A new art magazine is launching in China. Called “Art”, it will (promises its editors) be full of articles that “will be neutral and objective on the assessment of art works, while closely monitoring the movements of art market.” Will it be readable? “The magazine will adopt a simple and vivid style,” we’re assured.
Blog
Euopean Musicians Want US Royalties Paid
“According to the European Commission, musicians are losing up to $25 million a year in revenue as a result of the USA’s ongoing failure to comply with copyright obligations established with fellow members of the World Trade Organisation. Now British Music Rights, the national umbrella group representing composers, songwriters and publishers, has begun lobbying the UK government to ensure that British artists receive a fair deal when their music is played across the Atlantic.”
Auckland Orchestra’s Dire Straits
The Auckland (NZ) Philharmonia is in terrible shape. And the woes don’t just extend to funding. “According to a consultant’s report, it is wracked by internal conflict “verging on dysfunctionality”. All in all, the Philharmonia’s 25th year has become far from the celebratory occasion it should be. It need not have been this way. The orchestra’s funding difficulties can be laid, in large part, at the door of miserly local authorities.”
UK Police Bust Major Art Theft Ring
UK police have busted an art theft ring responsible for millions of pounds of art thefts from homes and galleries in the past few years. Two men and a woman have been arrested and half a million pounds worth of stolen art recovered from the Flogg It auction house in east London and several other premises. But art worth some 30 million pounds taken in thefts over the past two years was still missing.”
Dont Have A Conservatory? Import One.
Washington, D.C. is one of America’s legitimate centers of classical music, with excellent venues, a top-ten orchestra, a major opera company, and countless smaller ensembles. But the nation’s capital is missing one crucial element of a thriving classical scene: music students. “Most of the country’s great orchestras draw enormous energy from their close relationships with nearby world-class schools, and eager concertgoers can engorge themselves on their endless stream of open recitals.” The District’s Kennedy Center is attempting to fill the void with a series of recitals put on by top music schools from around the country, and so far, the results have been impressive.
Congress To Consider Censoring Cable Networks
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas) are teaming up to propose new broadcast content rules which would extend the FCC’s jurisdiction to include cable TV networks. The measure is likely to be popular in the increasingly conservative Congress, but may not pass legal muster in the federal court system. “The Supreme Court held in 2000 that cable operators aren’t subject to federal indecency rules because they are financed by subscribers who pay for access and because viewers can request that channels be blocked. Broadcasters have argued that cable should be subject to the same indecency rules as network TV.”
Reality-Based Art, Or Art-Based Reality?
“It came long ago to the worlds of music (“American Idol”), moviemaking (“Project Greenlight”) and fashion design (“Project Runway”). Now reality television is finally tackling the art world, one of the last creative frontiers still unvisited by the genre’s camera crews, harsh judges and hordes of contestants hoping to turn a little fame into a lucrative career.”
Currently A Smash Hit
Less than two months into Minnesota Public Radio’s grand new experiment – a non-commercial progressive rock station where DJs pick the music, local artists are prominently featured, and eclecticism is the rule – Twin Cities music fans have become slobbering devotees of the new station, known as The Current. Even more astonishing, the station has already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from listeners without a single traditional over-the-air public radio fund drive (DJs occasionally remind listeners to pledge money at MPR’s website). But some in Minnesota are wary of the new presence, mindful of MPR’s expansionist agenda and the network’s history of bullying smaller stations out of existence.
Life, The Universe, And Everything? Don’t Hold Your Breath.
Some prominent scientists believe that modern physics is quite close to being able to announce a Grand Unified Theory of Everything – multiply the Big Bang Theory by a couple of million and you’ve got the general idea. However, a new book argues that, while science has made undeniably great strides in the understanding of our universe in recent decades, no one is even remotely close to having a complete understanding of the way in which all of reality is bound together. The book also argues that the popular “string theory” of quantum physics is completely wrongheaded, and seems to suggest that much of what is now assumed to be fact in quantum mechanics doesn’t quite jive with reality. Meanwhile, the universe continues to exist, against all logic and reason…
Big Changes Coming To The BBC
The most venerable public broadcaster in the world will be getting a major behind-the-scenes overhaul under the terms of a new British government plan. The BBC will continue to be funded through revenue raised by the UK’s mandatory television license fee, but a new trust will replace the company’s board of governors, and will be directed to look into other methods of funding. The BBC will also be directed to buy programs from independent producers, and not to engage in a ratings chase with the UK’s for-profit broadcasters.