Stories

Universal Music Goes All In On AI

I believe that Agentic AI, which dynamically employs complex reasoning and adaptation, has the potential to revolutionize how fans interact with and discover music. - Music Business Worldwide

Culture As An Act Of Resistance

As the current administration repeals the right to culture, we, everyday people, must work to keep it. Exercise it to the fullest extent. Dine at local and immigrant-owned restaurants. Read books written in English or in translation. Recommend Hollywood and indie movies. Speak out, share ideas. - Hyperallergic

Hundreds Of Culture Workers Sign On To Jane Fonda’s Revival Of The Committee for the First Amendment

Fonda announced on October 1 that she would revive the Committee for the First Amendment, an anti-censorship group originally formed in 1947 whose members included her father, actor Henry Fonda. - Hyperallergic

Ireland Will Make Its Guaranteed Basic Income For Artists Permanent

Unfortunately, it’s not for all artists. There will be 2,000 stipends available, with applications opening in September of 2026 and qualified applicants (who may work in visual arts, performing arts, literature, film or architecture) selected at random. The payment will be €325 (currently $377) per week, roughly $19,600 per year. - ARTnews

Film And TV Production Work In L.A. Has Fallen Below Even The Level Of The 2023 Strikes

“The decline ... was led by a sharp drop in reality TV production, which recorded its second-worst quarter in the last 15 years. Any effects of the massive expansion of the California film and TV tax credit, which became law on July 1, have yet to show up in the production data.” - Variety

A Few U.S. Museums Are Letting Actual Young People Curate Their Shows For Youth

This fall alone, the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the UC Irvine Orange County Museum of Art have exhibitions curated by students ranging from high-schoolers to grade-schoolers. Professional staff assisted, but they put the kids through their paces. - The New York Times

Vancouver Symphony Musicians’ Strike Has Ended

The musicians’ union and management reached agreement (pending a ratification vote) on a new contract on October 5, bringing to an end a ten-day walkout that was the first strike in the VSO’s 107-year history. - CBC

Inside New York City Ballet Dancers’ Last-Minute Boycott Of The Fall Fashion Gala

They decided only an hour beforehand to dance the performance but not show up at the red carpet or gala dinner — because they “wanted (their) absence to be felt.” They maintain that management’s offers in contract negotiations “fall far short” of other U.S. companies' contracts, despite NYCB’s greater “financial stability.” - The Cut (MSN)

Tampa Bay Gets A New (And For Now, Only) Professional Ballet Company

The closure of Tampa Bay classical companies during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred co-founder Heather Ossola’s desire to fill the void. “I really felt like I had something to offer and give the Tampa Bay area a company they deserve,” she says. “And I had some experience working as a ballet mistress.” - 83 Degrees (Tampa)

A Plot Twist In The Saga Of San Francisco’s Vaillancourt Fountain

Excessive deterioration due to deferred maintenance is the reason city officials have given for their (controversial) decision to demolish the (controversial) Brutalist artwork. However, newly rediscovered documents indicate that the city has not been the party responsible for the fountain’s upkeep. - Artnet

José Limón Turned O’Neill’s “Emperor Jones” Into Dance

Limón adapted the 1920 play for his company in 1956, and the company’s current artistic director decided it was time for a revival: “The original story is about … a felon who becomes a tyrannical leader. I didn’t feel the imagination had to go far to draw a contemporary parallel.” - The New York Times

Cultural Boycotts Are Ripping UK Arts Organizations Apart

This fraught debate has pitted artists who are broadly in agreement against each other. “There’s so much energy being spent ripping ourselves to shreds that arguably could be repurposed and deployed to Nigel Farage or Keir Starmer." - The Guardian

Taylor Swift Sets Another All-Time Record

Swift broke the record set by Adele's 25, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week in 2015. The Life of a Showgirl was released Oct. 3. In its first week, pure album sales totaled 3,479,500 copies. She's also become the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. - CBC

Across B.C., Arts Organizations Large And Small Are Struggling

“As rising costs hit British Columbians in all areas of life, advocates say arts organizations across the province are struggling to keep up.” - CBC

To Be An Artist In Canada Is To Be Prisoner Of Subsidy

Even if an artist can afford to turn up their nose at it, the entire structure that allows them to show, see, and otherwise participate in the arts is so enmeshed with government money that rejecting it individually is as meaningless as refusing to eat Madagascar vanilla to help with your carbon footprint. - The Walrus

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