The drive-in cinema concerts disappeared as quickly as they had arisen during the forced live break caused by the pandemic.

From paid, professionally produced streaming shows

– whether as a separate event or in addition to the actual live experience – some people in the music industry, on the other hand, expect good business in the long term.

Benjamin Fisher

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

The idea was not new in 2020, only it was suddenly in full focus.

There were also concepts in the classical period.

In Germany, for example, the Berlin Philharmonic has also performed regularly in their "Digital Concert Hall" since 2008.

For a long time, Robert Zimmermann was responsible for the project.

Since the beginning of 2021 he has been working for Deutsche Grammophon (DG), founded in 1898, one of the largest classical music labels in the world and part of Universal Music.

Here he is now also one of the brains behind a new video and audio platform called Stage+.

In contrast to the "DG Stage" project, which emerged relatively quickly during the pandemic, where users had to buy tickets individually for streaming concerts, Stage+ is a classic streaming service.

Costs 14.99 euros per month for a single user and is therefore 5 or 4 euros (Apple Music) more expensive than the established large music services.

The core of the offer are weekly new performances by various orchestras, conductors and performers from various houses.

In addition, the platform should offer archive material, interviews, documentaries and more, not least the entire DG and Decca Records catalog for audio streaming.

Everything "in the best possible quality", as the statement says, with a view to a demanding, audiophile target group who also have the appropriate hi-fi equipment to be able to enjoy the sophisticated sound and video quality at all.

Quality as a differentiator

“Numerous artists” have already been enthusiastic, since the new platform allows “their work to be documented holistically in a virtual place” – “regardless of whether it’s a live performance, an album recording, a music video, an interview or backstage material,” label boss Clemens Trautmann is quoted as saying in the message.

The head of Universal Music Europe, Frank Briegmann, points to the potential of the market: "The interest in convincing online offers for classical music is enormous", Stage+ will "redefine the virtual space for new classical music".

The creators are likely to be able to convince with the quality of the app, the exclusive material and the sonorous name Deutsche Grammophon and prominent artists such as the pianist Lang Lang, the catalog of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter or the conductor Daniel Barenboim.

Because there are already audio services focused on classical music and the highest sound quality - which not only offer the catalog of the universal classical music label - as well as some video variants.

Concerts can be viewed, for example, in the media libraries of the public authorities.

In addition, subscription-based and broadly based streaming platforms such as Myfidelio or Symphony compete for classical music fans who want to experience concerts from the couch.

Since May 2020, Idagio, which it says is the "world's leading" audio streaming service for classical music, has also been offering a video subscription.

The audio service Primephonic was taken over by Apple in 2021.

A start of the new Apple classic offer is of course still pending.

The small hi-fi service Qobuz also has a good reputation for classical music.

Great potential in digital

According to the Federal Association of the Music Industry, the classical genre accounted for 1.9 percent of the total sales of music recordings in 2021, amounting to 1.96 billion euros.

A small value (in 2012 it was still 6.7 percent), even if one disregards the subdivision into genres, which of course is not always possible down to the smallest detail.

What is particularly special, however, is the importance of physical sound carriers: while 76.4 percent of sales (68.3 percent through streaming alone) were generated digitally last year - and the trend is still rising - classical music continues to sell significantly more than other genres on CD, which is one of the reasons for the decline in the overall comparison.

According to the Bundesverband Musikindustrie BVMI, the physical share of sales in the entire classical music market in Germany last year was around two thirds of sales.

In the current year it is currently lower, but still well above the 50 percent mark.

According to a Universal spokeswoman, the classical division of Universal Music is “a good deal more digital” in the German market than the overall market.

The potential of the digital offerings appears correspondingly large.

It is no coincidence that there are a number of specialized services for classical music in particular.

Classical music has a hard time on the top dogs Spotify, Apple, Amazon or Youtube Music.

This is also due to the fact that the functions of the services are not exactly geared towards the requirements of classical music fans.

Instead of searching for an artist, song or album (by the way, the lack of visibility of songwriters in the background is also repeatedly criticized in the pop world), classical music listeners are more interested in specific recordings of a work, in movements, selected conductors, orchestra, or the casting of roles in operas.

Of course, everyone still wants to be represented on the big platforms.

Nobody wants to miss their huge reach, the permanent, if often not huge, income and the contact to a younger target group.