Naxos is a
record company, founded in
1987 by German businessman Klaus Heymann. The
original aim was to sell budget-priced classical CDs to the South-East Asian market, but
the company soon expanded and is today the leading distributor of classical music in the
world. They also have some
jazz and a large collection of
early music in the catalogue.
The company policy is to offer a one-time only fee to its artists; there are no
royalties and no promotion of individual artists. This has caused some debate
business practices, but there are many good artists and
ensembles (many based in Eastern Europe) who are more than happy to accept
these conditions. For example, Maria Kliegel is the best-selling cellist in the world
thanks to Naxos, but she's virtually unheard of since they don't promote their artists the
way other companies do. On the other hand, this keeps costs down and where I live a Naxos
CD is usually the same quality as a 'normal' one, but costs only a third of the price.
I like Naxos. When you're starting out listening to classical music you don't know what
you're going to like and you certainly don't want to blow your hard-earned cash on
expensive recordings. So this format suits me like
a glove.