Category: music

Soundcheck Nashville is “something of the Fort Knox to the city’s music community, one that just spent six days submerged under nine feet of water, damaging millions of dollars’ worth of equipment used by musicians on thousands of recordings over the past half-century.”

“UK fans spent £1.45bn on gigs in 2009 – up 4% from the previous year. In 2008, fans spent more money on live music than recorded music for the first time in modern history, and that gap has now widened. Sales of CDs, records and digital downloads remained flat at £1.35bn in 2009. The picture has changed dramatically since 2004, when almost £2bn was spent on recorded music – more than double the amount spent on live music.”

“We’ve got markets like Spain and Italy, where [people say] ‘You buy music? What are you doing buying music when you can get it for free?’ Clearly those markets are in the situation where, unless we can turn those markets around, we’re going to have a major problem having a music business there.”

“One of the great state cultural institutions, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, is suing the culture minister for alleged financial mismanagement in a bitter row that has boiled over and is now threatening the city’s annual musical highlight, the Prague Spring International Music Festival.”

“Kiri Te Kanawa and Stephen Fry are to present programmes as part of a BBC season celebrating opera, which will be broadcast across TV, radio and the internet and which the Corporation claims is its biggest ever commitment to the art form. … ‘Opera on the BBC’ will span six weeks from May 17.”

“Despite India’s colonial past, and many attempts to establish classical roots by prominent musical figures from the Parsi community (such as the conductor Zubin Mehta), India has never taken the bait. Its own embarrassment of musical riches probably has something to do with this. … But the [London Philharmonic] is always up for a challenge.”

Nashville’s Soundcheck is, in part, “a so-called cartage company that delivers gear to the professional studio musicians when they arrive at recording sessions. That means a significant percentage of the great guitars in Music City were stored in the same place. And last week, that place was underwater.”

Reviewing the Los Angeles Philharmonic in San Francisco, “Bay Area critics dutifully remarked on Dudamel’s celebrity status and his infectious energy. But they did not give the conductor a free pass when it came to his interpretations of the Mahler — or even his physical appearance.”

“[M]ost spouses of deceased jazz greats fail to leverage their husbands’ legacies. … To be fair, many older jazz widows do not have the energy, expertise or entrepreneurial skills to take on such a venture. ‘Others don’t have the financial means or help from family members,’ says [Sue] Mingus. ‘Or they may have better things to do with their time.'”

Three Austrian psychologists have done a “meta-analysis” of the entire scientific record on the theory that listening to Mozart increases brain power. Says the lead author of the new study, “I recommend listening to Mozart to everyone, but it will not meet expectations of boosting cognitive abilities.”