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Industry: Bang on a Can and New Music in the Marketplace
Amidst the heated fray of the Culture Wars emerged a scrappy festival in downtown New York City called Bang on a Can. Presenting eclectic, irreverent marathons of experimental music in crumbling venues on the Lower East Side, Bang on a Can sold out concerts for a genre that had been long considered box office poison. Through the 1980s and 1990s, three young, visionary composers - David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe - nurtured Bang on a Can into a multifaceted organization with a major record deal, a virtuosic in-house ensemble, and a seat at the table at Lincoln Center, and in the process changed the landscape of avant-garde music in the United States.
Bang on a Can captured a new public for new music. But they did not do so alone. As the twentieth century came to a close, the world of American composition pivoted away from the insular academy and towards the broader marketplace. In the wake of the unexpected popularity of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, classical presenters looked to contemporary music for relevance and record labels scrambled to reap its potential profits, all while government funding was imperilled by the evangelical right. Other institutions faltered amidst the vagaries of late capitalism, but the renegade Bang on a Can survived and thrived in a tumultuous and idealistic moment that made new music what it is today.
Bang on a Can captured a new public for new music. But they did not do so alone. As the twentieth century came to a close, the world of American composition pivoted away from the insular academy and towards the broader marketplace. In the wake of the unexpected popularity of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, classical presenters looked to contemporary music for relevance and record labels scrambled to reap its potential profits, all while government funding was imperilled by the evangelical right. Other institutions faltered amidst the vagaries of late capitalism, but the renegade Bang on a Can survived and thrived in a tumultuous and idealistic moment that made new music what it is today.
- GenresMusic
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 6, 2021
Great historical insight, not only to BoaC but the contemporary classical scene of the 80s and 90s.
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May 12, 2021Industry is a case study of the Bang on a Can organization that may well be assigned reading in business schools and music curriculum. I thought it was missing something.
I enjoyed reading about how the three founders met, and formed the organization and the ideas that bound them and inspired them.
Having attended several marathons in the 2000s, I was eager to read about the early shows.
I found that discussion of The All-Stars, so much of the attraction of Bang on a Can, was lacking. Robin talks about some of the members, but others get no mention at all. As an audience member, what I find so rewarding, is that, given the informality of their performances, these artist are so approachable, to talk about their performance, or the composition. I find BoaC as an organization likewise personable, welcoming, and generous, so much so that I am greeted familiarly when I attend a marathon.
Robin doesn’t mention this aspect of building a successful organization.
Indeed, I found that the book relied too much on fundraising, grants, and album and ticket sales as a measure of success.
This was most apparent when Robin discusses album sales. The history of recorded music and the often secondary role of classical recordings in an industry profiting off popular music was valuable. The author, however, talks about the one exception to recorded classical music’s dependence on income other than sales only as “The Gorecki Moment”. There is no serious discussion of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony other than it’s commercial success that gave new hope to record labels that classical, or contemporary classical music could be profitable. Missing for me was mention of the composition of Gorecki’s, the use of medieval modes to play a 24-bar melody that changes by a diatonic fifth as it repeats (changing the mode each time). I didn’t know that before I looked it up just now, which is to say, I was entranced by Symphony #3 without knowing why. I could sense repetition, yet each repetition, without a formal understanding of musical theory, was different. The piece was haunting musically and lyrically, but it was elusive, as well. Symphony #3 was immensely popular, not because it was contemporary, not because it was ‘holy minimalism’, but because it was good. It engaged both the intellect with its unusual composition and the emotions with its instrumentation and vocals.
Anyone who didn’t understand that deserves to have their record company go belly-up.
I enjoyed reading about how the three founders met, and formed the organization and the ideas that bound them and inspired them.
Having attended several marathons in the 2000s, I was eager to read about the early shows.
I found that discussion of The All-Stars, so much of the attraction of Bang on a Can, was lacking. Robin talks about some of the members, but others get no mention at all. As an audience member, what I find so rewarding, is that, given the informality of their performances, these artist are so approachable, to talk about their performance, or the composition. I find BoaC as an organization likewise personable, welcoming, and generous, so much so that I am greeted familiarly when I attend a marathon.
Robin doesn’t mention this aspect of building a successful organization.
Indeed, I found that the book relied too much on fundraising, grants, and album and ticket sales as a measure of success.
This was most apparent when Robin discusses album sales. The history of recorded music and the often secondary role of classical recordings in an industry profiting off popular music was valuable. The author, however, talks about the one exception to recorded classical music’s dependence on income other than sales only as “The Gorecki Moment”. There is no serious discussion of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony other than it’s commercial success that gave new hope to record labels that classical, or contemporary classical music could be profitable. Missing for me was mention of the composition of Gorecki’s, the use of medieval modes to play a 24-bar melody that changes by a diatonic fifth as it repeats (changing the mode each time). I didn’t know that before I looked it up just now, which is to say, I was entranced by Symphony #3 without knowing why. I could sense repetition, yet each repetition, without a formal understanding of musical theory, was different. The piece was haunting musically and lyrically, but it was elusive, as well. Symphony #3 was immensely popular, not because it was contemporary, not because it was ‘holy minimalism’, but because it was good. It engaged both the intellect with its unusual composition and the emotions with its instrumentation and vocals.
Anyone who didn’t understand that deserves to have their record company go belly-up.
August 5, 2021
A glimpse into the world of greats who managed to crack open and redefine our niche. I highly recommend this book for young musicians craving to understand the infrastructure of contemporary music. If you are on the lookout for yet another book digesting harmonic progressions or offering a similar X-Ray approach on works that can be found in textbooks, you will not quench your thirst here.
However, if you are looking to find out how a vision is formed, shaped, and transformed when met with the music industry — you are in the right spot.
However, if you are looking to find out how a vision is formed, shaped, and transformed when met with the music industry — you are in the right spot.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews