Nearly all public subsidies for music go to classical music
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By Teemu Luukka
According to information gathered by Helsingin Sanomat, classical music, and other genres that qualify as art music get about 94 per cent of all public support distributed by the state and local authorities.
Art music gets about EUR 92 million of the key public subsidies distributed each year, while rock, folk music, jazz, and other types of music share a total of less than EUR 6 million in public support.
Rector Gustav Djupsjöbacka of the Sibelius Academy said last week at the opening of the autumn term that the position of art music is not under threat in Finland. He was referring to debate that had gone on during the summer in Helsingin Sanomat on the status of art music in Finland.
Figures such as Ralf Gothóni, Eero Heinonen, and Ilpo Mansenerus had expressed concern about the rise in entertainment and rhythmical music and the decline in appreciation for more serious music. "Representatives of music associations and entertainment music mainly decide on matters related to our country's music and music policy", Mansenerus wrote in August on the culture pages of Helsingin Sanomat.
According to the investigation by Helsingin Sanomat, Djupsjöbacka is right at least if appreciation is measured in monetary terms. Public subsidies for art music is greater than ever.
One clear sign of the permanence of the position of classical music was the decision by Parliament a couple of years ago to raise state subsidies to orchestras by one third in 2008-2011.
Support for rhythmical music has also increased. The biggest new form of support is the export subsidy worth just under a million euros. However, this is not much when compared with supports for art music: since 2001, the National Opera alone has received more than EUR 6 million - the same amount that was granted the different types rhythmical music and folk music combined.
Nobody collects statistics on the total public support for music. It is especially difficult to quantify the support paid by the 416 local authorities in Finland.
Ditte Wingvist, a special expert of the Finnish Association of Local and Regional Authorities, says that municipalities support events, and provide practice facilities and other types of help for rock bands, but compared with funding for orchestras and musical educational institutions, the subsidies are small.
The biggest concentrations of power for music are the Ministry of Education, the Arts Council of Finland, the Finnish Music Council, and the various music organisations. Representatives of various musical genres are well represented in these bodies, but no public money is ever distributed without the approval of politicians.
Dr. Pekka Vapaavuori feels that it can well be said that classical music remains under the special protection of Finnish politicians.
"To a very large degree, classical music operates on public support. If it did not exist, there would probably be no symphony orchestras, no opera, and not much other art music either."
Vapaavuori is one of the most influential figures in Finnish music. He is the chairman of the Music Council and the State Committee for tonal art, and the former Rector of the Sibelius Academy.
"I have met many Members of Parliament over the years, and I have noted that support provided to music in this country in no way depends on party affiliation. Support for subsidies to art music can be found in all groups."
"Classical music is not being phased out in this society. If someone thinks that this might be the case, it is an optical illusion resulting from the fact that support money is being distributed to other types of music as well."
Vapaavuori is not as concerned about other types of musical education, even though the funding has not kept pace with the expansion of teaching.
Education also shows no signs of a phasing out of classical music. In 2005 a total of 544 musical artists completed their studies at polytechs, conservatories, and the Sibelius Academy, whereas the number in just five years ago was 239.
About 1,000 musicians with classical training have a full-time job paid for through public finding. Just 25 musicians in other disciplines have an equivalent job.
Only a small proportion of musical education is for rhythmical music. According to a survey conducted a few years ago by the Association of Finnish Music Schools, 94 per cent of training at Finnish music schools involved classical music.
Furthermore, nobody in Finland collects information on how much public funding is made available for music education. Probably more than 90 per cent of all music education funding goes to training in classical music. The greatest amount of public funding goes to music schools - a total of more than EUR 100 million.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.9.2007
TEEMU LUUKKA / Helsingin Sanomat
teemu.luukka@hs.fi
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| 18.9.2007 - THIS WEEK |
 Nearly all public subsidies for music go to classical music |
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