A new poll by the advocacy group TV Watch says that Americans are overwhelmingly against government regulation of on-air content. 75% of respondants “strongly agreed that they would rather decide what programs to watch instead of having government censors decide.” (It is worth noting that TV Watch was founded to combat the FCC’s recent crackdown on American broadcasters, so the questions asked in the survey may have been of the leading variety.)
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Colossal Advertising MegaComplex: 8,342 – Moviegoing Public: 1
One of America’s largest cinema chains has bowed to public pressure and agreed to publish the actual start times of its films. You know, the time that the actual movie will begin showing, after the now-obligatory barrage of ads and previews. Loews Cineplex says that it will begin noting that feature presentations begin “10 to 15 minutes after the published showtime” in all its newspaper and online listings.
All That And He’ll Need To Conduct, Too
The Baltimore Symphony has a little more than a year to go before the final departure of music director Yuri Temirkanov, and the search for a replacement has been underway for months. But so far, there doesn’t appear to be a frontrunner (despite early rumors that BSO management was tilting towards Marin Alsop) and community surveys have indicated that concertgoers don’t much care whether the new boss is an American or agrees to live in Baltimore, two qualifications frequently valued by music critics and orchestra insiders. The BSO is also struggling to bring a massive accumulated deficit under control, and the very real need for reinvigorated fundraising will figure prominently in the search process.
Linguistically Improbable Marketing Techniques
Statistically Improbable Phrases: the term sounds like a highfalutin’ way of describing nonsense prose, but in reality, it’s an innovative new feature of Amazon.com’s search utility. The SIP utility “compares the text of hundreds of thousands of books to reveal an author’s signature constructions,” and is only one of several new options available for prejudging literature. “Customers can also see how complicated the writing is (yes, post-structuralist Michel Foucault’s prose is foggier than Immanuel Kant’s), and how much education you need to understand a book. (To understand French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu, you’ll need a second Ph.D.)”
Brancusi Sculpture Breaks Auction Record
“A sculpture by Romanian Constantin Brancusi has broken the world auction record for a sculpture by fetching $27,456,000. Brancusi’s Bird in Space, a marble piece depicting a bird soaring into the sky, was sold by Christie’s New York to an anonymous buyer on Wednesday. The previous record was for another work by Brancusi called Danaide, which was sold for $18.1m in May 2002.”
Just Like That, Auction Season Back On Track
The Brancusi sale was only the main highlight of a stunning night of art sales at Christie’s in New York, as the auction season appeared to come to life on the back of a single event. The auction went a long way towards restoring the confidence of art insiders, who had blanched after a disappointing showing at Sotheby’s the previous night. “Compare the results: Christie’s sale totaled $142.8 million, far above its low estimate of $111.2 million but not quite reaching its high estimate, $149.6 million. Of the 59 lots offered, only 7 failed to sell. Sotheby’s sale totaled $91.2 million, after a low estimate of $127.3 million, with 20 of the 65 lots unsold.”
Another Arrest In Munch Theft
Police have nabbed a fourth suspect in the brazen theft of Edvard Munch’s classic painting, The Scream, arresting the man at his job in suburban Oslo. The paintings stolen from the city’s Munch Museum have yet to be recovered, and media speculation has raised the possibility that the works were burned. Police officials deny that this is the case, and insist that they are still hopeful that the art can be recovered.
OSM Strike Not Really About The Money
Ask the musicians of l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal why they have called a strike, and they will describe the OSM’s management as unwilling to pay going market rates for a top-notch orchestra. “But the heart of the two-year-old contract dispute remains management’s desire to gain more control over working conditions. The two sides have spent over 40 bargaining sessions arguing about 100 workplace concessions demanded by executive director Madeleine Careau… Players said that some concessions on Careau’s list were either unprecedented in the industry or not in accordance with Quebec’s labour laws.”
Backlash Brewing
“Ticketholders to last night’s Montreal Symphony Orchestra performance expressed anger that a threatened strike on Monday could cut short a season subscribers have already paid for.” And while some concertgoers were sympathetic to the musicians’ plight (they have been working without a contract for 18 months,) many said that a strike was not the way to solve the problem. The musicians say that they are open to further negotiations, but none are scheduled before the Monday strike deadline.
Dreaming Of A Better Tomorrow In Cincinnati
As you might expect, Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Järvi would like to have some input into the proposed renovation of his orchestra’s concert hall. One problem with the existing hall is that it seats 3,400 – almost 1,000 more than the average American orchestral venue – and there is a “constant perception of underachieving” even when attendance is good. But Järvi’s first concern is not for his musicians, but for the audience: “a drink before the concert in a trendy new bar, dinner afterward in a Music Hall café, a place to buy CDs and books, and great music” are all parts of the modern concertgoing experience, and orchestras are increasingly looking to up their “hip” factor as a way of attracting new audiences.