Inventing a BrandSFS Media: 2001
As the Bay Area becomes a hub of digital innovation, the San Francisco Symphony expands its artistic footprint in the recording industry with the launch of SFS Media in 2001. The idea was revolutionary: Live performances, recorded, produced, and issued on the Symphony’s own record label. “We find live recordings a much more satisfying experience,” says Michael Tilson Thomas, “because we really are making music for people, there’s that sense of urgency of communicating with the audience.” This intention is never clearer than in the inaugural SFS Media recording, an emotional reading of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, recorded just days after 9/11, which launches the Symphony’s Mahler cycle and goes on to win a Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance.