Well, the classical sector has one thing in common, they dress smartly when they attend early evening seminars dissecting their industry - I felt even more shabby than is usual sitting in the corner at last night's Music Tank Think Tank event in London. The other thing the classical sector has in common is the overall perception that "things aren't as bad as they say, but they aren't as good as they could (should?) be either".
But dress code and topline perceptions aside, the classical sector seemed pretty fragmented to me as its key players discussed the challenges and opportunities out there in the digital age. Cuts in classical at the major labels, ever declining shelf space in high street record stores and an overall decline in CD sales might not really matter so much given the growth in independent labels, the rising number of orchestras and venues self-releasing recordings and the seeming popularity of classical music in the digital domain (more on that in our Think Tank interview with LSO Live's Chaz Jenkins on the CMU website - http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/interviews).
And innovative programming by the likes of the London Sinfonietta, often involving key players from non-classical genres like Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood or the Warp DJs and video makers, have shown that the classical world need not be isolated from the wider musical spectrum, nor need it rely solely on its dedicated but declining traditional audience. And, as London Sinfonietta MD Cathy Graham pointed out last night, there is a lot of respect between performers in the classical and non-classical worlds, and a genuine desire to collaborate.
And then there are the recent successes of the classical world superstars. Just two months ago Vittorio Grigolo, Russell Watson and Andrea Bocelli all appeared in the overall albums top ten in the same week. And of course there is the global success of the Il Divo franchise, even if most of those there last night weren't too eager to take any credit or indeed associate themselves with Simon Cowell's pop opera creations.
But do any of these creative and commercial success stories expand the audience for the classical genre in the long term? Can an Il Divo fan be persuaded to try a bit of Bizet? Will the Radiohead fan who is excited about Greenwood's classical dabblings then go and buy Beethoven's Fifth? Will the casual Classic FM listener, conditioned to those four minute snippets interspersed by friendly chat, ever be persuaded to experience Elgar's Second in its entirety? And if they were, would the classical community at large welcome them with open arms, or assume they are 'lesser people' because of their lesser knowledge of the genre?
And that, I think, is possibly the classical sector's main problem. Certain independent labels, orchestras and media are satisfying the appetite of classical aficionados on a day to day basis (aficionados of both traditional and contemporary classic music), while the other (often major) labels, orchestras and media succeed in creating classical initiatives which win mainstream attention and support, but on something of an ad hoc basis. But the sector doesn't seem too sure how one side can feed the other.
So it seems to me, based on last night's Think Tank at least, that the challenge isn't so much recruiting new audiences, as it is keeping them, and then exposing them to the wider classical world. How to meet that challenge I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone in the classical industry knows either.
That said, I don't agree with the always contentious consultant Merlin Stone who told the Music Tank last night that the challenge wasn't being met because of the classical sector's complete incompetence. Nor would I agree with Chandos Records' Paul Westcott or This Isn't For You's Matt Frenton who seemed to say it was a challenge that could never be met. But if any of the classical industry experts at the MusicTank last night had way of meeting it in mind, they kept very quiet about it.