Five reasons arts funding should be shifted from classical music to pop music
1-Unlike classical music, people listen to, purchase and pay attention to pop music Some claim to like classical music because they think it makes them look intelligent but do you see them sleeping out for chamber music tickets? Classical music only gets played on radio to help quell road rage. Nobody wants to hear that harpsichord.
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2-Pop music puts a city on the tourist map What Nirvana did for Seattle. What Prince did for Minneapolis. What Gamble and Huff did for Philly. That.
3-Classical music has no more cultural value than pop music Desperate cummerbund-wearing classical music types once convinced parents that babies became more intelligent when exposed to Brahms music. It doesn't work.
4- Wealthy people can pay for their own live music like the rest of us Boston's symphony has an endowment fund of over $140 million, Chicago's is over $100 million. If the rich want their culture paid for, let them pay for it.
5-More bang for the buck with pop musicians. Orchestras pay hefty full-time salaries to a few classically-trained virtuosos. With the same cash we could fund countless more pop musicians by offering free jam space and studio time. Let 'em keep their day jobs. Hell, amateur hockey, soccer, cultural centres all get funded by government but long-haired guitar soloists don't get a nickel, even though they might actually create some financial and cultural value.
1-Unlike classical music, people listen to, purchase and pay attention to pop music Some claim to like classical music because they think it makes them look intelligent but do you see them sleeping out for chamber music tickets? Classical music only gets played on radio to help quell road rage. Nobody wants to hear that harpsichord.
3-Classical music has no more cultural value than pop music Desperate cummerbund-wearing classical music types once convinced parents that babies became more intelligent when exposed to Brahms music. It doesn't work.
4- Wealthy people can pay for their own live music like the rest of us Boston's symphony has an endowment fund of over $140 million, Chicago's is over $100 million. If the rich want their culture paid for, let them pay for it.
5-More bang for the buck with pop musicians. Orchestras pay hefty full-time salaries to a few classically-trained virtuosos. With the same cash we could fund countless more pop musicians by offering free jam space and studio time. Let 'em keep their day jobs. Hell, amateur hockey, soccer, cultural centres all get funded by government but long-haired guitar soloists don't get a nickel, even though they might actually create some financial and cultural value.