Category: music

eMusic, one of the oldest legal music download sites (it was founded in 1999,) is launching a redesign this week, and with it, a revised definition of its mission. Lagging well behind the subscriber numbers of downloading juggernauts RealNetworks, AOL, and MusicMatch, eMusic has decided to focus on the grossly underserved independent music market. The new eMusic catalog will offer 500,000 tracks from 3,700 indie labels, and will give the small-timers front page treatment. “The aim is to help fans locate the small, the obscure and the eccentric; help musicians find their fans; and grab a chunk of the more than $2 billion in revenues generated annually by independent music labels.”

The San Antonio Symphony’s strategy of bypassing the city’s arts board and lobbying City Council directly for funding appears to have paid off, as the SAS was awarded a $400,000 allocation last week. “But other cultural arts groups were left looking for answers — and more money. None of those 30 agencies received as much money from the city as they had requested, and some felt slighted by a council willing to break the rules for a high-profile, politically connected organization.”

Last fall, 56 of the finest cellists in the U.S. descended on Minneapolis to audition for a single open position in the Minnesota Orchestra. Some would flame out on the first phrase they attempted, while others would cloak their nervousness behind a veneer of professional calm perfected at countless other such tryouts. They would have less than ten minutes each to show what they could do…

After a weekend of ominous noises from both sides, the musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra have followed the lead of several other U.S. orchestras, extending their contract for 30 days in order to avert a strike. Both sides have also agreed to a media blackout, which would be a marked change from the nearly continuous potshots that flew back and forth over the summer.

The classical music industry is awash in reissues these days, with the aim of marketing to the nostalgia of an aging audience that can still remember learning a Brahms symphony at the business end of a phonograph. But all the remastered CDs in the world can’t replicate the enjoyment those old records brought, writes Bernard Holland, and it’s not the snap, crackle, and pop of analog recordings that’s missing, either. “We still love the Schubert symphonies, perhaps more than ever, but the excitement, the stabs of discovery, have modulated into a broader, slowly rising plane of experience, drawing on the many recordings and concerts heard since, and with a lot more room for thought.”

Following a week of increasingly public recriminations between musicians and management, the Philadelphia Orchestra has voted to authorize a strike if an agreement is not reached by midnight Monday. Musicians’ representatives walked out of a bargaining session on Friday, citing management’s unwillingness to budge from a proposed list of cuts to the musicians’ salaries and benefits. The orchestra has a history of acrimonious negotiations, and was last on strike for 64 days in 1996.

A strike by the Philadelphia Orchestra could cripple the organization and severely hurt other Center City businesses. Moreover, a work stoppage seems purely unnecessary, given the other options available. “Neither side need surrender – simply stay at the table and hammer out what they both say they want: a financially responsible future that preserves the artistic integrity of one of the world’s most beloved institutions… But management cannot expect players to absorb a combination of new rules, pay and benefit changes… without putting something beyond job guarantees on the table. These people aren’t making widgets… They deserve more respect.”

The musicians of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra have been playing without a contract for over a year, and have announced that they will skip the first two rehearsals of the season in protest of the lack of progress in negotiations. The action, which will not cancel any concerts, has led to speculation that a strike may be looming if an agreement is not reached soon.

Lyric Opera of Chicago turns 50 this year, and stands as one of the world’s most successful companies, and as one of Chicago’s most enduring arts institutions. When Lyric began presenting opera in 1954, Chicago had been without opera for eight years, and had never been host to a company of national stature. But a combination of good timing, top-notch staff, and high demand catapulted the company to national prominence almost immediately, and it’s been in the spotlight ever since.

Apple’s wildly successful iTunes service, from which consumers can download music cheaply and legally, is still the industry standard, despite ever-increasing competition. But Apple has yet to make available the music of a raft of independent record labels based in Europe, despite having signed licensing agreements with them. Since much of the most popular music in Europe and the UK is property of such labels, this is a major problem for music fans, but Apple seems to feel little sense of urgency about making the tracks avalable.