<<  -- 3 --  Bernard Coutaz    STRANGE PARADOX

Today the investors, who find the turnover of classical recordings is too slow and that the sales figures are just too small, justify their decision by pretending that classical music recordings don't interest anyone. This is not true!

The problem is that the media, without really investigating, have perpetuated this myth by publishing articles announcing 'the death of the CD', often with headlines big enough for the blind to read!

Classical records, the importance of which cannot be overstated in nurturing the appreciation and knowledge of music, deserve more love and care from record companies and more interest from the powers-that-be.

I also can't stress enough the importance of début recordings -- the great majority of which are made by small, independent labels -- in helping to launch the career of a young, unknown artist.

To want to reduce to the minimum standing, and thus to bring about the disappearance of recorded classical music, is like wanting to shut museums with the excuse that they're not profitable and replacing them with a number of more profitable Disneylands.

It is imperative to reconsider the important role played by classical music in our culture generally, and in the education of children in particular.

It is imperative to reinstate its status and maintain its production, rather than shedding crocodile tears.

It is imperative that recorded classical music finds its José Bové* (white knight -- José Bové is the French trade unionist farmer who played a major role in disrupting the world trade negotiations in Seattle last year) to denounce the dangers of globalisation and profit.