# YouTube's effect on classical music



## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

In your opinion, how has YouTube affected classical music? I think it has given people a chance to become familiar with it easily, without risk. Based on the comments in various videos, many young people have started to listen to this music.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

I would give YouTube an overall favoiurable rating as a good source of classical music performances, be they vintage or from new, unknown or amateur artists. When it comes to free music, nothing comes close in terms of accessibility and bredth.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

One geezer's reaction: I don't like it. I_just_don't_like_it. I don't like the presentation. I don't like the sound quality (in general). I_just_don't_like_it.


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## An Die Freude (Apr 23, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> One geezer's reaction: I don't like it. I_just_don't_like_it. I don't like the presentation. I don't like the sound quality (in general). I_just_don't_like_it.


Really? Well then, the time has come for me to shamelessly self-advertise my channel then. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Tribute1875?feature=mhee


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I like YouTube for quick sampling, but I don't sit down and listen to things there much.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Aurelian said:


> In your opinion, how has YouTube affected classical music? I think it has given people a chance to become familiar with it easily, without risk. Based on the comments in various videos, many young people have started to listen to this music.


And I wonder how many have paid for any of it? Why bother, it's free without risk.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Without youtube, I never would have been able to get into classical music. As others have said, it's free and without risk...I'm not going to go out and spend money for some pieces of classical music I've never heard before and don't know if I'll like (after all, you wouldn't buy a car without giving it a test ride first!) So, youtube is the perfect opportunity to give the music that test run and also to explore new music with ease.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

starthrower said:


> And I wonder how many have paid for any of it?


I have. In fact, without youtube, I would have never become familiar with classical music in the first place. And I'd say many others must have had similar experiences.


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

My frequent use of Youtube almost always starts in looking for a particular performances by a particular artist or ensemble, but in looking for the one, I find twenty-five others I want to hear as well. It is an amazing repository of recent and historical performances I would never have a chance to see/hear, otherwise.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Aurelian said:


> In your opinion, how has YouTube affected classical music? I think it has given people a chance to become familiar with it easily, without risk. Based on the comments in various videos, many young people have started to listen to this music.


Can be useful for forums like this.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

It hasn't, it has just affected some people's perception of it, probably not in a very striking way either. Classical music will endure for centuries, youtube will be an artifact nobody uses in our lifetimes.


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## Amfibius (Jul 19, 2006)

Youtube is great. It has been my sole source of music when I am travelling and don't want to take my CD's with me. I should get off my **** and burn my collection onto FLAC and get an iPod ... but I have >4000 CD's and can't be bothered! 

It is also a fantastic source of rare and historic recordings. Want to compare different performances of a piece? Want to try before you buy? Nothing better than Youtube.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

An Die Freude said:


> Really? Well then, the time has come for me to shamelessly self-advertise my channel then.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/user/Tribute1875?feature=mhee


I have bookmarked it; no further comment at this time. May have something to bitch about... later.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I don't buy CDs since nearly 2 years. What I do is download YouTube videos, send the page to a specialist friend, and he made Cds.for me. Have more than 60. I know, I know, the sound is sometimes bad, but to a searcher of unknown/forgotten/underrated/historicals like me, is like the Heaven maná. Works, composers and players that never were on CDs. or are unfindable, including extremely rare Russian, Ukranian, Georgian, Armenian that were recorded only on very old a extremely rare vinyls long time ago. But somebody have it, a I enjoy them. I love YouTube and hope it stay for ever! 
BTW, if you may, I've a page, and my YouTube name is "Taneyev"


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Why don't you ******* listen-watch smalin's animated classical music. I post them all the time but they are wasted on you. 
www.youtube.com/user/smalin


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I don't use it often but there's some really good stuff on youtube. Especially the stuff in HD. I send youtube videos of music I like to friends by email, it's good for that kind of thing, sharing music. Also, on this forum too.

For general listening, though, I just listen to cd's and even more jurassic technologies.

I have gone to youtube though after recommendations by others, on this forum and real life too. Not often, but youtube is the handiest thing to do that. But sometimes only bits are available on youtube, but that's better than nothing, I guess.

Not that many Australian composers on there though, and a lot of it fragmentary (eg. bits and pieces of longer works). But for standard repertoire - eg. European, American - youtube is excellent overall...


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## SottoVoce (Jul 29, 2011)

His videos get more and more amazing as he expands the software. I would kill for him to do all of the Art of Fugue, but since they're not too popular he's only going to do a few of them. The Contrapunctus 9 is outstanding though.



Couchie said:


> Why don't you ******* listen-watch smalin's animated classical music. I post them all the time but they are wasted on you.
> www.youtube.com/user/smalin


Oh, and without Youtube I would've never been able to find this:






So I guess it's worth it.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

I use Youtube quite a bit. The sound quality is poor, but almost every recording (by anybody of anything) is available there if you look hard enough. That makes it indispensable.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Couchie said:


> Why don't you ******* listen-watch smalin's animated classical music. I post them all the time but they are wasted on you.
> www.youtube.com/user/smalin


Ugh, those are shyte compared to tomekkobialka's, where you can actually look at the sheet music.

I'm surprised at how much praise YouTube has received in this thread for breadth of recordings. I agree that it has democratised access to classical music, but I very, very rarely find a particular recording on there that I want, or, if I have none in mind, very rarely find one that is good quality. It is filled with a lot of amateur crap. There are better services out there for discovering music for free, it's just that YouTube presents a lazier shift between cat videos and Beethoven.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Ugh, those are shyte compared to tomekkobialka's, where you can actually look at the sheet music.


No, nooooooo... you should better acquaint yourself before you mutter such nonsense. Any boob can flash pages of sheet music in Windows Movie Maker to music playing. But sheet music is limited... it was designed to allow a person to replicate a piece of music, but notation is not necessarily the best thing for comprehending it. The sheet music approach may be satisfactory for piano music, but try taking in an entire symphony via sheet music. Likewise something like a piano concerto, the piano's delicate interplay with the orchestra is poorly represented by sheet music. smalin's videos highlight the notes being heard in real time impeccably timed with a live recording... the perfectionism of it is enough to make one's toes curl. Also, his newer videos are 1080p, forget poor sound quality....


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Couchie said:


> Why don't you ******* listen-watch smalin's animated classical music. I post them all the time but they are wasted on you.
> www.youtube.com/user/smalin




Congratulations for finding a ***** in the PC filter's armor.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Congratulations for finding a ***** in the PC filter's armor.


Indeed... I often type the asterisks myself but I thought I'd let the filter do its work for a change; apparently it's on holiday.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Couchie said:


> Why don't you ******* listen-watch smalin's animated classical music. I post them all the time but they are wasted on you.
> www.youtube.com/user/smalin


 You don't have any idea at all how to approach people so they feel invited and not pre-abused, do you?

I've recommended animated classical Such As Yours to many: since they are akin to score-reading for those who do not read, they are very helpful. People find them all the time and refer them to others all the time - via YouTube.

In this forum, I bet a high percentage of its users are notation literate and just read scores: they don't need the animations.

To the actual question:
YouTube has allowed me to keep up within one particular area of my musical interests, and also made possible referring numbers of people to music I've recommended for them. In that, the audio - and what is available - has huge advantages and benefits.

A casual browser can check things out on whim or by organized pursuit, outside the environs of innumerable dreadfully taught conventional music appreciation courses and the like, and without feeling in any way self-conscious or 'class-bludgeoned.'

The audio quality is nothing I would want to live with.

The brevity of the links is set to accommodate pop music, and its more usual short length 'songs.'

To the brevity, I think it is more a negative in that a neophyte can taste 'just one movement.' (ala iTunes, "Download this song.") 
I think it is contributing negatively to the use of Classical like a canape tray at a cocktail party - i.e. it tacitly promotes short attention span listening.

For me, to be more aware of the newer classical repertoire, as well as some of what I find are the more musical and interesting things going on in the alternative pop genre, has a great value, and I've been able to turn a lot of people on to what I believe is good and interesting music because the venue exists.

Upsides, downsides. Some may remember when you could walk into a bricks and mortar record store and actually audition albums before you bought them. This is the new venue for that kind of service.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Congratulations for finding a ***** in the PC filter's armor.





Couchie said:


> Indeed... I often type the asterisks myself but I thought I'd let the filter do its work for a change; apparently it's on holiday.


Ding!! It's not on holiday now ...


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I don't really care about the sound quality of recordings for the most part. So more power to me I guess  I don't use youtube as my main listening hub though, just for browsing.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I don 't care about fragments or movements. I've download long complete works that i can't find today anywere. I.E I've the 6 Ysaye by Yuval Yaron ( totally OOP for years), a lot of pieces by Dinicu, complete quartets by the old original Hungarian Budapest, the Amar-Hindemith quartet, the Griller, the Juilliard from the 50s., the Oistrakh trio.
I got Ernst's Othello variations, Paganini's caprices, Mozart(?) 7th.v.c.by Oistrakh, Horowitz's Bach-Busoni on piano rolls from the 30s., a lot of unknown violin and cello concerts, Haendel-Brahm's variations by Katchen and many,many other gems. And there are short pieces by great forgotten violinist almost nobody knows today, like Jelly d'Aranyi or Paul Godwin. Yes, I'll be for ever gratefull to YouTube


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## wiganwarrior (Jan 6, 2012)

You Tube does have a number of problems, many of which are highlighted in earlier posts but, personally, I find it an excellent source of classical music. Indeed, I am still playing the game of "Defeat You Tube". It's very simple. Try to search for the most obscure pieces of classical music you can think of - and, lo & behold, there they are!! I would be interested to know if anyone on this site can "Defeat You Tube". Let me know about any piece you can't find - from Hildegard of Bingen (11th century) to James McMillan, Harrison Birtwisle etc (current).


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I don't listen to music on youtube because the sound quality is horrible, but it can be great tool to use for popping in to sample something. I have a friend who isn't big into classical music but from time to time will enjoy an opera or a symphony on youtube and enjoys it immensely. It is also a good tool for giving people an idea about some sort of music, although I constantly bemoan the quality. It makes a lot of the music sound quite bad to me so I'm a bit hesitant about recommending on it sometimes, mostly to the uninitiated.

Edit: I frequently "defeat" youtube in classical and non-classical alike.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The sound quality on YouTube is not uniformly horrible. It varies greatly. There's a lot of stuff that sounds just fine.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I think the average bitrate on youtube is 64. That's pretty bad. The numbers are a few years old so I'm sure it has changed a bit since then to allow for better quality in some videos, but for the most part the sound quality is still pretty bad.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

starthrower said:


> And I wonder how many have paid for any of it? Why bother, it's free without risk.


I think the issue of non payment is a problem. I only use youtube when I can't find a work elsewhere.

For me, the biggest issue with CM listening is finding exposure to music. When I was young, I listened to the radio to hear new popular music (all I listened to back then). When I heard music I liked a lot, I would then purchase a single or album. Today, it is almost impossible to hear new (or even modern) music on the radio. One has to search other places. I have used Naxos Music Library (expensive), the free version of Spotify, some very specific sites which have almost no music, and youtube. If youtube could act as a replacement to the old radio and allow people access to new music _that they eventually might purchase_, I think it would serve a very useful purpose.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

You don't look the tooths of a gifted horse. Yes, the sound is sometimes (not always) bad. But If I want the work, and it's totally OOP, I have to conform. Where of earth could I get Arkady Fillipenko's first SQ or the third Joachim's v.c. or all the Bach's cello suites played on violin?


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