Some interesting debate on the New Elitist question at Reflections in D Minor, Jessica Duchen, Superfluities, and Byzantium's Shores. Reflections writes: "Have you ever heard of any other product that is successfully sold with the slogan, 'We're no better than the other guys'? .... You don't sell a Lexus by telling the potential buyer that it's no better than a Chevy. Instead, you tell the customer that he should step up to a Lexus, he deserves a Lexus." This sounds reasonable, but, as marketing specialists who've studied the problem of the audience will tell you, it ain't gonna work. We're not selling a product here; we're trying to build a community. A great many bright, serious, cultured people shun classical music because it seems to them a closed-off, antisocial world — the kind of club they wouldn't want to join whether it wanted them or not. Since my teen-age years, I have been trying to win people over to the music I love, and the arrogant, high-handed approach never seems to do the trick. We have a horrendous image problem — ever wonder why serial killers in movies listen to Bach? — and we need to counteract it in every aspect of our behavior. If you doubt the marketing power of unpretentiousness and generosity, examine, please, the career of Yo-Yo Ma.
