Naxos or Classical: Which Music Library is Best for You? Chris Durman SEMLA Conference Columbus, GA Oct. 13, 2006

Scorecard NaxosClassical Repertoire Searching Mechanisms Player Functionality Streaming Options and Sound Quality Playlists and Static URLs Text Resources Extras Pricing Total:

Repertoire Naxos 8,800 titles, 130,000 tracks Broad selection of classical music Other genres include: Contemporary Jazz; World/Folk; New Age; Chinese Music; Pop and Rock Classical 50,000 tracks Classical and modern works in a classical style benchmarked against “A Basic Music Library” Many works incomplete ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Search Mechanisms Naxos Basic keyword search works best, but leads to cd record as opposed to track – can lead to miss-hits Title is not an option in the advanced search Catalog number search Browse searching inefficient Classical Browse search is most reliable Basic and advanced search unreliable due to inconsistent indexing “Beethoven” and “symphony” brings up no hits in basic or in advanced (even when symphony is used as genre) Thesaurus unreliable. ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Naxos Music Library Advanced Search

Player Functionality Naxos Basic music controls i.e. play, pause, stop, skip forward and backward (within work and within track), and time counter Volume control and mute Playlist, track, and artist information CD cover facsimile and access to liner notes (when available) Add to playlist button Classical Basic music controls i.e. play, pause, stop, skip forward and backward (within work and within track), and time counter Volume control Playlist, track, and artist information Add to playlist and download buttons ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Streaming Options and Sound Quality Naxos “CD”: sound quality of 128 kilobits per second; broadband required; additional charge for this quality “Near CD”: 64 kbps; requires a broadband connection. “FM”: 20 kbps; sound quality similar to FM radio, suitable for dial-up connection. Classical PREMIUM: 64 kbps; requires a broadband connection. STANDARD: 22 kbps; suitable for dial-up connections. I can’t really hear a difference between the two services Neither Naxos or Classical work well on my home dial-up connection. ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Playlists and Static URLs Naxos Playlists very easy to create and rearrange Password for creating playlists not unique – potential problem. Static URLs for playlists, CDs, entire works, and individual tracks. Classical Folders and playlists slightly more difficult to create, but allows more options for organizing materials Unique passwords for each folder administrator Static URLs for folder, entire works, and individual tracks ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Text Resources Naxos Liner Notes – most classical and many others have full liner notes. Glossary and Fundamental Terms Pronunciation Guide - audio Text Search - very nice feature Opera Synopses – too condensed; liner notes offer better synopses Opera Libretti – in original language; no translation; to play the music and read the libretto you have to open two sessions Audiobook Transcriptions - transcribed from audiobooks about musical topics Classical Biographies – while some offer brief, but useful listings, most do not have more than just dates and nationalities Images - images sorted by composer - Discovering Music – works grouped to illustrate a theme – only the links to start the music don’t work Glossary Historical Periods - a concise history of music Liner notes – not original liner notes to recording, but they do include brief information on the work, track, recording, performers, and composer ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Extras Naxos Naxos – MARC Records available for 3900 Titles ($875) Federated Searching possible through Webfeat Usage Statistics – very detailed, includes tracks listened to, total login time, sessions, and turnaways per month and average time per session Classical Students may purchase downloads Music Conductor in development – a portal for all their music products Usage Statistics – more useful and processed, includes total sessions, average session length, tracks played, peak usage, and turnaways ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Pricing Naxos Number of UsersAnnual Rate 5 (minimum)$750 ($150/user) 10$1450 ($145/user) 15$2100 ($140/user) 20$2700 ($135/user) 25$3250 ($130/user) Unlimited$3750 Naxos charges $60 per simultaneous user for the Fantasy Jazz upgrade. They do not offer unlimited access to this but suggest subscribing 25 or 30 users for those wanting unlimited access. 25 x $60 = $1500. $ $1500 = $5250 Classical Simultaneous Users Member Price 3 $898 4 $1,195 5 $1, $2, $4,192 unlimited* $4,496 *unlimited access available only to academic libraries Music Online (Classical Music Library, Smithsonian Global Sound, African American Song, and, to-be- launched, American Song) unlimited per year - $8,996 Unlimited access to Smithsonian Global Sound - $9,000 ScoreNaxos:Classical:

Additional Considerations and Bonus Points Promotion to faculty and students has proven to be a necessity; difficult to get faculty to create their own playlists; old habits… Naxos User Group Both companies are pleasant to work with, but Naxos may be faster at addressing user complaints System requirements basically parallel; Naxos’s previous difficulty with Macs seems to have been resolved

Chris’s Scorecard NaxosClassical Repertoire 96 Searching Mechanisms 55 Player Functionality 88 Streaming Options and Sound Quality 98 Playlists and Static URLs 69 Text Resources 96 Extras 88 Pricing 87 Total: 6257

Reviews Consulted Quist, Ned. “Naxos Music Library.” Notes 61, no. 2 (December 2004): Scott, Darwin Floyd. “Naxos Music Library.” Notes 62, no. 1 (September 2005): Cary, Paul. “Classical Music Library.” Notes 60, no. 4 (June 2004): Cary, Paul. “Classical Music Library.” Notes 61, no. 4 (June 2005)