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Toronto Symphony Lands A Record-Label Deal

The orchestra, with music director Gustavo Gimeno, has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Harmonia Mundi; this is the label's first signing of a North American orchestra. The first release, of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie, debuts next February. - Ludwig Van

Gawker Has Been Bought Again, This Time by A Singaporean Rock Mogul

The new owner, Meng Ru Kuok, runs the Caldecott Music Group, which includes BandLab Technologies, NME Networks, and major guitar-maker Vista; he says his relaunched Gawker will be notably different from past versions. (Interestingly, the purchase included the domain name and trademark but not the article archives.) - Variety

Why Spoilers Don’t Really Spoil Your Favorite Shows Or Books

In a series of psychological experiments published in 2011, researchers in California found that knowing the end of a story did not diminish readers’ enjoyment. In fact, readers preferred the stories where they had the ending revealed to them beforehand. - The Conversation

Comparing The 233 Surviving Copies Of Shakespeare’s First Folio (Fascinating Differences)

None of the folios were identical; sometimes a letter or word would be different, evidence of the typesetter at William Jaggard’s London printshop tinkering with errors throughout the process. - LitHub

Obsolete? Schools Are Getting Rid Of Their Librarians (But Here’s What’s Being Lost)

Some K-12 decision makers perceive school librarians as little more than quaint remnants of a bygone era. And if the number of our nation's certified school librarians continues to decline as it has for the past few decades, this perception may one day become a reality. - Governing

African Art Is Prospering, Powered By Social Media

Today, for the booming young population of Africa and its diaspora, the relationship is more direct. There’s a reciprocity of inspiration, fueled by a multitude of creative efforts and propelled by social media platforms like TikTok. - The New York Times

Why Is New Zealand’s Creative Economy Growing Faster Than National GDP?

"It’s heartening to see the strong GDP growth in the arts and creative sector over the past year despite the ongoing challenges from the effects of COVID and cost-of-living pressures. The GDP of $14.9b is a 12-month increase of 10% - compared to total economy GDP growth of 5.3%." - The Big Idea

Learning From Dancing Robots

Choreography is a way to start conversations about how bodies make meaning, whose bodies matter, how bodies interface with technologies. Dance is a way of demonstrating how agile, how kinesthetically intelligent, how capable today’s robots are. Making robots dance is astonishingly hard. - Dance Magazine

Magicians Are Less Prone To Mental Illness Than Any Other Artists: Research

The study "measured psychopathological traits of almost 200 magicians and … concluded that magicians scored significantly lower than other types of creatives and 'normal' folk. Despite their job involving the illusion of delving into mystery, magicians were less likely to have unusual experiences such as hallucinations or cognitive disorganisation." - The Guardian

Want To Understand The Media Revolution? Take a Look At This 2018 Story About YouTube

With all its decades of episodes, well-known characters, and worldwide brand recognition, Sesame Street has more than 5 billion views on YouTube. That’s impressive, but ChuChu has more than 19 billion. Sesame Street’s main feed has 4 million subscribers; the original ChuChu TV channel has 19 million. - The Atlantic

An Inside Look At How Fox News Started Peddling The “Trump Didn’t Lose” Big Lie, Even Though The Murdochs Were Against It

In an excerpt from his new book, Network of Lies, Brian Stelter lays out how, despite Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch being clearly in favor of conceding and moving on, the network first broadcast the conspiracy theories that ended up costing it $787.5 million. (The key figure: host Maria Bartiromo.) - Politico

What The Vegas Sphere Says About Our Relationship With Art

The Sphere is a distillation of an evolving relationship among art, artist, and technology—somewhere between a warm embrace of and a final surrender to screens. It is an acknowledgment and maybe even a tribute to the ways in which our screens have become extensions of ourselves... - The Atlantic

The High-Tech Scans That Will Help Restore Historic Ukrainian Buildings Ravaged By Russian Bombing

Architects, engineers and other volunteers are taking careful high-definition photographs and laser scans of historic buildings around Ukraine — those that have been bombed and some that might yet be — so that photogrammetry can be used to create detailed construction plans for rebuilding. - The World

But Tattooing A Scannable Barcode Of Your Favorite Song On Spotify Seemed Like Such A Good Idea!

A growing cadre of music fans have joined the Spotify tattoo craze as a conversation starter or a way to commemorate sentimental favorites like wedding first-dance songs. But while many on social media tout the tats and how well they scan, some are starting to discover that nothing in life is permanent, even tattoos. - The Wall Street Journal

The Opera Aria Painted On The Wall Of A Venetian Orphanage

Yes, this was one of the orphanages where girls were taught music to a high level by the likes of Vivaldi. The music room of the Ospedaletto (not Vivaldi's institution) has a fresco with a singer holding still-legible sheet music — which musicologist Marica Tacconi set out to identify. - The Conversation

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