Technophiles have been saying for months now that “podcasting” – the do-it-yourself method of creating downloadable audio shows – will eclipse traditional radio, and a low-rated San Francisco station apparently believes the hype. KYCY-AM will shortly be converting its format from all-talk to do-it-yourself, giving a traditional broadcast outlet to podcasters across the globe. The station manager calls the “open source radio” idea a low-risk format, though it likely won’t bring in big advertising dollars at first.
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Philly Orch To Record Again
The Philadelphia Orchestra has signed with the Finnish recording label Ondine, giving it a commercial recording agreement for the first time in nearly a decade, and making it the only ensemble in the so-called “Big Five” of American orchestras to have such a contract. In signing on to the deal, the orchestra’s musicians agreed to buck the national, union-negotiated recording agreements previously adhered to by all U.S. orchestras, and forego upfront payments in favor of a revenue sharing agreement, a provision of the deal which is already very controversial among other professional orchestras.
Rethinking The Message Of Rap From The Inside
“Violence and vulgarity are hardly unique to rap. The mainstream is full of gore and borderline porn. But these tendencies are undiluted in rap, which is why many young African-Americans and Latinos who grew up embracing hip hop as a grassroots, multimedia art form now deplore rap as a cynical “neominstrelsy” being mass-marketed not just nationally but globally. This global twist is new.”
A Screen Sex Taboo Falls
“When, if ever, will an erotic film not marketed as pornography show a man and a woman enjoying spontaneous, passionate full-frontal sex? With the appearance of Michael Winterbottom’s “9 Songs,” the answer is now.”
August Wilson Completes His 100 Years
Twenty years in the writing, playwright August Wilson’s 10-play tour through 100 years of American history gets its capstone this week with a production of “Radio Golf” at the Yale Repertory Theatre.
The New Mind-Reading Machines
Are we really on the verge of inventing machines that will bee able to tell what you’re thinking? “So far, it has only been used to identify visual patterns a subject can see or has chosen to focus on. But the researchers speculate the approach might be extended to probe a person’s awareness, focus of attention, memory and movement intention. In the meantime, it could help doctors work out if patients apparently in a coma are actually conscious.”
Call To Arms: Protect Culture From Attack
Britain’s cultural institutions have to take a stronger stand to resist attacks on culture says a prominent theatre manager. “When something from outside comes to threaten the existence of a particular piece of work, what is the function of the arts council? Its remit to protect the arts comes into profile.”
Toronto Film Center Gets $25 Million
The Canadian government has committed $25 million toward a new Film Center for the Toronto International Film Festival. “Tuesday’s announcement brings the total amount raised to $94.7 million to date. However, organizers still have a long way to go before a groundbreaking ceremony – expected for next spring. The campaign goal is to raise $196 million, designated to pay for capital funding, the creation of an endowment fund and ongoing operational costs.”
Gossip Rules – Art Of The Buzz
Jerry Saltz ponders the cult of personalities and gossip currently flashing through the New York art world. “Gallerist Kenny Schachter describes the phase we’re in as “economics-ism” and “bottom-line aesthetics,” by which I think he means that now art is considered successful if it’s shown in a gallery or bought by collectors. Fitting in and conforming have become aesthetic criteria. Tautology rules. Many artists find all this depressing and regularly disparage the carousing and ask if it’s possible to get their work out without behaving in bogus ways. Not to sound like a Creed song, but no matter how serious an artist is, it’s almost impossible to behave this flippantly and still maintain one’s credibility.”
Why A Pop Music Conference Rocks – Money
Seattle’s Experience Music Project pop music conference is compellingly interesting, writes Robert Cristgau. “The short explanation is that EMP isn’t exclusively academic—of the 180 presenters this year, only 84 ID’d themselves that way, including many grad students and wearers of multiple hats. Nor were all the nonacademics journalists; we heard from several alt bizzers and quite a few artists, literary and performance as well as musical. Big tent is a fantasy often invoked and seldom achieved in cultural studies circles. But beyond the boldness, imagination, and actually existing openness, EMP’s tent is so roomy for one simple reason: money.