On Monday YouTube announced the launch of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which will tap classical musicians the world over to participate in two projects. First, they’ll have a chance to contribute to a mashup of a new work by Tan Dun. They’ll also be able to audition for a concert at Carnegie Hall, with their entries judged by musicians from major orchestras. Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the Carnegie Hall concert, scheduled for April.
Although classical radio isn’t directly involved, this sort of undertaking could potentially benefit everyone connected to classical music simply by raising awareness of it and helping people to share their enthusiasm for it in a meaningful way on the Web. “I know this is going to lead toward people discovering more what the music really is,” Michael Tilson Thomas told the New York Times.
It also raises a question for classical broadcasters, who might look for a lesson here. Are there ways that, like YouTube, they can create online communities around classical music? This is an example of a for-profit corporation — Google — undertaking what looks like a public-spirited effort (though it no doubt stands to profit in some way). It’s further evidence that in the online world, no one has an exclusive claim on values previously identified mainly as public media’s.
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It might be of interest to know that YouTube audio tracks are now available in stereo.
I rarely use YouTube; but the occasion does arise when it is a must. I missed television program on the Large Hadron Collider on the Science Channel. I found it in five nine minute segments. files. I downloaded the better quality video as .mp4 files, with the accompanying audio. I used some software and seamlessly stitched the five segments together. When I checked the audio with my mp3 recording software, the VU meters did confirm that the sound was in stereo.
The biggest problem with YouTube now, since we can get .mp4 files and stereo, is the size limitation imposed on most but not all video providers.