Michael Rosen blames the Reformation – truly. That time period was “when they thought the only way you could be virtuous was to be modest and serious, so humour was pushed aside, seen as frivolous … even dangerous. And that seeps through into education today, so there’s a slight fear of subversiveness or laughter, as well as a dismissal of it. And for some of us, humour is a means of survival.” – The Guardian (UK)
Category: AUDIENCE
Listenership Of BBC’s Classical Music Station Up By 16%, Tying Its All-Time Record
“The classical music station Radio 3 has recorded its joint highest audience share since records began, as listeners weary of politics take refuge in Brahms and Bach. The BBC station reached 2.13 million listeners a week in the last quarter, up 16 per cent on the same period for the previous year.” – The Times (UK)
This Study Shows Why Netflix And Movie Theatres Shouldn’t Be Enemies
“People were more likely to stream a movie when they knew it had been released in theaters, according to a new survey by Ernst & Young … Sixty two percent of the study’s respondents reported that if a movie had appeared in cinemas, they were more willing to check it on their streaming services.” – Variety
I Planned And Conducted Concerts Where We Didn’t Tell The Audience What The Program Would Be. Every Performance Sold Out.
Robert Trevino, music director of the Basque National Orchestra in Spain, writes about the restaurant meal that gave him the idea, how he and the orchestra staff planned and marketed the series (and convinced the media not to reveal the secret), and how the audiences responded. (includes complete video of concert) – Gramophone
Philadelphia Orchestra Makes Hi-Res Concert Recordings Available For Streaming — And They’re Free
“An initial batch of nearly three dozen pieces from the 2018-19 season are now available for listening on the orchestra’s website — a number that will grow over time. … The number of performances ultimately available through the new ‘Listen on Demand’ service is potentially hundreds culled from several decades.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
When Working Men Bought ‘Pride And Prejudice’ For A Penny
“Austen first emerged in penny editions in the 1890s. Penny versions were modeled on the sensational Penny Dreadfuls, those cheap stories of violence on which Britain’s lawmakers were known to blame the rise in urban crime. Operating in tandem, two newspaper giants stepped in to offer better entertainment to ‘the poorer millions.’ These alternatives were pushed as ‘Penny Delightfuls.'” And yes, poor working men and women bought and read them. – Literary Hub
Immersive Theatre Began As Innovative, Serious Art. Has It Sold Out?
“What was still considered a left-field artistic proposition a decade ago, popularised by the likes of Punchdrunk and dreamthinkspeak, has become one of theatre’s biggest commercial money-makers. Now, dozens of events across the UK are riding on the immersive gravy train.” – The Observer (UK)
AT&T Paid Billions For A Satellite TV Service That Audiences Are Fleeing By The Millions
DirecTV must have seemed like a good deal in 2015. Now, it’s absolutely hemorhagging subscribers – nearly 3 million last year alone. It’s been a dizzying fall. “DirecTV was an invention of Hughes Aircraft Co., which was founded by eccentric aviator Howard Hughes in 1932. … The service launched in 1994, attracting customers in rural areas that lacked cable TV coverage. Within a decade, DirecTV had 13 million customers. Its groundbreaking NFL Sunday Ticket package proved a big hit with sports bars and die-hard football fans.”- Los Angeles Times
No Matter How Many Problems There Are With The NFL, Hordes Of People Keep Watching The Super Bowl. What Keeps Us Hooked?
“The Super Bowl isn’t just a game. It’s the halftime show; it’s the ads; it’s the chips and guac. It is sport but also music, dance, costumes, TV production and stage design — a pop culture event greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps most important, … the Super Bowl is one of the last true vestiges of an era when we all watched the same things at the same time.” Times journalists Wesley Morris, Caryn Ganz and Austin Considine discuss. – The New York Times
In Today’s Russia, The Government Doesn’t Always Need To Bother Censoring Cutting-Edge Art
Often, gangs of far-right nationalists will do it instead — burning books, protesting outside venues, bursting into buildings to disrupt an exhibition or performance, or even (in one instance) sending a teenager with a fake ID into a gay-themed play that’s legally barred to minors, then busting the company for admitting someone underage. A Moscow correspondent looks at the case of Teatr.doc. – The Economist