It’s reportedly because of audiobooks. Spotify added audiobooks to its service last year on a trial basis. The price increase is how the streaming service will pay for letting subscribers access those books. - Gizmodo
"The closing of the distributor sent shockwaves throughout the entire independent publishing community, as it came with little warning. … SPD provided distribution to about 400 publishers, including a large number of literary presses." - Publishers Weekly
Two hundred musical artists, including Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the estate of Frank Sinatra call on AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to stop using AI to "infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists." - Ars Technica
KWRV in Sun Valley, launched in 1993 with funds raised locally, aired classical music programming from MPR's St. Paul headquarters. (MPR also has outlets in South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan.) The station was purchased by Boise State Public Radio, which will make only minor changes to its format. - Inside Radio
As the chief curator, Conaty said she plans to focus on Latino and Indigenous artists, who remain underrepresented in the Whitney’s collection, and invest in emerging talent. But she also intends to slow down the pace of collecting. “Gifts are not free,” she said. - The New York Times
"According to the dancers’ union contract, the temperature must be just so to reduce injuries. The floor must have the correct level of springiness. Breaks are mandatory; the length of rehearsals is carefully capped. Certain ballets are still under copyright protection, meaning that (various conditions must be met)." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
An attorney for collector Uthman Khatib says that the paintings — including works attributed to Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Natalia Goncharova, and collectively worth more than €100 million — were stolen from a storage facility Khatib rented in Germany. - ARTnews
"In a career spanning (over) 40 years, he established himself as a hyperliterate jester and an anarchic clown. Regarding subject and theme, he pogoed from sex to metaphysics to serial killers to psychology; he had a way of collapsing high art and jokes that aimed much lower." - The New York Times
"The playfully erudite author, whose darkly comic and complicated novels revolved around the art of literature and launched countless debates over the art of fiction, … was part of a wave of writers in the 1960s who challenged standards of language and plot." - AP
"James Sheen, 39, pleaded guilty to burglary, converting or transferring criminal property and conspiracy to do the same. … The fully functioning toilet" — titled 'America' — "was installed at Blenheim Palace in 2019 as part of an exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan called 'Victory is Not an Option.'" - CNN
"Raffaele Cardone, the founder and long-time general and artistic director, … said the main reason for closing the company was, no surprise, money difficulties. … The upstart troupe provided idiomatic and often inspiring performances of Italian opera and provided a career springboard for talented local artists." - South Florida Classical Review
"The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is demanding an overhaul of how culture funding is allocated in Scotland after a bid to secure £155,000 to help artists appearing at the event was rejected" by Creative Scotland, the funding agency. - The Scotsman (MSN)
Classical music has an image problem that feels like an existential threat. The pernicious idea of “elitism” — a word that was only coined in the 1980s — spread like Japanese knotweed through the pages of the press as the century neared its close. - The Critic
Protopias, on the other hand, are achievable. They present a realistic, better tomorrow. But even the protopian visions of more recent iterations of Star Trek, she notes, do not necessarily grapple with our most immediate crises. - NPR
