“Consider: Pianist Jonathan Biss announced the creation of a free five-week home-study course on the Beethoven Piano Sonatas beginning Sept. 3, offered through the Curtis Institute and online content provider Coursera. At last count, enrollment stood at more than 29,000,” writes Stuart Isacoff in Wednesday’s (8/28) Wall Street Journal. “More astoundingly, in May digital-software publisher Touch Press offered a sophisticated app for Apple’s mobile devices that allows users to explore Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. And it has thus far been downloaded more than 620,000 times.… This raises the question: Could new media save classical music? … One aspect of their success is likely a harkening back to an era when music was an interactive medium. In its 19th-century heyday, the piano was an instrument played in the home.… The iPad reinvigorates the interactive mode of enjoying music…. Touch Press had to consider a new way of marketing.… ‘We used the “freemium” model,’ says [Touch Press CEO Max] Whitby. ‘People were allowed to use the app for two minutes, during which they could try out all the features. But beyond two minutes, they received an invitation to purchase the whole thing for $14. To our delight, over 5% went for the full purchase….’ ”
Posted September 3, 2013
