The revelation that composer Mamoru Samuragochi hired someone else to pen his most popular pieces has led to the withdrawal of his CDs from sale and cancelation of his concert tours, but this may be just the first of wider consequences for the classical-music industry.
The popular 50-year-old composer, who is deaf, had been feted in Japan as a modern Beethoven, and many of those in the media who had sung his praises scrambled to apologize for being misled after the scandal broke Wednesday.
Music business officials, meanwhile, expressed concern about the scandal's potential impact on the classical-music market as it struggles with a dearth of major contemporary hits.