Steinway buys Arkivmusic

[Bunny]

Steinway, the piano manufacturer, has purchased the online classical music site Arkivmusic.com.  According to the article, apparently while pop music fans are abandoning cds, classical music cd sales are flourishing.  Here are links to articles in Musical America and the Boston Globe.

One of the articles reports that building a digital download platform is on that "long range expansion list" for Arkiv.  Arkiv will operate as an independent subsidiary of Steinway. 

[MN Dave]

Hmm. Is this good or bad?

[Brian]

...Wwha? That's very, very odd.

Incidentally, I voted in favor of ArkivMusic going digital, but only lukewarmly. They sent me a survey a few months ago asking what all features customers would like to see as the site expanded; I responded by asking for a user review option, and pointed out that eMusic, iTunes and Naxos' Classicsonline have pretty much cornered the classical download market. On the other hand, the prospect of more ArkivCDs, plus the website going global, is pretty cool.

[Gurn Blanston]

Hmm. Is this good or bad?

Couldn't have phrased it better. Arkiv is my favorite "full price" CD site, and IMO has the best design around. Whatever else Steinway do with it, I hope they don't tamper with that, since it nears perfection.



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Listening to:
Beethoven - Ronald Brautigam - Op 049 #2 Sonata #20 in G 2nd mvmt - Tempo di Menuetto

[Bunny]

I would really love it if Arkiv offered drm free, lossless quality downloads of oop cds, along with files of the liners, etc.  One of the big problems with downloaded classical music is the fact that the sound quality is altered by compression.  I think the compression of the files into mp3 or mp4, even at higher bitrates is what stops so many classical music fans from buying downloads.  Kids listening to Brittany Spears don't care about compression, but we do. That's probably also the reason classical cds are still selling so well, and formats that are supposedly "abandoned" such as LP and SACD continue to be in demand for classical music lovers. 

Couldn't have phrased it better. Arkiv is my favorite "full price" CD site, and IMO has the best design around. Whatever else Steinway do with it, I hope they don't tamper with that, since it nears perfection.

I'd love for Arkiv to use a search engine similar to Amazon's.  I find it tedious that you can't just plug in a composer, orchestra, and piece into the search box but have to first search the composer, then the orchestra or conductor, then the piece, yada yada yada.

[Brian]

I'd love for Arkiv to use a search engine similar to Amazon's.  I find it tedious that you can't just plug in a composer, orchestra, and piece into the search box but have to first search the composer, then the orchestra or conductor, then the piece, yada yada yada.

A very good point; typing "mikkelsen svendsen" in Amazon is easier than going Composers > S > Svendsen > Symphony No 1 > Mikkelsen... though the Arkiv system is rather charming.

[Gurn Blanston]

I would really love it if Arkiv offered drm free, lossless quality downloads of oop cds, along with files of the liners, etc. 
I'd love for Arkiv to use a search engine similar to Amazon's.  I find it tedious that you can't just plug in a composer, orchestra, and piece into the search box but have to first search the composer, then the orchestra or conductor, then the piece, yada yada yada.

I don't find it tedious at all, rather it is eminently logical. And it has the additional bonus that I frequently see a name or piece while going through the list that I hadn't even thought of (or knew about) and gives me entirely different idea.

That said, a search box WOULD be nice for those times when I am looking for one specific piece...




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Listening to:
Beethoven - Ronald Brautigam - Op 010 #1 Sonata #05 in c 1st mvmt - Allegro molto e con brio

[Brian]

I don't find it tedious at all, rather it is eminently logical. And it has the additional bonus that I frequently see a name or piece while going through the list that I hadn't even thought of (or knew about) and gives me entirely different idea.

That said, a search box WOULD be nice for those times when I am looking for one specific piece...

Incidentally, the Arkiv system is also an excellent database to simply look up pieces to confirm they exist - if they don't have a work listed under a composer's name, you can be fairly sure it doesn't exist! 

[Bunny]

A very good point; typing "mikkelsen svendsen" in Amazon is easier than going Composers > S > Svendsen > Symphony No 1 > Mikkelsen... though the Arkiv system is rather charming.

I don't find it tedious at all, rather it is eminently logical. And it has the additional bonus that I frequently see a name or piece while going through the list that I hadn't even thought of (or knew about) and gives me entirely different idea.

That said, a search box WOULD be nice for those times when I am looking for one specific piece...




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Listening to:
Beethoven - Ronald Brautigam - Op 010 #1 Sonata #05 in c 1st mvmt - Allegro molto e con brio

Charming?  It's practically the same system that Classicstoday uses. 

Incidentally, the Arkiv system is also an excellent database to simply look up pieces to confirm they exist - if they don't have a work listed under a composer's name, you can be fairly sure it doesn't exist! 

Or that you have gotten the name wrong in some minor fashion or that any recording of the work isn't sold by Arkiv.  They only list the works that they have recordings of. 

[rickardg]

I would really love it if Arkiv offered drm free, lossless quality downloads of oop cds, along with files of the liners, etc.  One of the big problems with downloaded classical music is the fact that the sound quality is altered by compression.  I think the compression of the files into mp3 or mp4, even at higher bitrates is what stops so many classical music fans from buying downloads.

Hear, hear! It irks me that when I pay for downloads I get worse stuff than if I'd pirated it (if I can find the things I want at all). Have a look at the contents of this randomly chosen torrent, lossless and with scans of the notes. This isn't rocket surgery, why can't the music stores offer as good releases as the pirates?

[MN Dave]

I don't find it tedious at all, rather it is eminently logical. And it has the additional bonus that I frequently see a name or piece while going through the list that I hadn't even thought of (or knew about) and gives me entirely different idea.

That said, a search box WOULD be nice for those times when I am looking for one specific piece...

I'm with the G-man on this.

[Don]

Couldn't have phrased it better. Arkiv is my favorite "full price" CD site, and IMO has the best design around. Whatever else Steinway do with it, I hope they don't tamper with that, since it nears perfection.



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Listening to:
Beethoven - Ronald Brautigam - Op 049 #2 Sonata #20 in G 2nd mvmt - Tempo di Menuetto

I expect that changes are in the wind.  That doesn't thrill me as I consider Arkiv about perfect as it is right now.

[Brian]

I expect that changes are in the wind.  That doesn't thrill me as I consider Arkiv about perfect as it is right now.

Indeed - especially the personal touches of the place; great sales and excellent customer service, in my experience. I hope they do not go "corporate" on us.

[JayG]

The lack of a search function at Arkiv always frustrated me as well...but they added the feature some time ago. Didn't anyone else notice?

-Jay

[Bunny]

The lack of a search function at Arkiv always frustrated me as well...but they added the feature some time ago. Didn't anyone else notice?

-Jay

Hi Jay,

yes I noticed, but that search function doesn't always give the results one needs. 

[Don]

The lack of a search function at Arkiv always frustrated me as well...but they added the feature some time ago. Didn't anyone else notice?

-Jay

I noticed it, but I don't bother with it.  It's so easy to get where I want to go without it.