In a nutshell, Naxos Jazz indefinitely suspended its jazz series because it
had fundamentally misunderstood one key difference between selling classical
and selling jazz: namely, that in classical music, the "hook" is normally
repertoire, which means that at the right price, you can sell Bach, Beethoven,
Bartok or Birtwistle played by just about anyone if the consumer is looking
for a piece by one of those composers, or even a representative sampling at
little cost (and thus little risk).
On the other hand, in contemporary jazz (and by that I mean jazz being made by
living artists today, not "smooth jazz"), the "hook" is nearly always the
performer, and many performers -- including most in the Naxos Jazz series --
were relative unknowns. Naxos doesn't work with the kind of extensive
marketing and promotional budget to "break" an unknown artist and develop his
or her public, and without such a hook, they couldn't even develop buyer
loyalty to the label. (Added to that, their A&R was handled by Mike Nock in
the bustling jazz hub of New Zealand and their marketing was being coordinated
by someone in Hong Kong...)
Naxos did discover later that there was a great deal of money to be made in
historical jazz reissues, where a Lester Young or Stan Kenton is as developed
and recognizable a brand name as Beethoven. Those discs sell themselves, and
quality-wise, I find them all highly recommendable.
Right now, Naxos is in the process of reevalutating the possibility of a
contemporary jazz line, and assessing just what it would take to make a
successful run of it. Meanwhile, it comes as little surprise that their latest
non-classical venture is a burgeoning new world-music line, where again,
"South Africa" and "Cambodia" are as recognizable as "Bach and "Mozart,"
perhaps more so, and no further sales push is necessary at that price point.
Personally, I think that with very little extra effort (like a strategic
licensing agreement with King, whose excellent World Music Library series
seems to be more or less unavailable at present), Naxos could carve a niche in
this market as substantial as their classical presence. But as long as jazz is
more wedded to the individual artist than to the concept of "repertoire,"
Naxos is going to have a hard time staking its claim.
Steve Smith
ssmith36(a)sprynet.com
NP - Evan Parker, "Aye 2," 'The Ayes Have It' (Emanem)
