Category: AUDIENCE

Where Classical Music Has Become An Obsession

Inna Faliks: “Seventy-five percent of my students at UCLA are Chinese or Chinese American. Pianists from China, after graduating from the best music schools in Europe and the United States, return home to pass on classical music traditions in their own distinct ways. This musical exchange is exponentially growing. Concert halls may remain empty in our nation’s cities, especially when traditional classical recitals are offered by a non-household name, but in China, playing a Beethoven or Chopin program is not boring or unhip. Chinese audiences are hungry for more.” – Washington Post

Quality Versus Quantity: Has “Engagement” Become A Meaningless Measure?

The quantity-vs.-quality debate is now meaningless. Quality is in the eyes of the beholder. We may yearn for a narrative to explain how and why, but that’s not how the digital world works. The algorithmic curation that controls what you do or do not see on every social media company’s newsfeed isn’t programmed to provide you with an emotionally satisfying narrative; it is continuously tuned to keep you engaged and clicking or tapping. So if your key metric is engagement or completed views, “5 Ways to Bounce a Quarter Off of Kim Kardashian’s Butt” or a video of a horrible disaster will always outperform less clickbaity titles or subjects. – Shelly Palmer

The Disney/Fox Merger Has Forever Changed Hollywood

Disney and Netflix offer the two clearest visions of Hollywood’s future. The former is a media company that’s as old-fashioned as they come, trying to make movies that will pull audiences en masse to the theater. The latter is a tech company that’s largely uninterested in the theater business but has won subscriber loyalty by offering a wealth of viewing options. As the cinema business continues to evolve, perhaps only the biggest films will survive as in-theater experiences, with streaming becoming an equally profitable venue.  – The Atlantic

This Broadway Star Would Love To Make Theatre More Affordable

Playing Eliza Doolittle right now on Broadway, Laura Benanti (whom people might know as the actor who has played Melania Trump on The Late Show) says, “If I could wave a magic wand, ticket prices would be affordable so that people could bring their families, and it doesn’t become theatre for a rich audience. It can be more theatre for the masses.” – The Stage (UK)

How Rome Is Using Technology To Make Its Amazing History Visible In The Streets

There’s a digital renaissance underway in the Eternal City and it is helping to shed a light on the past – quite literally. From video projections cast upon ancient walls and multimedia light shows to virtual reconstructions revealed through 3D visors, technology is being used to help tell the story of Rome in a more concrete and compelling way. – Forbes

In A Country With Few Public Libraries, Ordinary Citizens Create Their Own

There’s the tuk-tuk bookmobile toodling around Jakarta schools. “There is the Perahu Pustaka, a library boat that sails around West Sulawesi. There are libraries on the back of vegetable carts, shelves lugged around by horses in Serang and in West Papua. Across Banten, a 200-strong motorbike gang called the Komunitas Motor Literasi (Moli), brings books to homes from a box attached to their vehicles, delivered with the ease of a takeaway.” – The Guardian

Get Out The Pitchforks! What’s The Difference Between Criticism And Intimidating Work Out Of The Market?

“When it comes to Young Adult literature, what, precisely, is the difference between the marketplace of ideas and a Twitter mob? A group of unpaid readers—one with an undeniable personal investment in the Y.A. community—seems to be doing much of the work of critique that is usually first the task of agents and editors, and then that of booksellers and critics. But, when these particular readers do that work, they are derided as pitchfork-wielding hysterics.” – The New Yorker