Blog

Is Variable Ticket Pricing Good For Business?

A limited study of Broadway ticket pricing practices, under which two people sitting in the same section of a given theater may have paid wildly different prices depending on when and where they bought their tickets, suggests that, contrary to some industry concerns, variable pricing doesn’t seem to make consumers unhappy. “[C]onsumers were largely unaffected by price discrimination relative to uniform pricing, while producers experienced a 5 percent increase in profits… [O]n average, it looks like it didn’t make much difference to consumers whether there was price discrimination or not.”

RIAA Sues 477 More

The Recording Industry Association of America has sued another 477 alleged illegal file-swappers, who the industry claims are undermining commerce and causing a prolonged slump in music sales. The new round of lawsuits brings the total number of sued swappers to 2,454.

Cleveland Orch Spurns Proms Over Web Payments

The Cleveland Orchestra has declined an invitation to perform at the BBC Proms because its concerts would be webcast on a BBC website with no additional payment to the Cleveland musicians. Norman Lebrecht cannot believe his ears: “Open access is what makes the Proms a magnet for the world’s great orchestras who, after the formalities of their overlong seasons, feast upon its effervescent atmosphere like nomads at an oasis. The trade-off is that everyone does it on the cheap… We are not talking here of the poor and downtrodden of the musical earth. The basic wage in the Cleveland Orchestra is $97,090 per annum, twice the going rate for London musicians and for less than half the work.”

Wage Gap Between Soloists And Orchestra Players Causes Discord

The gap between what orchestra musicians earn and what star soloists and conductors earn is wide. And causing some unhappiness in the ranks. “A typically eminent conductor earns, per concert, about a quarter as much as the typical full-time player earns all year. Given that most freelance orchestral contractors can expect as little as £75 per concert, the fees lavished on top conductors and soloists can rankle.”

The Confusions Of Multiculturalism

“We live in a multicultural society now, right? Well, I think we deserve a lot better from it. On the other hand, maybe Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, is right when he says we should abandon multiculturalism completely. Encourage everyone, immigrants and asylum seekers included, to embrace English culture and history as their own. Perhaps that will help to remove stereotypes for ever. But that brings up a new set of problems. What form of English culture do we all adopt? In fact, what is English culture? I do not know what that is.”

BBC To Up Culture Programming

The BBC says it will dramatically increase its arts anc culture programming. “A new arts programme called The Culture Show will air on BBC Two along with a media analysis show on BBC Four. BBC Radio 2 will relaunch its weekly arts strand and increase the number of hours it dedicates to the arts to more than 100 hours per year.”

Rattle Attacked By German Critic

Is Simon Rattle’s honeymoon as director of the Berlin Philharmonic over? He’s been attacked by a leading critic. “The article, entitled “Simon von Rattle” compared the conductor to the dictatorial Herbert von Karajan, the Berlin Phil’s last director but one, and described Sir Simon’s music-making with the orchestra as “uninspiring”, “insubstantial” and “transparent”.”