What Classical Music Can Learn from Professional Sports: A Call for a Genuinely New Business Model for the Performing Arts
For decades, articles about classical music have sounded like a broken record: Classical music is at a crossroads! It’s dying! Subscriptions are plummeting, costs are soaring, and audiences are vanishing! These narratives often come packaged with buzzwords like “inflection point” or “new business model,” but the proposed solutions rarely go beyond tired ideas. Should we program more pop music? Diversify audiences? Double down on philanthropy and abandon earned revenue?
Today, these calls sound no different. But after the pandemic — where performing arts organizations were the first to be pushed out of the economy and the last to be welcomed back — classical music in the United States may truly be knocking on death’s door. Unlike their European and Asian counterparts, American organizations lack substantial government funding and suffer from a public education system that deprioritizes the arts.
The spotlight, rightly so, remains on the largest professional ensembles. These groups are the least adaptable due to collective bargaining agreements, and yet they are also the most economically impactful arts organizations in their communities because of their sheer size. Unfortunately, discussions about their future barely scratch the surface of deeper structural challenges. Calls for “administrative efficiencies through technology” are often euphemisms for laying off non-unionized staff, leaving systemic issues untouched.
Why Classical Music’s Challenges Are Unique
Symphony orchestras, opera companies, and ballet troupes (SOBs) are caught in a perfect storm: declining ticket sales, fewer donors, rising costs, and a business model that hasn’t evolved in centuries. A Beethoven symphony still requires the same number of musicians as it did 200 years ago. The 2,500-seat concert halls where these works are performed haven’t grown larger. Unlike industries that scale operations to reduce costs and increase revenue, classical music remains bound by its own physical and artistic limitations.
This stagnation isn’t just logistical — it’s cultural. The tenure model for musicians mirrors academia, guaranteeing job security but stifling flexibility. Positions in major orchestras rarely open, limiting opportunities for young and diverse talent. Even when these positions do become available, orchestras’ ability to diversify is constrained by slow turnover rates.
For argument’s sake, let’s assume the 50 largest U.S. orchestras have an average roster of 80 players. At a 2% annual turnover rate, it would take 50 years to completely refresh these ensembles’ demographics. And that’s assuming every audition resulted in hiring a non-white or non-Asian candidate. If the field truly cares about addressing systemic racism, we should be shouting from the rooftops that the tenure system is the largest single barrier to diversifying orchestras.
The common refrain that there’s a “pipeline problem” is, at best, misinformed and, at worst, insulting. Every year, hundreds of Black and Latino musicians audition for orchestras. The issue isn’t a lack of talent — it’s a lack of audition opportunities.
The lack of turnover also contributes to stagnation among tenured musicians. With guaranteed job security, there’s little incentive for musicians to continually strive for excellence. Unlike professional athletes who must constantly prove their worth, tenured musicians face no such pressure. This isn’t to say all musicians become complacent — far from it — but the system itself doesn’t reward ongoing innovation or excellence.
Higher education, for all its flaws, can scale. Tenured professors can teach five students or 500, depending on lecture hall size. If enrollment exceeds physical capacity, online learning can fill the gap. But classical music has no equivalent for scaling its core product. You can’t put a Beethoven symphony on Zoom and expect audiences to pay premium prices.
A Bold Proposal: The Professional Sports Model
Professional sports face similar challenges — expensive talent, fixed venues, and fierce competition for audiences — but have embraced a business model that thrives on flexibility, innovation, and accountability. Classical music could learn a lot from their approach.
1. Performance-Based Contracts
Replace lifetime tenure with renewable 5–10-year contracts. These terms provide stability while allowing organizations to refresh rosters regularly. Like athletes, musicians could be evaluated on artistic output, community engagement, and other measurable contributions.
2. Incentive Structures
Tie bonuses to ticket sales, audience growth, and programming success. This encourages musicians to collaborate with marketing teams, engage audiences, and innovate beyond the concert hall.
3. Talent Development
Establish partnerships with conservatories to create a pipeline for young, diverse musicians. Frequent hiring cycles offer more opportunities for these artists to join ensembles early in their careers, bringing fresh energy and perspectives. This is akin to how Major League Baseball develops players in farm systems, often drafting talent years before their debut.
4. Flexibility and Diversity
Regular turnover makes orchestras more adaptable and inclusive. Increased audition opportunities ensure hiring pools reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Research shows that when hiring pools are diverse, the resulting hires often are as well.
5. Mobility and Collaboration
Embrace the idea of “trading” musicians between ensembles. Sometimes, a talented musician might not thrive in one community but could flourish in another. This approach, already commonplace for conductors and soloists, could optimize talent and foster collaboration across the industry.
Benefits for Musicians and Organizations
Critics might argue this model commodifies musicians, but it could do the opposite. Performance-based contracts would reward excellence and innovation, offering musicians new career growth opportunities while maintaining the highest artistic standards.
Organizations would gain financial flexibility, reallocating resources toward marketing, community engagement, or experimental programming. For young musicians — especially those from historically excluded backgrounds — this model opens doors that tenure has kept closed for too long.
Instead of relying on DEI initiatives that offer little more than lip service, orchestras could actively reshape their structures to reflect their communities.
A Unified Vision
To implement this vision, the classical music industry would need a national collective bargaining entity akin to a players’ union in professional sports. A corresponding “owners’ association” could bring together management from ensembles of all sizes. If the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys can coexist under the same league rules, why can’t the Metropolitan Opera and the South Dakota Symphony?
Embracing Change
Change is hard, especially in a tradition-bound field like classical music. But the alternative — clinging to an outdated model — is far worse. Professional sports have shown it’s possible to honor tradition while embracing innovation. By adopting a more dynamic business model, classical music can ensure its survival and relevance in the 21st century.
The music we love deserves a future. Let’s rewrite the score — together.
