Perhaps Apple Music Classical will be offering hi res streaming content from the BIS library? Would be great if they used AI tools to revisit the master tapes.

 

BIS and eClassical had me feeling like I was part of their family. Now I feel betrayed.

 

Everyone can be bought. But I suppose the good news might possibly be that Apple sees a future for classical music. That, at least, is most reassuring and runs counter to the dire predictions we've heard over the past thirty years or so.

 

Bis goes to Apple.
Pentatone was bought by the San Francisco Conservatory.
Telarc was sold to the Concord Group. Doing nothing.
Hyperion...

Long gone are ASV, Delos, Unicorn. EMI taken over to Warner. Decca, DG, Philips all under the Universal label.

I hope the Bis material is treated well; there are some terrific recordings in their line up. But will Bis continue to produce new material, or is that stage of their business soon to end? I am so thankful that I own so many physical CDs on the label.

 

I am a bit surprised as well as apprehensive. Apple has a long history of suddenly dropping projects or products and pretending they have absolutely no recollection of that project or product.

Macintosh LISP
Hypercard
Firewire
Headphone jacks, CD ROM drives, and if we go back in time far enough floppy discs.

Some of the things I can understand, but some do leave you scratching your head.

 

Google is even worse. My next phone will be iPhone because I am sick of Google just killing off products willy-nilly. There's even a website for it: Killed by Google

 

I cherish my BIS recordings and regret not buying even more of them. But, fixed income and all... Still, one might be well-advised to begin hoarding them.

 

You make a good point. There might be some BIS CD's that we may never get to buy again. (At a reasonable price.)

 

BIS has very much been associated with the work of one man, Robert von Bahr, and he is 80 years old now. It's understandable if he feels worn, but obviously, one would suppose that there were alternative outcomes to consider as well. He was probably given at least some promises about the future for the company or the employees or the like.

 

BIS has very much been associated with the work of one man, Robert von Bahr, and he is 80 years old now. It's understable if he feels worn, but obviously, one would suppose that there were alternative outcomes to consider as well. He was probably given at least some promises about the future for the company or the employees or the like.

I have several of Bahr's wife's CD's (Sharon Bezaly, futist). She is 51. I had no idea he is 80! 😲

 

I'm concerned that this will mean more "exclusive" releases that can only be heard on Apple's streaming service. The last thing I want is for music streaming to be more like video streaming.

 

See Ted Gioia's Honest Broker blog about this; he is a savvy observer of the cultural scene, esp. music-related, and the news here is not good. Nobody Will Tell You the Ugly Reason Apple Acquired a Classical Music Label

 

Why have I never heard of BIS ?

 

They specialized in Scandinavian composers, but also did so many wonderful things besides. My guess is that you've seen or maybe even have a BIS recording and it flew under your radar. All I can say with certainty is that personally I am more consistently surprised by what I don't know than what I do know about our classical music interests. Maybe it's the same with you.

 

Upon visiting BIS's website, you're greeted with a message from Bahr. While I certainly understand why he sold his label (he is, after all, getting up there in age), it does make me wonder about the future for the label. With this news, it makes me even more proud to own so many of their wonderful recordings. Their Sibelius, Schnittke, Grieg et. al. projects were world-class. Not to mention all the good they did for more unknown composers like Tubin, Stenhammar, Nystroem, etc. I must admit that I'm a bit saddened by what's going to happen for the future of the label. The same with Hyperion who, like BIS, have consistently released stellar recordings.

 

Just found out that BIS was bought by Apple. Great label. They house one of my favorite pianist, Yevgeny Sudbin.
My first thought is that this is going to end badly and BIS will be a shell of its former shelf in a few years. Hope I'm wrong.

 

Just found out that BIS was bought by Apple. Great label. They house one of my favorite pianist, Yevgeny Sudbin.
My first thought is that this is going to end badly and BIS will be a shell of its former shelf in a few years. Hope I'm wrong.

I don't think your wrong. These tech companies drop projects at the first sign something is not bringing in enough revenue. That tells you something right there.

 

Robert von Bahr has left BIS :

Exclusive: Apple parts company with classical label chief - Slippedisc

We hear the BIS founder, Robert von Bahr,...

slippedisc.com

 

Does this mean the end of their physical catalog? I'm no fan of big tech. Does anyone have their Prokofiev symphony cycle by Andrew Litton? I was thinking of picking up a copy.