[attractivechaos]

Concert soloists have their own characteristics. They often play the same piece with subtle differences and confer different feelings. Some may sound more convincing/touching than others. When I hear a version I like, I may check who is the soloist and may buy his/her album. Then I will naturally remember the name.

[iLoveOncall]

Cool, but I asked for a Big Mac, and so did 99.99% of the world.

You're just in the 0.01% that would have stopped and listened, just like you're in the 0.01% that would buy his album or go to his concert.

My point is that classical music soloist is a niche hobby, just like my playing cards collection is a niche hobby, and that to expect that more than 0.01% of the world would stop on their way to work to look at my playing cards collection is simply laughable. This whole article is a joke.

[attractivechaos]

You quoted "classical music aficionados". I was mainly reacting to that part and explaining what an aficionado would do. A random person buying a Big Mac is not an aficionado. Also from the article, 2.5% paid, 0.6% listened and 0.1% recognized him. This is more or less in line with my expectation. I certainly know classical music is a niche hobby. When I go to some chamber music concert, I often see a room of elders, very few young audience.