Category: music

“British cellphone carriers are starting to let users enjoy unlimited over-the-air music downloads, and similar services could hit the United States this year.”

“Animal welfare groups have roared their disapproval at an opera company for using two lions and a cheetah during live performances of Verdi’s Aida. ‘On stage, there’s a large orchestra, two complete choruses, lighting and noise. Aida is also what I’d called a ‘busy’ production with a lot going on. Is it sensible or fair to put these animals through all that just for authenticity?”

iTunes is the biggest online seller of music. But Apple may be rethinking how it sells music, offering a subscription service. “Apple’s position might be changing, in part because of competition in the online music market, where music is increasingly sold without digital copyright protections that keep it tied to one device.”

“American conductor Dennis Russell Davies will take on the position of music director of the Basel Symphony Orchestra in 2009. Davies, who is also chief conductor and music director of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the Linz Opera, will hold the post for five years.”

The Royal Opera House is turning Robin Hood in a move to make high culture more affordable for a new audience. From next season it will send its top price tickets to a steepling £210 each for popular productions, and use the extra money to make a raft of seats cheaper.

New York’s Metropolitan Opera is having trouble getting through a single performance of its current production of Tristan und Isolde without someone either taking ill or getting injured by a piece of scenery. And a glance at operatic history makes clear that none of this is terribly unusual.

The city of Dallas has agreed to hire an acoustical expert in an effort to alleviate a dispute over the placement of a new outdoor concert venue in the city’s arts district. The Dallas Symphony, which plays next door to the proposed stage, is concerned about noise levels.

While orchestral troubles in Columbus have been grabbing the headlines lately, the Shreveport Symphony is in even more dire straits, with a proposal on the table to convert all of its full-time musicians to pay-per-service freelancers, which would amount to a 75% pay cut. Even the musicians say they aren’t sure whether the necessary support exists to keep the ensemble afloat.

“There are too many people willing to give away their music for it to be worth anything. This is the ‘zero marginal cost’ model, where things can be distributed without appreciable cost. This is a case where the product has become free because of sheer economic gravity, with or without a business model.”