Through its 149th and final show, which took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday, Swift’s tour sold a total of $2,077,618,725 in tickets. That’s two billion and change — double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history and an extraordinary new benchmark for a white-hot international concert business. - The New York Times
“Between 750 BC and 400 BC, the Ancient Greeks composed songs meant to be accompanied by the lyre, reed-pipes, and various percussion instruments.” Now there are some reconstructions of the sounds of millennia ago that may be fairly accurate. - Open Culture
Zambian human rights activist and rapper “Samuel Miyoba, known by his stage name Smack Jay, believes that a country's music reveals a lot about its character and culture.” - BBC
There was a time when bands could make a living. Now we’re in “an indie business landscape that’s particularly inhospitable to emerging artists looking to establish careers off their work.” - Hearing Things
Alvarez, 97 when she died, won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2022. As she accepted her award, she said, “Although life is difficult, there is always a way out, and with faith and love you can achieve it. … It’s never too late.” - The New York Times
“Even if you think you are making an active choice – I am playing this song, I’m listening to this genre – the algorithm is still quietly influencing you.” Is it possible to break free, aside from abandoning the data mining app that is Spotify? - Slate
"The company's executive director, Tim Griffin, who came on board in summer 2023, will ... become both executive and artistic director. Co-artistic directors, Ash Fure and Malik Gaines, who joined forces in an artistic director cooperative with Sharon in 2021, will form a new artistic advisory council." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Blaming its cash shortfall on the public-service sector employee contracts it has with staff and an inability to raise more revenue, Bayreuth management cut four productions from the summer 2026 schedule, leaving only Rienzi and the Ring cycle along with a concert performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.. - AP
The report concluded that while the AI boom will substantially enrich giant tech companies, creators’ rights and income streams will be drastically reduced unless policymakers step in. - The Guardian
Music executives say Swift has raised the bar for the concert industry, not just with ticket and merchandise sales, but conceptual ambition, stage production, wardrobe and news-cycle penetration. - The Wall Street Journal
"People often think of these musical memories as fixed snapshots of the past. But recent research my team and I published suggests music may do more than just trigger memories – it might even change how you remember them." - The Conversation
"They obtain scores and parts, consult with conductors and concertmasters, check the music for accuracy, ensure that page turns are realistic, and make corrections as necessary. … Can you get the mute out fast enough? Who’s going to need more time to turn a page?" - San Francisco Classical Voice
Today the piece is one of the most familiar sections of The Nutcracker, so it's hard for us to appreciate how unusual the music seemed at the ballet's 1892 premiere. That dance's featured instrument, the celesta, was a recent invention, and almost nobody in Russia had heard one. - The New York Times
The orchestra got itself in one legal tangle by cancelling a recital by pianist Jayson Gillham after he made comments about Gaza from the stage. Then it fired its CEO following a staff rebellion and has had to negotiate a settlement with her. This when there's little cash to spare. - ArtsHub (Australia)
