(originally published on Google+ on 05/08/2013)
Let explore how the interest in these search terms changed over time:
Classical music, Symphony, Beethoven
You may say: interest in classical music is declining. I'll say: the rate of decline of interest in classical music is flattening. You say the glass is almost empty. I say sure, but it's not evaporating quite as rapidly as it used to.
What has caused this rapid decline over the past decades? Will the trend continue?
What's your projection?
Let's try different keywords
Mozart, Beethoven, Bach
Mahler, Strauss, Bruckner
They are all trending down.
Now, just for fun, here's
Nutcracker Ballet
This one is not in any danger 🙂
Perhaps people have found their online music so there is no reason to search for it anymore. Then how about live music? There must still be a reason to search for that, right?
Here are the trends for "Symphony Hall" and "Chamber Music Festival".
Both are cyclical as you would expect because of the seasonality of live classical music. And both pointing down down down.
Want to be surprised? Take a look at this one. It is the trend for "симфонический оркестр" ("symphony orchestra" in Russian). It is pointing up up up. However I bet that this "trend" has more to do with the growth of the web in Russia and less to do with Russians' interest in classical music.