The Federal Communications Commission recently approved licensing of micro-radio stations, and thousands of low-wattage broadcasters are expected to take to the air, increasing the diversity of voices. This despite vocal opposition by the radio industry. How did it happen? Thank the low watt pirates. – Reason 01/30/00
Month: January 2000
FRENCH SINGING LEGEND —
— Charles Aznavour launches his new musical “Lautrec” – about the French painter – in London. – BBC
“GIRLFIGHT” —
— wins top prize at Sundance Film Festival. – New York Times 01/30/00
EUROGLAIS
Amidst the talk of American cultural encroachment, Europe is struggling with its unified identity. “There is a struggle going on to create a cultural identity for this united Europe, and one of its arenas is the European film. If defining that identity now is more elusive artistically, financially and geographically than ever before, one thing is certain: the film will be in English.” – New York Times 01/30/00
TRIPLE DOWN
Three new boxed set recordings of the Beethoven Piano Concertos illustrate what’s wrong with the classical recording industry. All three are by Alfred Brendel, and the works are not exactly underrepresented in the catalogue. So who thought this was a good idea? – Toronto Globe and Mail
FLASHING MAD
English museums increasingly allow visitors to take pictures, maintaining that camera flashes don’t damage artwork. Is this true? Not exactly – at minimum it ruins the possibility of a contemplative moment. And the cumulative physical effects of ultraviolet light are uncertain. – The Telegraph (UK)
THE GURU OF MINIMALISM
John Pawson is the king of reductive design. “His work, which ranges from the high Zen Cathay Pacific lounge in the Hong Kong airport to the groovy chic of the Wakenabe and Wagamama restaurants in London, is so reduced to the essential, it ventures beyond the old Mies van der Rohe saw ‘less is more’ into a kind of New Age sacred space.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
ONLINE CLUB
Venerable Sotheby’s got the Dotcom bug last week and went online. But galleries sell elitism, says one gallery director. “It’s a very, very private club intended not to let people in, and if it gets too big, collectors won’t want to be a part of it any more.” A risk of taking the business online? – The Economist
SO WHAT IF THEY’RE BIG
The Time Warner/EMI merger creates the largest record company in the world. But the business is falling apart, and all the mega-mergers in the world don’t fix the problems confronting the commercial recording business. It’s all just circling the wagons. – The Economist 01/29/00
- ANYTIME, ANYWHERE: MP3 downloads that turn your computer into a stereo with instant access. The old ways are dead. – Boston Globe 01/28/00
- WE NEED YOUR HELP, says MP3 to its users. If enough of you get free music, maybe the courts will back off. – Wired 01/28/00
JUST WHEN DID THE MEDIA START HATING ARTISTS?
Was it art’s “difficult characters?” The big-money 80’s art markets? “The biggest part of the problem may be the front-of-the-book/back-of-the-book structure that ghettoizes all arts coverage, whether news or reviews, in the back pages or special sections. But news is news, and the art(s) worlds are huge industries that demand far more sophisticated news coverage than they receive.” – Media Channel