Back in the early days of compact discs, some classical music shoppers were known to be wary of the unfamiliar record labels that started popping up in the bins, especially the ones with rock-bottom prices. One budget label, in particular, stood out for its straightforward look, abundance of titles and largely unknown performers: Naxos.
What became clear very quickly after that company's launch in 1987 was that the music-making could be taken very seriously. And the product just kept growing and improving. These days, no sensible person sneers at a Naxos release. And as more artists and ensembles lost their recording outlets with other companies over the years, more of them have turned up under the Naxos banner.
This is easily one of the biggest success stories in a business that was supposed to be dead and buried long ago. With more than 2,500 digital releases (none devoted to tawdry crossover projects, by the way), Naxos is now the world's dominant classical music label.
Baltimore has figured prominently in Naxos recordings. The label features the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Marin Alsop, in critically acclaimed recordings (her substantial Naxos discography also includes products with several other orchestras). Additionally, there have been Naxos releases spotlighting the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Peabody Conservatory Wind Ensemble and Baltimore Choral Arts Society.
"In the old days, I was advised not to be caught dead recording for a budget label; it would ruin my career," Alsop says. "I couldn't see how that would happen, so I followed my own instincts and it turned out to be good choice. It has been a fantastic relationship. And look how it's been going for the Baltimore Symphony — a win-win."
Klaus Heymann, the German-born, Hong Kong-based founder of Naxos, doesn't sound like a man on the verge of a collapsing industry.
"In the U.S., our figures are up for the first six months this year," he says by phone from New York. "Six percent up on CDs. DVDs are down 3 percent. But the general outlook is stable worldwide." And while download sales are flat, online usage of the Naxos Music Library is growing, Heymann says.
This is not a heady era of mega-sellers for classical labels. A few superstars will always chalk up strong figures, but "the big numbers aren't there," Heymann says.
"Major companies are not doing so well with classical, and they are not putting out a lot of new titles. I don't see huge sales of individual CDs anywhere. There are exceptions, of course, such as the blind pianist [Nobuyuki Tsujii, a winner of] the Cliburn Competition; his CD sold 100,000 copies in Japan. Sales of 10,000 is very good; 15,000, and I'm almost deliriously happy. That's very rare now. And I'm talking lifetime sales," Heymann says.
The BSO has been helping maintain Heymann's disposition. One of the Naxos best-sellers is the orchestra's recording of Bernstein's "Mass." "It has sold about 20,000 [two-disc] sets," Heymann says, "which is pretty good in this kind of market."
The BSO/Alsop recording of Dvorak's "New World" Symphony "has sold extremely well, about 10,000 units," Heymann says. "I've been surprised by how good the recording is. I remember driving [in New Zealand] and listening to the radio playing the 'New World' and wondering, 'Who the hell is that?' It was Marin's recording. That they were playing that recording in faraway New Zealand is a good sign for the orchestra."
The BSO's recent recording of Dvorak's 7th and 8th symphonies is about to get a second incarnation; it will be among the first group of Blu-Ray audio releases from Naxos this fall.
"I have never experienced such a consistency with anyone in this business," says Alsop. "The other companies I record with are all good companies, but there's no consistency. Klaus Heymann started Naxos, and he is Naxos still. He's one of my favorite entrepreneurial-thinking human beings. He's willing to think outside the box. He defies being categorized. He's a rebel and a visionary."
Although seeing a profit from recordings is never a sure thing (the "Mass" release will need to sell a lot more copies to make up for copyright fees), Naxos seems well-positioned to withstand whatever the next chapter in the business might be.
"We started as a budget label, but we are now a mixed-service provider to the industry," Heymann says. "We provide logistical services for DVD labels. We distribute many independent labels. Warner will come to us in September. The last thing I wanted was to be a distributor. It's a headache, but it allows us to do other things."
There's been a lot of talk about the obsolescence of compact discs, that downloading is all that counts now. Heymann begs to differ. "I don't see downloads replacing CD sales at all," he says. "Maybe a 20- or 25-year-old doesn't own a CD player anymore, but the audience for classical music recordings is older." Naxos certainly tries to keep up with the times. "When we offered an iPhone app for Naxos Music Library, the usage shot up," Heymann says.
As for the long-range future, "no one knows what the mix [of products] will look like," he says. "The trend will be to some kind of subscription system, with one payment a month or a year made to your electric company or cable company. Somehow, we're all going to get our music on a subscription basis. It's like in the newspaper business — the jury is still out on what will prevail."
Meanwhile, Naxos will keep churning out recordings. "I have a curious mind," Heymann says. That's reflected in a product line that covers what is, by any measure, a remarkable range of repertoire, from the earliest to the ink-almost-still-wet-on-the-page variety.
"We release 30 a month, quite a few digital-only," Heymann says. "There are more than 700 in the pipeline now. I told my staff not to take on new projects for a year, maybe a year and a half."
Among the projects that will be put on hold is a Mahler symphony cycle with Alsop and the BSO that had been discussed, but a Prokofiev series is still on track to begin next season. "Most people think an orchestra should still have a recorded presence," Heymann says. "A recording is not just a physical product. You get airplay all over the world. Every generation wants to leave recordings for posterity."
Looks like a lot of classical musicians will be gaining that posterity with a Naxos label attached. "We will still produce recordings, and we will have a very good business," Heymann says. "And classical music will survive."