What’s to blame for the worldwide drop in retail music sales (the recording industry still sold $32 billion worth of music in 2003)? The industry blames “rampant piracy, poor economic conditions and competition from video games and DVDs. However, a strong second-half recovery in the United States, Britain and Australia, boosted by top-selling acts such as Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé and rapper 50 Cent, has raised hopes that the worst is behind the beleaguered industry.”
Month: April 2004
Aussies Turn Off TV For DVDs
“The television networks have suspected all year that Australians were watching less TV. They thought their problem was younger viewers distracted by computer games and the internet. Now they know the truth. Viewing by Australians aged 16 to 24 is up 4.4 per cent on last year. Australians aged 25 to 54 have been turning off the most, and the distraction seems to be the family’s new DVD player.”
History Channel Apologizes For Documentary
Last November the History Channel broadcast a documentary that alleged that Lyndon Johnson was complicit in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. A storm of protest ensued, and the History Channel asked historians to vet the program. “In a statement the History Channel acknowledged that the historians determined that the accusation against Johnson was insupportable and that the documentary should not have been broadcast.” The apology will be delivered in a new program.
Anti-Piracy Tactic: Hollywood Cuts DVD Prices In Russia
In Russia, nine of every ten DVD’s sold are pirated copies. So Hollywood is fighting back – by cutting its prices. “The idea is to get Russian consumers used to buying licensed material, but at a price that most of the population can afford.”
Is Short Art Short Value?
“Does great art always have to be a feat of endurance? Is there something aesthetically unsatisfactory about a play that is over in 35 seconds, a short story that contains only seven words, or an opera that can be performed in the time it takes to boil an egg? Fortunately for the culturally hungry with little time on their hands, all these things exist. The issue is whether you think you would be getting your money’s worth.”
The Death Of American Arts Education
Arts education is quickly disappearing from schools across America. “Art and music classes have become secondary to more traditional subjects such as math and science, which means that when budgets are tight, the arts are among the first to be cut from curriculums.”
Stone Cold Movies
In the Norwegian arctic, residents have built a unique drive-in movie theatre. But instead of watching in your car, patrons come in snow mobiles. And “the entire cinema is made from snow. We’ve built a snow amphitheatre, with reindeer skins to sit on, and the actual screen is also made from snow.”
Indian Movie Theatre Strike Ends
A thousand movie theatres in India have been on strike for three weeks. Now the strike has ended after “cinema bosses said the state government had accepted their demand for a 10% cut in tax levied on tickets. But they said other demands including permission to convert failing cinemas into other businesses had not been met. During the shutdown cinemas lost an estimated 10m rupees (£130,000) per day – twice as much as the government.”
Ruling: US Publishers Can Edit Foreign Manuscripts
New US regulations might have prevented American publishers from editing manuscripts from countries such as Iran. But the policy has been reconsidered. “U.S. publishers would be free to edit scholarly manuscripts from Iran and some other off-limit countries without fear of running afoul of economic sanctions, the Bush administration has determined.”
The New Old MoMA Takes Shape
The Museum of Modern Art will reopen November 20 after its $858 million makeover. “The new museum encompasses about 630,000 square feet of new and renovated space on six floors. The total exhibition space will increase to 125,000 square feet from 85,000 square feet, with galleries nestled around a 110-foot-tall atrium, which has views of the city from each floor.”