A new sponsorship deal between UBS, an international wealth management firm, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra is getting some attention in the music industry. Under the deal, UBS will contribute over $1 million to the orchestra, in exchange for which the company’s logo will be featured prominently in program books and orchestra advertising, and will also receive special recognition at four concerts in the 2004-05 season. It’s a more blatant marketing strategy than many orchestras have been comfortable with, but with corporate support ever more important for the survival of the industry, the deal may be a harbinger.
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Barenboim To Miss CSO Season Opener
Conductor Daniel Barenboim will miss the opening of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s new season after doctors advised him not to travel from his home in Berlin. Barenboim is being treated for several herniated discs in his back. Sir Andrew Davis, of the Chicago Lyric Opera, will lead the CSO this weekend in Barenboim’s stead. So far, the orchestra expects Barenboim to return for his scheduled concerts later in the month, but isn’t making any guarantees.
Court: Sampling is Stealing
“A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music.” Other courts had already ruled that recognizable “samples” of another artist’s work required payment, but the new ruling would make even the appropriation of a single note a matter requiring permission and payment. Some in the hip-hop industry are aghast…
Mel’s Passion Trumps Jackson’s Rings
DVD and VHS sales of Mel Gibson’s ultraviolent religious paean, The Passion of the Christ, have gone through the roof, breaking the all-time record for U.S. sales of a live-action movie, which had been held by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Astonishingly, the DVD version of Passion contains none of the “extras” that filmbuyers usually crave. A massive e-mail and print marketing campaign appears to have helped sales: “More than six million Christian homes received e-mails about the DVD release of the controversial religious epic, and churches were also offered deals on bulk orders of the film.”
Culturally Olympicizing
Now an ambitious plan for a kind of cultural Olympics. The World Culture Open is considered by its organizers to be “a combination of the Olympics and the Nobel Peace Prize to encourage and provide money for arts groups that emphasize cultural understanding, something they feel neither the United Nations nor other international groups do in a comprehensive way.”
National Theatre’s Record Season
London’s National Theatre has had a record year at the box office. “The experiment of using sponsorship to slash ticket prices for half the seats in the largest auditorium throughout the summer paid dividends. Sceptics feared it would give regulars a cheap night out, but the season attracted 50,000 first timers. A third of those returned regularly, buying full-price tickets for other shows. Overall the National sold 750,000 tickets, an 11% rise on the previous year.”
At The National: Cheap Tickets Make Good Business
“The National’s success with £10 tickets reinforces a basic law of economics. As budget airlines found, passengers will fly to remote destinations if the price is right, so theatre-goers will fill the stalls. Yet theatres must reassure their audience that quality has not been discounted along with the ticket price, or risk suffering the fate of the Savoy Opera earlier this year.”
Republican Convention Defeats Broadway
The Republican Convention was death on Broadway box office. “For the week ending Sun., Sept. 5, all but five of the 22 shows running on the Main Stem suffered significant shortfalls at the box office.”
Petition: Save Broadway Recordings
Seventeen thousand people have signed a protest over the decline of the Broadway original cast album. “Original cast recordings are on the verge of extinction. More and more record executives consider cast recordings a waste of time and money, and have made it clear that the days of recording Broadway shows are numbered.”
Some Art Dealers Tread Into Presidential Politics
“Art dealers are typically cautious not to offend their clientele by taking strong positions on controversial topics. This year, however, the rules have changed. Dealers and artists in New York have become visibly politicised and have been actively raising funds and campaigning for Democratic candidate John Kerry in the run up to the US presidential election on 2 November.”