A number of orchestras are turning to iTunes, YouTube, and podcasts to appeal to younger audiences, bolster their marketing, and save on programming costs, reports The Boston Globe.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is the first to offer free online versions of its concerts and will spend $75,000 to $100,000 per video, a fraction of what it would cost for television programming.

Some orchestras, including the BSO and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, are starting their own music labels. The BSO has also used YouTube to attract musicians to submit video auditions to play as guests with the BSO and allow people to vote on a winner. Still other groups have made deals with iTunes or created their own Web sites to post free samples or concerts of orchestral works that can be downloaded.

Arthur Cohen, chief executive officer of the New York arts marketing firm, LaPlaca Cohen, said, “They’re expanding on all that is great about orchestral music, but also connecting in a way that art form has never been able to before.”

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