Donald Satz wrote:

>Steve Schwartz wrote:
>
>>He has written two books, one claiming that classical music will die
>>because star performers make too much money....
>
>This "star performers make too much money" theme always seems to come
>from folks who are not star performers.

Statistically this is bound to be the case as star performers only make
up such a small percentage of the market.  However, Sir Colin Davis has,
I believe, criticised the inequities in the business.

>I consider it nothing but "sour grapes".  There's a market, there's
>supply, there's demand, and there's a final price/contract/income.  I
>can't think of a better way to go about determining transactional results.

Fine, but there isn't really a FREE market operating here.  This applies
to ALL the fields you mention.  In the promotion of the browser "Internet
Explorer" (I use Netscape) Bill Gates has shown he knows how it works.

For example, at a base level one is far more likely to get a break on the
basis of whom you know rather than what you can do.  In Britain the cable
TV companies are awash with new talent.  Yet the BBC still continues to
pay millions of tax payer's money to a few tired old names.  I would
stake money on it that a similar situation exists in music.

Are there any junior orchestra members out there who would like to be
whistle blowers on this one? If so, sent your comments to me anonymously
if you like and I'll pass them on)

>I think its great that star performers make large sums of money; it's one
>of the few conditions that keeps classical music on the map.

Come off it, Jessye Norman gets more for one performance that the average
second string player gets in a year.  Yet, I defy you to walk through the
streets of New York with a photo and see how many members of the public
can identify her.

>Would you really prefer and consider reasonable that a star performer take
>less than he/she can get for some artistic or altruistic reason? Would you
>be willing to do this? Saying yes is simple, actually doing so is something
>else.

Of course not.  It is the system itself that needs reforming.  I applaud
the work of the budget record companies in this respect.

Back, we come again to the big names syndrome.

Bob Draper
Challenging Music's Paradigms
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