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The British author and critic Norman Lebrecht has been called the Cassandra of classical music. His polemical 1997 book, Who Killed Classical Music?: Maestros, Managers and Corporate Politics, discussed how a once proudly nonprofit art form has turned into a fairly sleazy business. More recently, he argued in a column that "the year 2004 will be the last for the classical record industry." He joins us today to discuss whether the industry is really in its death throes. For a different perspective, we look at ArtistLed, a pioneering independent label formed in 1997 by pianist Wu Han and her husband, cellist David Finkel. ArtistLed is an effort by artists to bypass corporate constraints and make their records themselves, on their own terms. To date, the label has released seven discs, all of which are sold via the Internet. Wu Han joins us to bring us up to speed on the label's activities.
Additional Resources:
» Norman Lebrecht on the BBC
» Read Norman Lebrecht's Columns
» ArtistLed's Web site