“What’s most striking about Hallmark’s continued yuletide success is that the network hasn’t suffered the same ratings erosion as most of its cable peers. … It’s harder than ever to get holiday TV commercials in front of holiday viewers, but Hallmark is still doing so with relative ease.” – Vulture
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AI-Powered Virtual Sheet Music Could Be Game-Changer For Musicians
Artificial intelligence experts working with musicologists at a Berlin startup have spent years gathering hundreds of thousands of published scores and creating digital editions of each of them. The Enote app will give musicians the chance to interact with sheet music by instantly transposing it, switching between movements or measures, turning pages, changing the size of scores, and printing them on the go. – The Guardian
Artist-Mathematician Anthony Hill Dead At 90
“An artist under two names, and a mathematician and writer under more than one alias, he was a member of the constructionist group of geometrical abstract artists that emerged in Britain in the mid-1950s, and was its leading theoretician.” – The Guardian
Most Musicians Earn Tiny Pittances From Streaming. China May Have A Solution
“On several streaming platforms under the umbrella of China’s Tencent Music … micropayments from fans help compensate artists where royalties fall short. This has partially allowed artists to do some smaller-scale hustling every time they release a new album. In part it’s given them a digital tip jar. But it hasn’t been all small change. … [And] there’s no reason why Tencent Music’s model can’t be applied beyond China.” – Slate
Actors Equity And SAG-AFTRA Settle Bitter Turf War Over Streamed Theater
“Under the agreement, which is tentatively scheduled to last until Dec. 31, 2021, the two unions agreed that Equity will cover work recorded for digital distribution that replaces, or supplements, a live audience.” But, by god, it had better be as close as possible to a live, in-person performance: SAG-AFTRA has put some very specific restrictions on what qualifies. – The New York Times
Director Of Cantor Museum At Stanford Ousted Over Management Style
“Susan Dackerman, director of Cantor Arts Center, has resigned under pressure after a lengthy investigation revealed a toxic work culture with heavy staff turnover and low morale at the Stanford University museum.” – San Francisco Chronicle
BuzzFeed Is Taking Over HuffPost
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Verizon Media had been reportedly trying to offload HuffPost for more than a year and has been in negotiations with BuzzFeed for several months about a sale.” The two sites will continue to operate separately, each with its own newsroom. – Variety
Academy of Ancient Music, Leading Baroque Orchestra, Names New Director
Under its founder, the late Christopher Hogwood, the AAM made many pathbreaking recordings, including the first period-instrument releases of the complete Mozart symphonies, Bach’s Magnificat, and four Handel oratorios, including Messiah; with Hogwood and his successor, Richard Egarr, the orchestra has built up a discography of more than 200 titles. Taking the reins from Egarr in the fall of 2021 will be harpsichordist/conductor Laurence Cummings, currently director of the International Handel Festival Göttingen in Germany and the London Handel Festival as well as the period orchestra in Porto, Portugal. – Pizzicato
Booker Prize 2020 Goes To Douglas Stuart’s ‘Shuggie Bain’
The Scottish-American writer’s debut novel follows the title character, an impoverished boy in 1980s Glasgow, “as he attempts to care for his alcoholic mother, Agnes, whose descent into alcoholism coincides with her youngest son’s growing awareness of his sexuality. The novel is dedicated to Stuart’s mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16.” – The Guardian
What Do You Need To Know To Have An Aesthetic Experience?
“While aesthetic experiences are universal, most people would probably agree that some of us are more aesthetically sensitive than others. But what does that really mean? In casual conversation, we’ll make claims such as This car is beautiful, and we’re prone to thinking that there is something inherent to the car that makes it aesthetically pleasing. From there, a logical deduction is that aesthetic sensitivity describes the ability to detect and appreciate beauty wherever it exists. However, I believe that the ‘beauty’ is not in the car itself, but in the perceptual processes that end with a pleasant or unpleasant visual aesthetic experience.” – Psyche