"(Researchers) studied songs placed in the top five of the US Billboard year-end singles music chart each year between 1950 and 2022. … The results revealed the average complexity of melodies had fallen over time, with two big drops in 1975 and 2000, as well as a smaller drop in 1996." - The Guardian
The Venetian master's Rest On The Flight Into Egypt (1510) was looted by Napoleon's soldiers in 1809 and returned at bayonet-point after Waterloo; it was stolen again in England in 1995 and found in a plastic carrier in London in 2002. At Christie's it sold for £17.6 million, a record for Titian. - CNN
"Incoming UK prime minister Keir Starmer will need to appoint a new secretary of state for culture, media and sport (CMS) after shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire lost her seat (in the newly-created district Bristol Central) in the general election." - Screen Daily
As UK Equity summed it up, "We’ll be pressing ... for UK arts funding to reach the European average, ... to make Universal Credit fairer for freelancers, to ensure public subsidy only supports work on decent union terms and to fight for better rights in the video games and TV commercials sector." - Variety
Media heavyweights are likely due to endure more pain as the year goes on. The political and regulatory environment for mergers and acquisitions is so volatile that there’s little hope of getting a horizontal combination in any form among Paramount, WBD or Comcast/NBCUniversal approved. - Variety
The mayor of Jersey City and a major supporter of the museum, blamed the cuts instead on his deteriorating relationship with the state’s governor, Phil Murphy, who had supported the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City initiative when it was announced in 2021 as a way to attract tourists and New Yorkers. - The New York Times
First Minister John Swinney has criticised the “misplaced” targeting of the firm, while Scottish culture secretary Angus Robertson has warned that disinvestment campaigns were posing an “existential threat” to arts organisations at a time when many of them were already in “financial distress.” - The Scotsman (MSN)
Especially cruel realities face a struggling field like literary studies, with its disappearing majors, budgetary pressures, abysmal job market, fears about academic freedom, and more. Literary critics have good reasons to be downcast. Downcast and, at times, spiteful. - LA Review of Books
Shields’s music director suggested she consider the opening, and soon enough, she had tossed her hat in the ring, and in May she won the vote by members, defeating two more-seasoned labor activists. - The New York Times
The Donne report found that 78.4 percent of works in 2023–2024 were by historical (deceased) white men, with 30.6 percent coming from the top 10 (canon) composers, whose names are surely familiar. - San Francisco Classical Voice
Right now, after the chaos of the COVID years and amid a cost of living crisis, many in the sector are feeling like arts funding is at an all-time low… Or is it? - ArtsHub
"The Catholic diocese of Linz (in Austria) said in a statement that the Virgin Mary’s head was sawed off early Monday morning in an act of vandalism. The work, titled Crowning, by Austrian artist Esther Strauss is no longer on view (at Linz Cathedral)." - The Washington Post (MSN)
When you think of creativity, you probably imagine a genius behind an easel or at the heart of a brilliantly directed movie. However, people can also tap into their creative juices if they want to rise to power, enact revenge, or just create trouble. - Psychology Today
Mark Jones, who stepped in as interim director last summer amid the stolen-items crisis, says that admission should remain free for under-25s and UK residents but, citing the Louvre's €22 fee, suggests a £20 ($25) price for others. Jones also says the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles should return to Greece. - The Standard (London)
Harvest Rock Church is asking $45 million for the 1,200-seat auditorium near the Old Pasadena district that has also hosted jazz greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie. It has been called “the Carnegie Hall of the West” by fans. - Los Angeles Times
