“Like it or not, the music industry is in a free fall, and things are about to change. The very foundation on which the business is structured – selling music to stores – is eroding at an astonishing pace. Sales of recorded music have fallen about 16 percent over the last two years. By contrast, sales of blank CDs jumped 40 percent in 2002, and users of the biggest online file-trading service, Kazaa, outnumber what Napster ever had.” So what’s next? Well, that depends on how quickly the industry is willing to accept the move to digital music, and embrace new paradigms. So far, though, the big labels seem content to bitch and moan and watch their business go down the drain.
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Music For The Modern Age
The sooner the industry embraces digital technology, the better off we’ll all be, says Don Tapscott. Not that internet audio is perfect – far from it. But unlike traditional media, the MP3 has created a world full of choice, and that’s what modern society demands. “This is great news for budding musicians, since music isn’t exclusionary in its use. In an increasingly hectic society, almost all of us have less time for the activities we enjoy, except listening to music. Music makes a good experience better.”
Pirates With Principles
What the anti-piracy forces in the recording industry may be missing in their quest to eradicate free download services is that their own refusal to lower CD prices despite indisuptable evidence that the cost of producing the discs is negligible has fueled such consumer mistrust that many reasonable people simply consider the free downloads to be a victimless crime. And the refusal of the industry to come up with a viable music download service of its own has merely added fuel to the fire. Lower the cost of music, say the pirates, and we’ll happily rejoin the system.
Putting The Corporate Brand On The Arts
The movement towards corporate support of the arts in the face of dwindling public funding is nothing new in the US, but the overt nature of the partnerships has been ratcheting up considerably in recent times. From new concert halls named for corporations like Disney and Verizon, to publicly touted partnerships between theatres and clothiers, the arts seem to be increasingly going the way of the sporting world in terms of corporate culture and product placement. Not everyone likes the idea, but in an era when most cultural organizations are gasping for breath, few have the temerity to argue against any system which will provide them with new revenue streams.
Calgary Back On Stage
Good news has been hard to come by in the orchestral world in the past year or two, and the sorry saga of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which ceased playing concerts and filed for bankruptcy protection last October, was one of the hardest blows. But as of last week, the CPO is back in business, and out of debt. At the inaugural reopening concert, orchestra musicians greeted concertgoers at the door to the hall, shaking their hands and thanking them for their role in rescuing the ensemble. All told, the CPO raised better than $1.5 million over the months it was inactive to satisfy its creditors.
Dogfight Over The Hundred Acre Wood
The Disney company has lost an important legal battle in its fight against a British company which claims it is entitled to a share of the profits from the “Winnie-the-Pooh” franchise. Disney acquired the rights to Pooh and the rest of A.A. Milne’s famous characters in 1961, but a judge ruled that the company had been evasive, and destroyed crucial documents relating to the true nature of the franchise ownership. Marketing of the Pooh characters nets Disney $1 billion per year in profit.
Polanski Sweeps Cesars
“Director Roman Polanski’s The Pianist has won six prizes at the Cesars – France’s version of the Oscars – including best picture.
Polanski also won the award for best director while US actor Adrien Brody won the best actor prize for the English-language film… Last year the film won the prestigious Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for six awards at next month’s Oscars ceremony.”
Layoffs In St. Paul
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, America’s only full-time professional chamber orchestra, has laid off ten administrative employees in an attempt to balance its books in the face of a shrinking endowment and below-average donations. Observers were surprised by the layoffs, since the SPCO finished last season in the black, one of only three American orchestras to do so. The ensemble survived a brush with bankruptcy a decade ago, but has operated without deficits for nine straight seasons.
Producers May Be Backing Down
There appears to be some movement in the contentious negotiations between Broadway producers and the musicians who staff the pits of the Great White Way. The central issue in the talks is over the requirement that a minimum number of musicians be employed for every show. Producers have been insisting that the policy must be eliminated outright, but sources now say that they may be willing to accept reductions in the minimums instead. Why the change of heart? It’s possible that producers aren’t as ready as they suggest to start using canned music as accompaniment to Broadway musicals.
Vivendi To Sell Off Art Holdings
“Vivendi Universal has chosen two New York auction houses to sell its modern art and photography collection – valued at about $15 million – this spring as part of an effort to decrease the Paris-based entertainment conglomerate’s multibillion-dollar debt. Christie’s will offer the modern art holding, which includes works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Mark Rothko, at an auction that has yet to be scheduled. Phillips, de Pury and Luxembourg will put the collection of photographs on the block April 25-26.”