Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Spotify Working On Tools To Let Users Be Their Own DJs
The audio streaming company is developing tools that would allow subscribers to speed up, mash up and otherwise edit songs from their favorite artists, according to...
Disney’s Biggest Theme Park Challenge
A common vacation itinerary includes three or four days at Disney World and one or two days at Universal. If Universal can now persuade...
AI Translators Are Crushing Languages
The generative-AI boom, despite promises to bridge languages and cultures, may only further entrench the dominance of English in life on and off the web. -...
Why Are Broadway Tickets So Much More Expensive Now?
If Broadway feels more expensive than ever before, that’s because it is. Despite crowds that haven’t rebounded to pre-COVID levels, the average ticket price...
Non-Profit Journalism Is Growing. But Where’s The Audience?
“Journalists are not very good marketers. They do a story they are excited about and think most people in the addressable audience will want...
Why All The Broadway Theatre Standing Ovations?
Some have attributed the trend to the tourists who fill many of the seats at Broadway shows; they may be less familiar with theater...
The Downside Of Outsourcing Skills To AI
Making thoughtful and defensible decisions requires practice and self-discipline. And this is where the hidden harm that AI exposes people to comes in: AI does...
A Short History Of Artists Sneaking Work Into Museums
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the museum applauded the mischievous initiative. “We think this is funny and would like to know the artist,” a...
Why Studios Make Movies And Sometime Don’t Release Them
Near-complete movies have been mothballed, underperforming shows pulled from streaming libraries. - The New York Times
A New Fellowship For Rising Young Theatre Critics
Critical Insight is "a new generative arts journalism fellowship that will bring the best in the field to early-career and aspiring critics through mentorship,...
Pappano: People In The UK Are Embarrassed By Opera
“Here it’s looked on with great suspicion. That drives me nuts, I have to tell you. England is a haven for culture whether it...
San Francisco Chronicle Music Critic Josh Kosman To Retire
On April 30, Kosman will flip his critic’s notebook closed for the final time, retiring from the newspaper at a crucial juncture for classical...
What It Costs To Attend Coachella (Thousands of $) And Why These Fans Say...
Many people are willing to lay out a lot of money for the experience and party in the VIP section, but it's possible to...
How Our Obsession With Self-Improvement Is Harming Us
A consequence of the cultural obsession with self-improvement is the hyperfixation on the self. From elaborate skin care regimens to the culling of “toxic” friends...
What’s Behind The Comeback Of Vinyl Records?
Where barely one million new vinyl albums were sold in the United States in 2006, that figure has grown every year since, soaring to...
Inside The Artist’s Mind
How do artists think? As I considered my flailing artistic efforts, I realized I was begging for entrance into the artist’s head. If I...
Museum Fires Employee After He Hung His Own Painting In Gallery
The museum fired a member of its technical services team after he was found to have hung one of his own paintings in a...
Why Do We Make Saints Of Dead Composers?
The saint is worshiped alongside the divine, and in many faiths, the line between the two is blurred. In the world of classical music,...
A Mexican Town Fighting Off Gentrification Of Its Culture
“We didn't notice it at the beginning because we were locked inside. And then when we came out, everything had changed radically,” says Antonio...
When Nostalgia Was Considered A Deadly Condition
Victims of nostalgia, as Hofer identified, were primarily young people and adolescents sent to alien lands, regions and cities. He was very clear about...
Art, Diplomacy, And The Propaganda Of Ideas
Is there a way for the government to support art without corrupting it? And if not, how can we ensure that art still remains...
AI And The Future Of Opera
It seems clearer that creatives using AI tools as a part of their own processes is considered more acceptable than administrators using AI to...
Klaus Mäkelä, The Chicago Symphony, And The Importance Of Lived Experience
Cultural memory—for untold centuries, a precondition for creativity and appreciation of the creative act—risks becoming a stack of flashcards processed as media clips. Will...
A Transformative Arts Project For Downtown Calgary
“Today, we don’t just reveal a stunning new design—we come together to celebrate the fact that the largest cultural infrastructure project currently underway in...
Record Labels Are Pulling Music From TikTok. Congress Might Ban The App. So Now...
TikTok began life as Musical.ly, an app to film oneself lip-syncing to songs. Interacting with pop music was a core function of TikTok. Fans...
