Taking Another Listen

Three new lenses:

1. Americans of all major racial and ethnic groups listen to classical music at roughly similar rates, countering longstanding assumptions in the field that classical music is enjoyed largely by White Americans. Moreover, most people (of all races and ethnicities) have either neutral or positive perceptions of classical music — even those who don’t listen to it, and few feel that there’s a cultural barrier to their enjoyment of classical music. For most people of color, the barrier isn’t that they don’t see classical music as part of their culture.
2. As other studies have also shown, classical music is an interest for only a minority of people in each racial and ethnic group. Those who do listen to classical music – and especially younger listeners – tend to listen to a wide variety of other genres of music, too.
3. There is little agreement on what constitutes “classical music,” and many people define that term narrowly. Most people (again, across racial and ethnic groups) tend to categorize any music played by an orchestra or on the piano as “classical music,” though many people excluded movie soundtracks and instrumental music composed in the last 10 years from their definition of classical music

Directions for change:

• Bring classical music to where people are.
  • YouTube and streaming services are important ways that people of color (especially younger people) connect with music. These platforms offer orchestras an opportunity to broaden engagement, since many people of color (across all racial and ethnic groups) say they would use YouTube to give classical music a try.
  • Many people of color – and young people in particular – also think that seeing classical music live might increase their interest in classical music, especially if this experience was a social one, undertaken with friends.

• Highlight classical’s evolution beyond its White, European origins.
  • While many people of color don’t need to see their identities represented in classical music in order to enjoy it, many do see classical as stuck in the past. A more contemporary — and historically accurate — picture of classical would highlight the past and present contributions to the art form by people from a wide range of backgrounds and geographies.
  • Diversity and representation within the creation of the music is important for many people as a signal of welcome and respect, especially for Black audiences. In addition, a lack of audience diversity in a communal or public classical space — like an orchestra concert — could be taken as a signal that it’s exclusionary, while seeing signs that a shared space respects multiple cultural heritages can be a signal of welcome and inclusion.

• Highlight classical music’s relevance by emphasizing its contemporary connections.
  • Audiences may need to see clearer connections between classical music and contemporary culture, in order to find it relevant to their own lives. So, in addition to showcasing stories about historical artists in their time, programming needs to highlight how classical music is relevant to the current moment and in dialogue with the world of today.
  • Around one quarter of people in each racial and ethnic group is interested in learning about how a piece has impacted or inspired others, and / or in understanding how a classical piece has played a role in film, TV, gaming, comedy, sports, or other modern contexts.  Similar proportions said that understanding hidden connections with modern music of other genres might help them enjoy a piece of classical music.

• Learn from people’s favorite hosts.
  • The study’s insights into radio hosts are relevant to orchestras considering the role of the Executive Director or Music Director in verbally welcoming audiences into the experience [or “to the hall”]. People generally described their ideal hosts for a classical music radio program as being calming, warm, and passionate experts in classical music. 
  • While most people were open to a host who does not share their race and ethnicity, some people of color – and especially Black respondents – may gravitate toward radio hosts who share their racial and ethnic background.

• Feel empowered to embrace a mood.
  • People of all racial and ethnic backgrounds – and especially younger people – often select their music from a “menu” of moods intended to shape their emotional state.
  • Since many classical pieces were composed to evoke an evolving range of feelings, classical music lends itself easily to mood-setting.
  • Organizing an orchestra’s YouTube channel around states like “inspired,” “creative,” or “energized” (as is already being done by users on Spotify and other platforms) would give listeners help “dialing into” specific emotions, rather than requiring them to select the artists, pieces, and movements that would contribute to that mood.