“The biggest issue [in the vinyl industry] is the broken supply chain,” said the Vinyl Alliance, a trade industry group in April 2020. Increasing shipping costs, a lack of live concerts at which to sell merchandise, and a slow down in new vinyl requests from musicians had record production and sales declining. But the demand for vinyl records was too strong to keep the industry down. Manufacturing quickly got back to normal, and, in the US, 2020 unit sales are up over 17% from 2019. The appeal of the record, with its tangibility, beauty and history, just keeps on growing. – Quartz
Author: Douglas McLennan
Kuwait Changes Its Book Censorship Law
With the amendment now in place, book importers and international publishers have to provide only book titles and author lists to the Ministry of Information, with the understanding that they bear legal responsibility if a book’s subject matter contravenes Kuwaiti law. Legal action against a particular book will now only be triggered by an official complaint from the public. – The National (UAE)
Writer Gail Sheehy, 83
Gail Sheehy, a lively participant in New York’s literary scene and a practitioner of creative nonfiction, studied anthropology with Margaret Mead. She applied those skills to explore the cultural upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s and to gain psychological insights into the newsmakers she profiled — among them Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev and both Presidents Bush. – The New York Times
Why Wearing A Mask Is A Matter Of Identity For Some
Someone’s social dignity can be damaged whether or not she accepts her society’s standards. One way this can happen is if she is a member of different social groups with conflicting standards. – The Conversation
Contemporary Dance In Indigenous Stories
Dancing Earth engages in Indigenous futurism — art that incorporates Indigenous perspectives of what the future could look like — by embodying interconnected communities and social change in the company’s story-like performances. In turn, the performances often function as both dance productions and contemporary rituals of transformation and healing for audience and dancers alike. – High Country News
Could Open Source Help Hollywood With Diversity?
Some of the people who make visual effects for Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters believe they have found a way to help: By embracing open source, they want to open up doors for traditionally underrepresented communities. – Protocol
What Should A Museum Be In 2020?
Historically, museums have used themed exhibitions, acquisitions schemes, or public programs to signal a shift, but otherwise they continue with business as usual. Real shifts must be seen from the sidewalk to the boardroom. There is an urgent and long-standing need for long-term commitments to diverse hiring and executive leadership, divestment from the police, accessibility, and a zero-tolerance policy for racism from staff or visitors. – Vanity Fair
Italy Bans Public Dancing
As in other countries around the world, new cases in Italy are being driven by young people, with several clusters traced back to nightclubs crowded with maskless patrons. Yet the new rules aimed at stopping young people from gathering en masse have also swept up older Italians for whom an evening at the dance hall is a cherished part of life. – The New York Times
Man Sues Patent Office Over Its Decision That AI Can’t Invent Things
The outcome of the debate over AI’s inventorship status and other intellectual property rights could have substantial consequences, particularly for creative industries. – Vice
My “Five Things to Fix in the Arts” Series: #1. Business Models and a $9 Billion Idea
We need a significant, stable ongoing source of new funding for the arts that is politically insulated, inflation-proof, and expands the definitions of non-and for-profit arts. – Douglas McLennan