Is payola rampant in the radio business? Apparently, and there are the incriminating emails to prove it. “This week Sony BMG, a leading record label, apologised and agreed to pay a fine of $10m for bribing radio stations. New York’s hyperactive attorney-general, Eliot Spitzer, said that bribes are pervasive in the industry, and that he is continuing his investigation into the other big record labels—Universal, EMI and Warner Music—as well as the radio business.”
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Disney Closing Last hand-Drawn Animation Studio
Disney has announced it will close its last studio that draws cartoons by hand. “Disneytoon Studios (in Sydney, Australia) employees were informed of the decision Wednesday and were told the studio would shut down in mid-2006 after the completion of work on sequels to the films Brother Bear and Cinderella. Disney began with hand-drawn, two-dimensional animation in films like Pinocchio and Snow White. However, the most popular animated films are now of the computer-generated, three-dimensional variety, like Toy Story, Shrek and The Incredibles.”
Canadian Orchestras On The Rebound
Three years ago, exoperts were predicting the death of Canadian symphony orchestras. That has changed dramatically. “After more than a half-century of resolutely resisting change in the name of purism, our symphonies, with nothing to lose, began experimenting, and have largely succeeded in bulking up their audiences and making a start at balancing their books. Insiders remain edgy, worried about the future. They voice concerns about the efficacy of subscriptions (younger people tend not to book in advance) and the increasing scarcity of patrons willing to donate money and time to orchestras. But overall, the mood has become markedly more bullish in the orchestral world.”
The Race Is On To Be Tallest
Will Chicago build America’s tallest building? There are plans, of course. Worldwide, the competition for “tallest building” continues. “There are real bragging rights to being the tallest that go back 3,000 years. Exceeding or exalting for spiritual reasons or a demonstration of power dates back from Babylon on – wanting to take a place in history, reserve a place in the timeline. Height is a fixation.”
Kelly Appointed First South Bank Artistic Director
London’s South Bank has its first artistic director. “Theatre director Jude Kelly has been appointed the first artistic director of London’s South Bank Centre. The Liverpool-born 51-year-old will be responsible for programmes at the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery.”
And The Standard Is Now… Digital
Major Hollywood studios have agreed on a standard for digital projection of movies. “Studios have spent the last three years working on the technology and have now settled on specifications they say are good enough for all types of movies. Some cinemas have already installed digital projectors, but the deal means an industry standard can be rolled out around the world.”
Christo Goes After Colorado
Christo and Jeanne Claude are pressing forward with their plans to cover part of a Colorado river with fabric. “State, local and federal governments permitting, “Over the River” would occur over two midsummer weeks in 2008, at the earliest, the husband-and-wife team said. Their display, whose seven increments would range from a half mile to 2 1/2 miles long, is designed to be observed from above by motorists on U.S. 50 and from below by hikers and rafters, they said. The fabric is designed to reflect the sky for those watching from above and to diffuse the light when seen from below.”
Tate Rejects Stuckists
The Tate Museum has turned down a proposed gift of 160 paintings offered by a group of artists known as the Stuckists. Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota wrote to the Stuckists, who offered the gift: “We do not feel that the work is of sufficient quality in terms of accomplishment, innovation or originality of thought to warrant preservation in perpetuity in the national collection.”
How’s That Online Obscenity Ban Been Working Out?
Obscenity has always been a tricky subject for American courts, as they try to balance First Amendment rights against the right of communities to reject things that violate their collective values. A 2001 lawsuit, filed by an artist whose website includes images of sadomasochism and bondage, was intended to force yet another official answer to the seemingly insoluble problem by challenging the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which bans the distribution of obscene content on the Internet. The case has made its way to Federal District Court, where this week, a panel of judges ruled against the artist. But there is little question that the case will eventually land before the Supreme Court.
Payola Aside, The Airwaves Belong To The Rich
New York’s attorney general can take his fight against newfangled forms of payola as far as he wants, but it won’t change the fact that the pop music business is now the purview of a handful of gigantic media companies that want nothing to do with the old method of letting a song rise to the top by virtue of its quality. “the major labels simply have more money and manpower to wheedle programmers into adding their music to broadcast play lists. The big players, far more so than their independent rivals, also have the wherewithal to build demand for their acts by subsidizing their tours and record-store advertising, producing music videos and landing them on television shows. This imbalance in resources accounts, in part, for the disparity between sales and airplay in the music business.”