Are recording companies conspiring to inflate the price of music downloads? The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation. “The department of justice inquiry centres on the activities of the four largest record labels: EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music. Subpoenas are believed to have been issued to all parties, with federal officials understood to be focusing on whether the companies have been colluding to keep the price of downloads artificially high.”
Month: March 2006
The Shakespeare Industry At Full Roar
The who-was-Shakespeare industry is currently in full gear. “Last year saw no fewer than three hefty biographies, distilled from the slim documentary record of Shakespeare’s existence and coloured up into portraits through socio-historical detail and complex deductions from the plays and poems. Soon the Royal Shakespeare Company will launch a multinational season of the “Complete Works” at Stratford-upon-Avon, with 41 full-scale productions. And now we have the National Portrait Gallery’s Searching for Shakespeare, an exhibition centring on eight pictures that have at one time or another been accepted as true images of the Bard.”
Crashing Credits – The Producers Who Demand Their Share
A dispute about producer credits for the movie “Crash” highlights the difficulty in giving credits for producing modern movies. “Those four slighted “Crash” producers say the film’s multiple producing credits are not the result of any personal vanity but instead underscore the frantic mechanics of making movies outside the studio system.”
Big Box Office Vs. The Oscar Winners
The connection between box office hits and quality movies that win Oscars has never been strong. But this year there’s a particularly big disconnect. “Together, these movies have taken in $228 million – by far the smallest total in recent Oscar history. By contrast, “Revenge of the Sith,” 2005’s top-grossing film, has made $380 million domestically.”
Hytner – Recipe For Success
Nicholas Hytner has become a star as he turns around the fortunes of London’s National Theatre. “Allying a series of bold, eye-catching plays with a policy of massively cutting ticket prices, Hytner’s vision has paid off spectacularly. New audiences packed its auditoriums for everything from headline-making Jerry Springer: the Opera to an ambitious production of Philip Pullman’s children’s bestseller His Dark Materials to David Hare’s savagely docu-realist account of the run-up to the Iraq war, Stuff Happens. Hytner was widely credited with reviving not just the National, but theatre at large.”
Where The Mass Audience Went
What’s the cause of Hollywood’s declining audiences? “There are digital personal video recorders, iPods, on-demand music and video, 500 TV channels, billions of Web pages catering to every obscure subculture — endless choices spinning the hamster wheel that is our attention spans.”
Mills: Many Plans For Edinburgh Festival
Jonathan Mills defends his appointment as the new director of the Edinburgh festival. “Without going into detail, he suggested expanding the festival into areas in which his predecessor Sir Brian McMaster had not been interested. There was scope, for instance, to do more work in the visual arts, he said, also hinting that he would like to encourage younger people to get involved. ‘There’s not going to be a revolution. I’m not going to do anything drastic, but there will be changes, gentle, gradual and subtle ones. Like every other organisation the festival has to evolve if it is to remain relevant’.”
Selling A Canadian Unknown On Broadway
“How do you sell $1-million (U.S.) worth of tickets a week to a show that practically nobody’s heard of? You cast your eyes across the Broadway musical-theatre landscape, and this is what you see stacked up against your baby: big stars and big brands. How do you position a smart, funny musical from first-time Broadway writers, with an ensemble cast and a lead from Canada?” You get unconventional…
What Effect Does TV Have On You?
A new study says TV isn’t bad for you. But Virginia Heffernan doesn’t believe it. “Television, after all, is the only art form reviewed in this newspaper that is also regarded as a public health hazard; maybe this news will help to clear its name and win it some respect. But I wouldn’t count on it. Study after anti-television study has failed to pinpoint the exact perils that viewers are prone to, and yet the idea that television is dangerous persists as an article of faith.”
Mark Morris In Miniature
The Mark Morris Dance Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary. But Morris himslef is dancing less and less. “I’m barely dancing at all these days. And I don’t think I’m going to perform on tour much anymore. But I’m not retired from the stage. I’m sure of that. I’ll still be dancing in shows I plan to give in my own building. I like the scale there.”