Never said that wasn't the case...I just said it is VERY popular in some circles.
I doubt I would see and of the folks that go to the classical "performances" at the dingy, smoke filled, beer fueled, tattoo encrusted hardcore shows i frequent =).
this isn't true. even 100 years ago, big orchestras were not profitable - they relied on the charity of the super wealthy to meet operating budget. today, there are more and more orchestras going under, not because the talent is less - more people than ever before are becoming exceedingly proficient at classical instruments - but rather because there is less of a market, including a smaller pool of super wealthy willing to shell out for such an unprofitable enterprise.
i addressed orchestras in large concert halls, because that is what you commented on. small ensembles on the other hand can be much more profitable, largely due to the fact that there are way fewer people to support.
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regarding fledgling's post: that argument is terrible. popular does not equal good, even if it (though you don't define what you mean) is largely a matter of taste. first it leads itself to questions of the definition of popular. does that mean a majority of people in the world, in the usa, in your group of friends, share your tastes? but no matter. let's get into it.
'taste' is a set of preferences. your point is then that popular preferences are by nature superior to unpopular preferences. implicit in this statement is that all preferences (at least concerning music) have no intrinsic value and that the only manner they receive value is through many people sharing them.
therefore, differentiating "good music" and "crap music" when you say you "prefer good music to crap music," your judgment is only based on how 'popular' (whatever that means) the music you listen to is.
now, i'm sure you disagree with this statement, otherwise you might love christina. step back through the logic, and you'll see that is lies with the implications of your argument: that preferences have no intrinsic value and they only receive value through people sharing them. The problem then lies either in that musical tastes gain value by people sharing them or that musical tastes have no intrinsic value. rejecting either one of these statements will nullify your claim that popular=good, but let's examine specifics.
say you only reject the second statement, that value is gained through shared taste. then you still believe that preferences have no intrinsic value, and thus you have no basis for saying what "good music" and "crap music" are.
but that's just silly. you're then going to have to reject that tastes have no intrinsic value. this is natural. you know what you like, so clearly your musical choices have intrinsic value to you.
you must admit then that preferences have intrinsic value. then the concern is: either there exist objectively good preferences or there do not. i contend that the lack of objectively good preferences simply is another way to say that preferences do not contain intrinsic value.
thus, there must exist objectively good preferences.
as a corollary, i leave it as an exercise to the reader to show that if objectively good preferences do not exist, then there is zero point in arguing about them on a forum.