The San Antonio Symphony had less than $500,000 in assets when it filed for bankruptcy protection last month, and more than $1 million in unpaid debts, according to court filings recently released to the public. Creditors include a telemarketing firm, an instrument insurance company, and radio giant Clear Channel.
Blog
Downloading Helps, Not Hurts, Album Sales?
A new survey conducted by a market research company suggests that people who illegally download music online are more likely to buy recorded music later. “The survey’s findings oppose the music industry’s long-standing argument that internet downloading is responsible for a slump in CD sales, with album sales falling 5% in the last year… Asked why they download music, the respondents were most likely to say it was ‘to check out music I’ve heard about but not listened to yet’ (75%) and ‘to help me decide whether to buy the CD’ (66%).” The recording industry has a survey of its own, and claims that 65% of respondents download music ‘because it’s free.’
Australian TV Strike Looms
Mere months after a potentially crippling strike was averted in America’s television industry, Australia is facing a similar action by the nation’s actor’s union, which has been embroiled in a pay dispute with broadcast networks for the better part of a year. At issue are the wages of Australian actors, who the union claims earn less than the national salary average even if they have a starring role on a hit show. Next week’s scheduled walkout is scheduled to last only a day, but the union is prepared to go farther, with television producers threatening that such action could result in popular TV shows being pulled off the air for good.
ArtsJournal As An Idea
Addictions can be good or bad, writes John Rockwell. But “certainly the presence of a Web site called ArtsJournal.com has added something important to cultural discourse…”
A Canon Of Geniuses (Aren’t We All?)
“The very idea of a canon of geniuses may be falling by the wayside; it makes more sense to talk about the flickering brilliance of a group, a place, or a people. In the future, it seems, everyone will be a genius for fifteen minutes. The past decade has seen the rise of pop-music studies, which is dedicated to the idea that Ellington, Hank Williams, and the Velvet Underground were created equal and deserve the same sort of scholarly scrutiny that used to be bestowed only on Bach and sons. Pop-music courses draw crowds of students on college campuses, and academic presses are putting out portentous titles…”
Classic Rethink (In Context, Please)
“There’s a subdivision of feminist thinking that condemns the beloved storybook ballets of the nineteenth century for their ostensible political incorrectness. All those sylphs and Wilis, it maintains, all those maidens suspended in states of enchantment represent women as frail, vulnerable creatures, deprived of power over their own destinies, the victims—often in the name of love—of dominant men. I think it’s absurd to apply sociological convictions and agendas to aesthetic creations—particularly when it comes to the sociology of one era and the art of another.”
WTC Redevelopers To Artists: Come On Down
The group overseeing redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is soliciting arts groups that might want to be part of the project. “The ‘Invitation to Cultural Institutions for the World Trade Center Site’ is a nine-page ‘request for information’ that also provides the first glimpse into how much space, in terms of square feet, may be allotted to arts groups as the area rejuvenates.”
The End Of TV Advertising As We Know It?
New tracking data obtained by monitoring Tivo users suggests that TV advertising will be turned upside down. “This is the beginning of the end of that drunken orgy of dollars spent on broadcast TV as the ultimate ‘reach’ vehicle. Certain genres of programming are ‘stickier’ than others. The report said big-budget situation comedies and dramas tend to have the lowest retention and commercial-viewing rate because couch potatoes tend to record them and skip through the commercials rather than watch them live. Reality TV, news, and event programming such as the Oscars telecast, on the other hand, do significantly better at getting viewers to see the commercials.”
Prime Ministers Attack BBC
The BBC is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest broadcasters. But currently the Beeb is in an “unusually nasty and high-stakes clashes with two prime ministers: Labor leader Tony Blair at home, and Ariel Sharon in Israel.” The two leaders have have vehemently protested the network’s coverage of their recent military actions and “accused the BBC of being reckless and unethical in recent coverage. Both prime ministers have fought back ferociously, contending the broadcaster’s lofty reputation makes it impossible to shrug off stories they believe are wrong. These are not polite protests.”
Is HBO Returning To Ho-Hum TV-Land?
HBO has long been thought to be a cut or two above broadcast networks. Its original series are acclaimed, and it has often seemed willing to take risks that over-the-air newtorks will not. But, “its oft-repeated slogan notwithstanding, lately the service looks very much like it is TV in some respects — being held up by ego-inflated stars, hanging on to aging franchises, bristling at an attack of the clones by competitors, and watching quality series disappoint ratings-wise.”