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Comment by leereeves | Hacker News Reader

That's essentially saying the orchestra should cater to the audience's prejudices, and could be used to justify any prejudice.

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That's how entertainment industry works though?

Indeed, if it doesn’t it doesn’t make any money and disappears unless it gets subsidies. So the WNBA and orchestras get subsidised and can have professionals whereas without subsidy their losses would force them out of existence in short order.

And orchestras do get subsidies because society feels they have value even if a cabaret would earn more money.

Certainly a segment of the entertainment industry earns money by catering to the worst aspects of human nature, but that's not the whole industry.

The majority of people involved in the industry are not visible to the audience.

Yeah but what is the point of having culture when it isn’t allowed to change views, give new perspectives and so on.

Also: Give me the best orchestra. I don’t go to the concert to gaze at a bunch of beuatiful penguins and ladies in dresses. I go there to listen to music. If they are good I don’t give a damn about their looks.

Visual appearance is indisputably part of the orchestral experience, otherwise they'd play out of sight (to reduce distractions from the audience) in comfortable clothing.

Well sonic waves travel with the line of sight, if you wanna get a direct signal, they will have to sit there either way. And you want to see them playing ans performing. Do they need to look really pretty to do that? Not necessarilly. Some of the best classical musicians are not beauties at all.

> the orchestra should cater to the audience's prejudices

An orchestra must give the audience what the audience expects. Is just an expensive entertainment act.

Well, what your typcal symphony orchestra audience wants is a mix of challenging (for the performs & listeners) pieces and the well-known standards. Stray too far either way and it's a miss.

It not just entertainment for a lot of people, unless you consider all cultural events "expensive entertainment acts".

For diverse values of "the audience."

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