Classical artists embrace digital culture

By Hazel Davis

MANCHESTER (Billboard) - When violinist Tasmin Little announced in January that she would be giving away her "Naked Violin" album as a free download, she tapped into a growing trend: classical music artists and retailers utilizing digital formats and business models.

Since the album features Little performing the works of such little-known composers as Ysaye and Paul Patterson, listeners were unlikely to "buy it on the off-chance," Little says. But the response to the free download, she says, has been "phenomenal."

Thousands of tracks have been downloaded, and monthly page impressions on Little's Web site have increased from 5,000 to 150,000 since the announcement.

"'The Naked Violin' is a snapshot," Little says. "The idea is that people will go and buy (more classical) repertoire."

Classical fans are certainly purchasing more music digitally; in the United States, digital classical album sales surged 47.7 percent in 2007, accounting for 7 percent of the genre's 18 million total album sales, up from 4.4 percent the previous year, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Classical digital album sales burst through the 1 million barrier for the first time with a total of 1.2 million units.

NOTEWORTHY GROWTH

Retailers, however, are taking notice of the growth. Universal-owned classical label Deutsche Grammophon launched its DG Web Shop in November 2007. The site generated more than 50,000 music downloads in its first week, according to DG. According to the site, 80 percent of download sales are for full albums as opposed to individual tracks, and 15 percent of sales have been for titles that are out of print in physical formats.

London-based Jonathan Gruber, vice president of new media at Universal Music Group International's classics and jazz division, acknowledges that the "traditional classical audience have not, to date, fully embraced digital," but says that high-quality audio downloads have drawn in core consumers as well as classical novices.