Chicago Symphony Orchestra Creates Multimedia Music Magazine

On Monday, March 31, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra launched CSO Sounds and Stories, an online multimedia magazine.

Combining streaming audio and video with social media and articles written by professional journalists and writers, CSO Sounds and Stories is the first music journalism site to be directly affiliated with a major American orchestra, according to Forbes magazine.

CSO Sounds and Stories came about as a result of more traditional news outlets’ cutting back on arts coverage, Philip Koester, vice president of sales and marketing for the orchestra, told Forbes.

“Since publications now have fewer resources to devote to the arts, it is more difficult for the CSO to obtain media coverage, especially previews of coming programs. Therefore, we are using brand journalism and content marketing to tell our stories,” Koester said.

Content-wise, CSO Sounds and Stories describes itself as “the online multimedia destination for all things CSO,” and will feature “preview articles about upcoming programs, audio and video clips featuring the orchestra and visiting artists, and program notes about this season’s concerts.”

CSO Sounds and Stories will also allow people from around the world to learn more about the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and classical music performance in general. The website also employs responsive design, which allows it to adapt to each user’s system, platform and Internet connection to deliver an optimal viewing experience, Forbes reports.

There’s no doubt that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is taking pioneering steps toward multimedia integration.

It has yet to be seen if other American orchestras will follow in the footsteps of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but CSO Sounds and Stories looks like a promising leap into multimedia for the classical music world.