Contemporary Classical Music: Boulez and Stockhausen

Name
Course
Instructor
Date
Contemporary "Classical Music": Boulez and Stockhausen
Both Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen experimented with contemporary music that produced unique musical pieces, but contemporary "classical" music is not easily understandable to the common man. One of the major reasons why the art has not gained in popularity is that modern music is easier to compose. Additionally, there are various genres of music and forms of art in contrast to the period when classical music was popular. Modern music and pop culture rarely have songs lasting longer than five minutes, but contemporary "classical" music takes longer which shows that it takes a lot of effort to compose songs. Thus, fewer people understand contemporary "classical" music meaning that growth of this music is dependent on audience numbers and media coverage.
Essentially, music is a product and no matter how good the music is, marketing plays a critical role towards music availability and awareness among the general population. Mass consumerism has also influenced popularity of modern and pop music, as music composers are more willing to deal with modern music which can draw crowds and has less cost of production. Furthermore, the mass media helps to propel popularity of different genres of music, and since modern music is easily available across the media, people are more familiar with modern music compositions. Easy access to modern music influences states and preferences, and hence demand for modern music continues to grow and market forces make this possible.
Another overlooked reason for lack of enthusiasm in contemporary "classical" music, is that the audiences typically like what they are familiar with. People are less likely to identify...