sales for the last few years. It's worth watching, because like it or not, if this is where the labels make their money, this is where they're going to turn their attention.


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

That was an excellent post. 

I know when I see a digital download for under $5 I pretty much consider that free (assuming it's a full album.) So, it is brilliant marketing to sell these so cheaply. Capture the impulse shopper and make some money.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

These aren't just full albums, they're box sets with hours and hours of music. I wonder what proportion of the people who buy them get around to downloading them all. I bet very few, most people are probably listening to them streaming using te Amazon player app.

It would be great to cross the concept of the Amazon or iTunes store with Naxos's subscription model... Say a customer pays a monthly fee for the service, then he can buy super low cost sets like this that he can download and own. The tracks would be available as both download and streaming files.

I'd subscribe to something like that.


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

bigshot said:


> These aren't just full albums, they're box sets with hours and hours of music. I wonder what proportion of the people who buy them get around to downloading them all. I bet very few, most people are probably listening to them streaming using te Amazon player app.


You can count me as one who downloaded them in their entirety. I bought several and downloaded them all so I could put them on my Ipod.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

To sell MP3s at somewhere between $0.41-$0.54 per track _and make money_ the cost for the rights to the music, the overhead, the marketing, and hardware plus software necessary to facilitate downloads must be less than that. Does anyone have a sense of these costs?


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

EMI have been doing it for a while, I think they have put these older releases in more eyecatching covers to compete with X5 and similar http://www.100bestseries.com/emi_best100_catalogue_us.htm

As you say a lot of the older releases can be off-putting, even threatening, and they don't make it easy to get into classical. But when they tell you "this is the best Beethoven" nice and plainly you know to buy it rather than trying to guess who the hell Furtwangler is. You don't have to suffer the scorn of a shop assistant when you just want some nice chill out classical. You just download and almost instantly you are being cultured for minimal outlay.

The hardware and software is already there and developed, it doesn't cost anything to make copy after copy of an mp3, not like a physical CD, pay a graphic designer, or a guy to wear a wig and you are set. No marketing needed either, just riding on the suggestion mechanism of amazon and similar websites.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

mmsbls said:


> To sell MP3s at somewhere between $0.41-$0.54 per track _and make money_ the cost for the rights to the music, the overhead, the marketing, and hardware plus software necessary to facilitate downloads must be less than that. Does anyone have a sense of these costs?


They're using Amazon's sales and delivery system. Economy of scale.


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