Classical Music on the Internet: Lost Cause or Thriving Trend?

   
The Andante.com web site in better days
New Yorker classical music critic Alex Ross writes today on The Rest is Noise about Anne Midgette's informative New York Times article, Classics on the Internet: A Promising Prognosis (login required), on the state of classical music online. Midgette's article begins as a description of the rise and fall of the classical music site, Andante.com, and winds up on an optimistic note regarding online music downloads and information. More than just another, "The-demise-of-classical-music-is-premature," article, she backs up her arguments with download statisitcs and lists several successful sites, leaving readers with the impression of an industry (the online classical music business) that is maturing rather than dying.

Also, from Editor and Publisher, a report on a Gallup poll suggesting weblogs, while still representing a small minority of web users, are beginning to catch on - article.

I invite any and all readers to submit their experiences with classical music online, on web sites, blogs, newsgroups, etc. Where do you go and what do you do?

UPDATE: I was remiss in not originally including a mention of the excellent list of classical music web sites collected on the right margin of On An Overgrown Path - enjoy!