To hear some “pro-family” groups and government regulators tell it, you would think that America’s television screens had recently been hijacked by a marauding band of pornographers, and that the future of the republic depended on their being beaten back. Frank Rich has had it with the so-called “moral values” crowd and their false piety, especially since even a cursory investigation reveals that no one seems to get exercised about TV smut until they’re instructed to do so by well-funded professional outrage groups. Even worse, the supposed stacks of complaints received by the FCC regarding certain televised “incidents” have been grossly exaggerated, and usually consist of dozens of carbon copies of the same professionally generated complaint letter.
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Naxos Goes Modern
Mention Naxos, the low-budget, high-volume classical label that has been one of the only success stories in an otherwise-blighted corner of the record industry over the last decade, and you won’t find a lot of love from many musicians and other guardians of high recording fees and big-name promotions. But Naxos is quietly expanding its reach in the music world, and a major new project has the company commissioning, recording, and promoting a series of ten new string quartets from the British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. “The conventional wisdom at most major labels is that it’s hard enough to sell new music. Going out and helping it come into being is virtually unprecedented.”
Saatchi vs. Tate, Yet Again
“The longstanding rivalry between Charles Saatchi, the British advertising magnate and art collector, and Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate here, is heating up again. Mr. Saatchi says Sir Nicholas turned down his offer to give the Tate his entire collection, while Sir Nicholas says no such offer was made.” There has long been bad blood between these two heavyweights of the British art world: Saatchi believes the Tate is stuffy and uninterested in seriously promoting new Brit-art, while the leadership of Tate Modern views Saatchi as a cowboy more interested in generating controversy and winning turf wars than securing the future of art.
The More The Merrier In Denver
Nothing strikes terror into the hearts of planners of local holiday shows like the news that the Rockettes are coming to town. The touring version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has been a mass-marketing juggernaut in many cities, severely cutting into ticket sales for local productions of The Nutcracker and other holiday favorites. But in Denver, where the Radio City show is debuting this year, “the show’s ubiquitous advertising and numerous public appearances have brought earlier and increased awareness to all consumers of their impending holiday entertainment choices. And early returns indicate everyone seems to have benefited.”
Putting The Public Back In Public Art
Chicago artists have long complained that the city’s public art program is unnecessarily secretive and unresponsive to public concerns. A corporate lawyer named Scott Hodes has been fighting to get the program’s inner workings open to scrutiny for years, and now, he appears to have won. Among other accusations of impropriety, Hodes “alleged that $20,600 in program funds were improperly channeled to artists and apprentices through a charity directed by [Chicago’s First Lady Maggie] Daley.” The city, which has always maintained that the program operates completely above board, has now agreed to meet with Hodes and, presumably, to satisfy his demands for a more transparent process.
UK City Seeks To Ban Anti-Gay Music
Brighton city council members want to prohibit the sale of anti-gay music in the city. “They passed a motion this week urging Virgin Megastore, HMV and MVC in Brighton not to stock music by certain reggae artists who have been accused of glorifying the killing of gay people.”
Stolen Mexican Art In San Diego Museum?
“Four years ago, thieves broke into a Mexican church in the tiny community of San Juan Tepemazalco and stole an 18th-century painting of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. U.S. authorities are now investigating a claim by Mexican officials that the Spanish colonial work by an unknown artist has ended up at the San Diego Museum.”
Legal Downloads Boost Music’s Bottom Line
Sales of music singles are down again. But legal downloads are soaring. “Around 1.75 million download tracks were purchased during the quarter, compared with 7.3 million singles. And download sales, currently running at around 250,000 a week, are expected to accelerate around Christmas time as thousands of digital players are received as gifts. Had digital sales been added to the overall total, the market would have shown a 9% increase on the previous quarter rather than a 12% decline.”
Borders Reluctantly Signs Union Deal
A Borders bookstore in Minneapolis has approved a new union contract for its workers. The move is significant because the outlet is only the second Borders store in the country to go union, and the contract comes more than two years after workers had initially voted to unionize. During the interim, the workers who organized the union drive quit in disgust and the company was accused of trying to break the workers’ resolve through intimidation. Now, the hope from the union is that the contract will provide it an opening into other area booksellers.
Corcoran Cancels Cuban Event
“Amid questions about the propriety of the event, the Corcoran Gallery of Art yesterday abruptly postponed a cultural program it planned to sponsor next week in cooperation with Cuban diplomats.” The gallery is claiming that timing issues were responsible for the cancellation, but pressure from the U.S. State Department may have played a role as well.