Category: music

Andrew Druckenbrod is unimpressed with a new study. “It is apples and oranges to compare nonprofits to the private sector, and small organizations to large companies. And why is there a need to only target musicians, and musician unions? What about the increase of fees and salaries for guest soloists, conductors and executives?!”

“Lawyer Maxim Viktorov invited the cream of Moscow society to the private concert at Pashkov House to show off the Guarneri del Gesù violin he bought at Sotheby’s in February for a record-breaking $3.9m (nearly £2m).”

“Like retail music stores, which saw a 16 per cent fall in sales in 2007, libraries are finding that their music offerings are slowly becoming obsolete. Combatting the decline in CD usage by offering a digital alternative is expected to take months, if not years.”

“In a triumph of middle England over the European continent’s great litany of classical giants, Vaughan Williams, whose great-uncle was Charles Darwin and who hailed from Gloucestershire, has been awarded the top spot in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame for the second year in a row.”

“As in other areas of media, the music industry is finally starting to come around to the difficult truth that we now live in a world in which consumers expect information and entertainment to be free. With increasing evidence that many people suffer from iPod fatigue — they know too well what’s stored on their player and they crave surprise — several companies are trying to figure out what blend of user-generated content and expert guidance will attract an audience.”

The Abbey of the Holy Cross monks, whose heavenly notes are enjoyed by Pope Benedict, have signed with London-based Universal Records, the company told Reuters on Monday.

“From Porgy to John Adams, via Bernstein and Menotti, the pantheon of great American operas remains, as yet, a contradiction in terms. The Great American Songbook contains far richer fare.”

“The company has come to be loathed by concertgoers for adding an average of 25 percent to advertised prices through its steep service fees. But the dominant, some would say monopolistic force in ticketing is showing chinks in its armor at every level of its business here in Chicago.”

“Illnesses have knocked out stars at dizzying speed, with six singers making unscheduled debuts in leading roles over 13 days.”

Muicians are gaining fans through MySpace pages. But “according to data provided to Billboard from Yahoo those searching for artist information are selecting the Wikipedia entry link over artists’ MySpace pages by a factor of more than 2-to-1. The Wikipedia entries are also more popular than artists’ Web sites.”