Symphony is the latest startup hoping to build a viable streaming business around classical music. Its focus is firmly on video, giving subscribers access to streams of live performances, along with related interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and commentary.
It kicked off on 24 September with a performance by the Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam, with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich among the other orchestras confirmed as partners who’ll stream four live concerts every year on Symphony.
The first program of the Budapest Festival Orchestra debuts on 29 October. In the current season Symphony will present three more exclusive, first-party BFO programs.
Initially available in the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, US, Canada and Australia, Symphony will charge €9.95 a month for a subscription, with a 14-day trial if people want to give it a spin for free first. The company says that half of its revenues will be paid out to the partner orchestras.