“The rush is on to deliver music and video to mobile phones, with wireless providers and device makers jockeying for position to grab their share of the payday, all parties mindful of the surprising billions being spent on musical ringtones. At the same time, the media companies who produce the entertainment, which also includes video games, are approaching cautiously, determined to avert any Napster-like, file-sharing bonanza among cell phone users.”
Blog
Youngstown Symphony Releases Music Director
Why did the Youngstown [Ohio] Symphony part ways with music director Isaiah Jackson earlier this month? “Though some say Jackson lifted the orchestra during his nine years as director, confusion has superseded accomplishment since the Symphony Society made it appear nine days ago as if Jackson had made the decision to not renew his contract. It remains unclear why he was let go, who initiated the departure and why the board never discussed his contract with him.”
Curtis Institute Chooses New Director
Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute has chosen Roberto Díaz, 44 – “principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, active soloist, and Curtis faculty member” – to succeed Gary Graffman as director. “Díaz’s candidacy was a late entry in the search process, but he was the unanimous choice of the 12-member search committee.”
A Supreme Court Case That Could Change The Course Of Technology
The US Supreme Court hears arguments in a case this week that could determine the future development of technology. “The highly anticipated case, MGM Studios v. Grokster, pits all the major movie studios and record labels against Grokster and StreamCast Networks, two operators of file-sharing services.” The case is an appeal of a decision that “file-sharing companies are not liable for their users’ copyright infringement. The decision upheld a lower-court ruling from April 2003.”
Emmy Tape Ban Angers TV Writers
TV journalists are complaining that access to tapes of performances nominated for daytime Emmys has been “shut off, and the National Television Academy won’t even let them know which specific episodes are being judged. The head of the committee that instituted the ban conceded it was done because some academy members were annoyed at previous years’ stories written about the awards, but characterized the decision as innocuous.”
Moscow Art Exhibiters Fined For Blasphemy
“A Moscow court has found the organisers of an art exhibition guilty of inciting religious hatred and fined them 100,000 roubles (£2,000; $3,600) each. The January 2003 exhibition called “Caution! Religion” was staged by the Sakharov Museum, named after the Soviet-era dissident Andrei Sakharov.”
Storing Art Out In Public
The Brooklyn Museum’s Luce Center for American Art is “among a growing number of visible storage centers in the world. Art experts say visible storage is a good option for museums to show the public the breadth of a specific collection, but they caution that it must be used to complement, not to replace, traditional exhibits. At the Brooklyn Museum, about 800 objects are housed in the Luce Center, including all American paintings not formerly on display. There are thousands more decorative objects, such as spoons, teapots and toasters, still in storage.”
Fire Consumes Moscow Art Market
A fire Saturday swept through a sprawling Moscow art market noted for a wide array of Russian handicrafts and Soviet-era trinkets and replicas, leaving at least one woman dead and another injured.
Ireland Talks About Taxing Artists
For more than three decades, Ireland has encouraged artists by providing “tax-free status on income from original works considered to be of creative, artistic or cultural merit. To qualify, a sample or copy of work must be submitted to the Revenue Commissioners. The scheme costs an estimated €35 million a year in lost taxation revenue.” Now a list of artists benefiting from the plan has been published under the Freedom of Information Act, and it includes “the names of most authors, artists and musicians who came to prominence in the late 1990s.” As least one political party says high-earning artists should start paying tax.
Big Mac: Product Placement In Rap Lyrics?
McDonald’s is “reported to be launching a campaign that will offer financial incentives to rap artists who mention its Big Mac burger in their lyrics. McDonald’s will not pay an upfront fee, but intends to pay the artist between $1 and $5 (53p-£2.68) each time a track is played on the radio. It hopes to have several such songs on the airwaves by the summer.”