Category: issues

The Federal Trade Commission brought representatives of the recording industry together with purveyors of peer-to-peer file sharing networks last week for a two-day workshop designed to find common ground between the warring factions. There doesn’t appear to be much, but at the very least, such face-to-face meetings take away both sides’ ability to posture, and force everyone involved to consider the logic of the opposing position. Still, peer-to-peer network operators insist that the recording industry isn’t interested in any partnership that doesn’t completely wipe out file sharing, and solutions appear to be a long way off.

“Discussions about body size are on the upswing, as pop culture – apparently trying to keep pace with news reports about obesity among Americans – is generating entertainment that deals with being fat. From Broadway to books, reality TV to the movies, the lives of the overweight are being mined for laughs and drama – giving a voice to those who typically don’t get heard, and testing the theory that society is becoming more tolerant of bigger bodies.”

The Swiss parliament has voted to cut the budget of the Swiss Arts Council because it supported a controversial exhibition in Paris. “Entitled “Swiss-Swiss Democracy”, the exhibition contains an attack on the justice minister and rightwing People’s Party figurehead, Christoph Blocher. It also takes aim at the country’s system of direct democracy.”

Theatres and concert halls are going to greater and great lengths to try to get audiences to turn off their cell phones during performances. How about this pitch in a San Francisco theatre: “Dinner for two before the show: $60. Parking for the evening: $18. Ninety minutes of live entertainment without the annoyance of ringing cell phones, beeping pagers or chatty neighbors: priceless. Thank you and enjoy the show.”

British culture minister Tessa Jowell says that it is untrue that arts funding will suffer because of a budget freeze over the next few years. “According to Ms Jowell, £53m will be freed up through running existing arts programmes more smoothly, and through efficiencies at the council.”

Statistics Canada reports that young people are a large proportion of the country’s arts audiences. “Young people attended a total of 13,500 performances in theatre, dance, music and opera in 2003, accounting for about one-quarter of the attendance figures, according to a new study from the government agency. In all, 3.8 million young people attended performances in 2003. That compares with 3.6 million in 2001 and 3.4 million in 1999.”

The ruling in the Barnes Foundation case, breaking the founder’s trust and moving the institution to downtown Philadelphia may bode ill for philanthropy in Pennsylvania. What donor won’t be afraid that a bequest might later be broken? “It cannot help but encourage courts to act more assertively to alter donations that trustees or political officials, such as state attorneys general, regard as antiquated or problematic.”

“The sense of dread engulfing Canada’s arts community is about to be lifted — for now. Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla will announce today that Ottawa is renewing its Tomorrow Starts Today arts-funding program, the Toronto Star has learned. That translates into about $200 million for 12 months starting April 1, 2005. The decision comes after months of fierce lobbying and parliamentary hearings, as well as fear, anger and frustration. And it removes a big black cloud hanging over the cultural world. The program, which has pumped more than $750 million into the arts over the past four years, was heading for a sunset on March 31, which would have been devastating.”

The regional government of Wales has announced that it will be bypassing the UK’s Arts Council and taking over the fiscal management of all the major Welsh arts groups immediately. The change marks a dramatic shift in the way the arts are funded and managed in the UK, as politicians and bureaucrats will now have absolute authority over the affected groups, without the usual democratic council of experts acting as middleman. Strangely, no one in the Welsh arts community seems to be protesting too loudly.

The chairman of New York State’s embattled Saratoga Performing Arts Center has resigned in the wake of a scathing audit which accused the center of absentee management and severe negligence in its oversight of one of the Northeast’s prominent summer arts venues. The SPAC board also canceled its planned $400,000 buyout of its president, Herb Chesbrough, which was specifically targeted for withering criticism by the auditors.