Who Owns What After We've Bought It? This idea that companies ought to be able to control music after we've bought it is a flawed one. "The issue is one of who owns, or has rights to use our common culture. That means stuff we created ourselves, and only we can decide is worth sharing. And as many of you pointed out, what we call the 'entertainment industry' today is merely a distributor, much like the Victorian canal owners were in the last century, in Britain. The smarter Bridgewaters bought into the upcoming railways, while the dumber canal owners didn't, and died a natural death. Today's pigopolists don't "own" the culture simply by claiming that their exclusivity is based on technology - that's a social contract we don't buy, and history, in most cases, is on our side." The Register 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 7:46 pm
American Natural History Museum In Precipitous Decline "After a decade in which it doubled both its staff and its operating budget, the American Museum of Natural History is now retrenching. Faced with a drop in visitors and financial support, including a $1.4 million cut in funding from the city, the museum has shed 300 full- and part-time employees since the fall of 2001, bringing its staff down 17 percent, to 1,400. A hiring freeze was put in place after Sept. 11, 2001." New York Observer 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:53 pm
See-Through Toilet Is A Work Of Art A public art toilet made of one-way glass is being installed across from Tate Britain. "Sitting on this lavatory you can see everything outside; pedestrians and, across the road, Tate Britain. This has been achieved by surrounding the lavatory with glass that allows you to see out but no one else to see in. This £30,000, not-so private privy was created by Italian artist Monica Bonvicini." London Evening Standard 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:39 pm
SPONSOR
From One Generation To The Next Some of the world's most distinguished artists gathered at Lincoln Center on November 10 to celebrate the completion of the inaugural year of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. www.rolexmentorprotege.com
Met Opera Gets Major Grant For Broadcasts "The Annenberg Foundation has given $3.5 million to the Metropolitan Opera to help keep its treasured Saturday afternoon live radio broadcasts on the air next season, the opera company said yesterday. The money, it said, is the largest gift ever made to the Met's annual-giving fund. The contribution is a response to ChevronTexaco's decision in May to withdraw its support after the 2003-4 season, ending a 63-year relationship that has been the longest continuous commercial sponsorship in broadcast history... But the Annenberg gift takes the Met only halfway there, and for only one year; the broadcasts cost the Met $7 million a year, so another single corporate sponsor is still being sought to replace ChevronTexaco." The New York Times 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:42 am
Bottom Line Falls Victim To... well, you know... The Bottom Line, New York's famous Greenwich Village nightclub, has been ordered to shut its doors by the end of the week, and to pay $190,171 in back rent to New York University. NYU had been seeking to raise the club's rent by more than 100%, a move which club owners fought in court. Previous reports suggested that NYU may convert the space to classrooms or offices. New York Daily News 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:39 am
Litton Stepping Down In Dallas Andrew Litton, who has been music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 1994, has announced that he will leave the post when his current contract expires in 2006. In his time in Texas, Litton has hired nearly 1/3 of the DSO's musicians, and taken the ensemble to national prominence as one of the top American orchestras. Litton says he intends to devote more time to conducting opera and developing children's television programs about music. He will also continue to hold his current conducting positions in Minneapolis and Bergen, Norway. Dallas Morning News 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 5:45 am
Klezmeriffic Klezmer is big right now, and becoming more popular. "It is now not only respectable, becoming an academic discipline and the beneficiary of generous Lottery funding through the Millennium Commission, it is also a flourishing part of our new, spiritual age." The Telegraph (UK) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:46 pm
Music The Over-40 Wants (Not Just Nostalgia!) So older people are buying more music. But what are they buying? Nostalgia. "Truth is, I can name at least 25 albums released in 2003 that would please any seasoned rock and pop listener who thinks of music as something more than a soundtrack for dinner with undiscerning guests. But most rock fans my age won't find it easy to hear them because the major labels have concluded we're an unadventurous lot and won't bother to try to reach us. Instead of congratulating themselves on finding ways to sell the same old same old, record execs should realize there are thousands, maybe millions, of us who want it rough, raw and risky, brash, bold and beautiful, as exciting as New Year's Eve." OpinionJournal 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 7:41 pm
NLRB Rules Against Lincoln Center In Union Dispute "In a decision issued on Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Lincoln Center had violated federal labor law when it sought to have the police arrest union supporters distributing leaflets in front of the center, while it permitted nonunion groups to do so... The labor board ordered Lincoln Center to post a notice acknowledging that it violated federal labor law." The center's lawyers are considering an appeal. The New York Times 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:48 am
Steel City Windfall A gala fundraiser held to mark the opening of Pittsburgh's new convention center has raised nearly $700,000 for area cultural groups, according to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "Checks in the amount of $115,000 each were received yesterday by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Cultural Trust." The amount raised is far in excess of what any of the arts groups had expected to receive from the event. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 5:59 am
Looking For A New Paradigm It's not an exaggeration to say that the arts in South Florida are on life support, and in serious danger of slipping into oblivion. With the demise of the Florida Philharmonic still sending shockwaves through the arts community, and legislative funding for all arts having been slashed by nearly 80% in one year, local leaders have convened a summit with the intent of finding new, workable business models for the arts. Lobbyists are encouraging supporters to look beyond the traditional model of state funding, which they say may never return to previous levels. South Florida Sun-Sentinel 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 5:49 am
Time Out In Chicago "The publisher of Time Out New York and Time Out London said Tuesday it would start printing Time Out Chicago in September 2004. Aimed at the urban hipster, Time Out's weekly magazines feature listings of concerts, club shows and other events, as well as articles on the urban arts scene." Chivago Sun-Times 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 7:44 pm
Everybody Hates Martin What is it about Martin Amis that causes the British literati to shriek and howl and begin sharpening their metaphorical knives? Is it that his famous father is still casting too long a shadow? Or is it Martin's own predilection for baiting his detractors? Or is it, possibly, simple jealousy for the man's success, commingled with a passionate intellectual distaste for the vernacular style favored by Amis? In truth, it's probably a little of each. But whatever the cause, Martin Amis is a hunted man, and he doesn't seem to mind all that much. San Francisco Chronicle 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:51 am
D.C. Shakespeare Theatre To Expand Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre has announced plans for a new 800-seat theatre to go with its existing home in the district's downtown. The new theater will cost $77 million, and is expected to open in 2007. The project is a gamble, since there is plenty of theatrical competition in Washington, but the company is confident that it can sell 1,200 tickets a night, and says that its subsribers support the expansion. Washington Post 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:59 am
- Revitalizing a Downtown Benjamin Forgey says that the Shakespeare's new building, having been wisely placed on a key block of Washington real estate, will be one of the most significant additions to the city's architectural and cultural scene in recent memory. "Together with MCI Center, it signifies the reinvention of the old downtown as a new center of arts and entertainment. And as part of a big, oft-stalled development taking up three-quarters of a very large, strategically key city block, it demonstrates that complex obstacles can be overcome with enough patience, time, money and, above all, foresight." Washington Post 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:56 am
Insensitivity Alleged at Toronto's Factory A Toronto theater has cancelled a production of Chilean playwright Carmen Aguirre's play, The Refugee Hotel, after Ms. Aguirre complained publicly that director Ken Gass was disorganized, culturally insensitive, and ethnocentric in his casting decisions. Gass insists that he made every effort to find minority actors for the production at the Factory Theatre, but was unable to cast more than one. Aguirre claims that Gass stated flatly that "I want superb actors for your play and actors of colour are not superb." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:26 am
Businessman/Actor Named To Head New Scottish National Theatre Richard Findlay, a trained actor and respected businessman who runs a media empire, has been named as the Scottish National Theatre's first director. "The Scottish Executive this year set aside £7.5 million in funding for the theatre over two years. It is to operate on an entirely untried model - with no building of its own, commissioning productions from existing theatres and companies." The Scotsman 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:49 pm
The Secret Lives Of Critics "When you see the critics at the theater,chatting up the ushers, signing autographs for all who want them, we seem like a mild-mannered bunch; if you tickle us, do we not laugh? But underneath, we’re vicious, vicious! We’re sworn members of a secret organization, a vast writing conspiracy. Compared to the New York drama critics, the Masons look like the Girl Scouts. And this season’s bad reviews are just the beginning." New York Sun 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 7:39 pm
Grann Trying Again At Random House "Phyllis Grann, who oversaw a virtual assembly line of blockbuster books as chief executive of Penguin Putnam but later lasted just six months as the vice chairwoman of Random House Inc., is returning to Random House in a new capacity." Grann had told acquaintances that her time at Random House was "deeply unsatisfying," due largely to the lack of real responsibility that came with the job because of the autonomy enjoyed by Random House's various imprints. "In her new role, as a senior editor of the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, Ms. Grann is expected to acquire and edit as many as 10 books a year, both fiction and nonfiction." The New York Times 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:44 am
Is This The Worst Writing About Sex? "The Literary Review's Bad Sex Prize, which reaches the parts other prizes can only moan about, was won last night by the Indian author Aniruddha Bahal, for his novel Bunker 13. His publishers, Faber and Faber, flew him in from Delhi to receive his statuette." The Guardian (UK) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:35 pm
Community Complains About Portrayal In Booker-Nominated Tome Bangladeshis in East London are complaining that Monica Ali's Booker-nominated first novel, Brick Lane portrays their neighborhood unfairly. "It is a completely stereotypical view of Bangladeshis living in Brick Lane and one we simply do not recognise. The book says we got here by jumping ships and it says we have lice and live like rats in their holes. These comments are simply untrue and hurtful." The Guardian (UK) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:13 pm
Is Disney Headed For A Fall? "Charges that the Disney company has lost its way under current company head Michael Eisner are not new. But the departure of the final Disney family member from the fabled company has thrown the charges into a new relief... Disney's core animation and theme-park businesses have been battered by the competition. [Roy] Disney and his fellow departing board members charge that the company is pushing profits over innovation and quality." Worse yet, the public seems to agree, and the Disney name no longer carries the automatic consumer respect that it once did. The Christian Science Monitor (Boston) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:19 am
Crackdown? What Crackdown? "Hollywood's all-out war against movie piracy is turning into a big-budget bomb, with illegal copies of virtually every new release — and even some films that have yet to debut in theaters — turning up on the Internet... The abundance of bootlegs arrives just as the movie studios have launched their most aggressive campaign yet to protect their business from the rampant downloading that has plagued the record industry... The steps may have made some thievery more difficult, but overall, piracy appears to be up from previous years... In fact, the new security measures seem only to have emboldened some pirates." Baltimore Sun (LA Times) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 6:08 am
More Lawsuits, Just In Time For The Holidays! The recording industry has filed another 41 lawsuits against online file-swappers accused of trading at least 1000 songs illegally, and warned an additional 90 individuals that legal action is imminent if they do not stop their file-trading activity. Since this past summer, the industry has sued more than 300 users, settled with 220, and received pledges from over 1,000 that they will delete their illegally-downloaded songs and never download again. Wired 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 5:28 am
- Here's Betting The Industry Doesn't Like This, Either In Europe, final touches are being put on a next-generation portable MP3 application known as tunA, which will not only function as a playback machine, but has the potential to turn every user into a walking radio station. The application "employs Wi-Fi to locate nearby users, peek at their music playlist and wirelessly jack into their audio stream... tunA is being designed for wireless PDAs, cell phones and even its own hardware device." Wired 12/04/03
Posted: 12/04/2003 5:27 am
Crowe Warns Aussie Movie Industry As Australia considers cutting off funding to its film industry, actor Russell Crowe warns that to do so would damage the industry."I don't think the structure that we have in place should become a social welfare system for people who can't compete," he said. "But he said the industry should concentrate on making improvements and becoming internationally competitive rather than consider withdrawing funding." The Age (AFP) 12/04/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 8:58 pm
Ups And Downs At City Ballet New York City Ballet's 100th season is underway. "How Balanchine is performed is the central issue at City Ballet, and for years now the record has been worse than spotty. Last season, things were looking up—when they weren’t looking grim. Gala night perfectly symbolized both the ups and the downs. Some of the self-congratulation was justified—there were times when the spirit of Mr. B did come through—but there was trouble, too; Bugaku, one of Balanchine’s most singular ballets, which has been lingering on the endangered-species list, may actually now be extinct." New York Observer 12/03/03
Posted: 12/03/2003 9:55 pm
