Pretty much all music magazines are written for younger fans. But what about older adults? They still like music too. A new music magazine called Tracks hopes to reach that market. “Older consumers generally do not excite advertisers, and Tracks’ first issue has little in the way of ads from companies that are not record labels. But older consumers, whether out of technological impairment or a habit of collecting, still actually buy music. So as the music industry has watched sales drop 30 percent over the last few years, these listeners – and readers – have a special, and growing, power in the music industry.”
Category: music
Where’s The “People” In The “People’s Opera”?
New York City Opera has been “aggressively lobbying to be named the flagship institution in the new cultural presence at ground zero. To its evident surprise, it has encountered resistance. As of this writing, no decision has been announced, but the downtown powers seem to want a greater diversity of artistic expression. City Opera represented that last flush of idealism in which the common man was to be bettered by high culture. What caused the erosion of that old sense of obligation, and why does our ‘people’s opera’ no longer seem popular — or even welcome — at ground zero? The answer, not to be judgmental about it, is the rise of popular culture.”
Lang – Full Of Himself?
The young pianist Lang Lang is being extravagantly touted as the future of classical music. “Far from being intimidated by the pressure, Mr. Lang seems to be high on his success. But as on other recent occasions, his playing suggested that success is going to his head. When he first gained attention in the United States in 1999 at 17 he seemed an unformed but musically intuitive pianist with a white-hot, brilliant technique and an exuberant personality. On Friday, though, for all its color, flair and energy, his playing was often incoherent, self-indulgent and slam-bang crass.”
The Berlin Phil’s Philadelphia Drought
Why hasn’t the Berlin Philharmonic not performed in Philadelphia since 1955? Well, there’s was that time that Ormandy snubbed Karajan, and…
McDonald’s To Give Away A Billion Songs
“In a dramatic move that gives a thumbs up to the music industry’s efforts at creating legal alternatives to file sharing, McDonald’s plans to give away up to 1 billion songs in a marketing campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter.” The company will buy the tracks (at 99 center per) from iTunes.
iTunes As Apple Loss Leader
That 99-cent price to download music from iTunes still seems a little high to some, especially since it costs nothing for the recording companies to produce it. But then, Apple’s got to make some money too, right? Wrong. Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that all of that 99 cents goes back to the copyright holders – the recording companies, not artists. That makes iTunes a loss-leader. So how is Apple making money on the deal? Selling iPods…
Pittsburgh In Rome
The Pittsburgh Symphony will be the first US orchestra to perform at the Vatican. “The concert, featuring a performance of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, will recognise the interfaith efforts of Pope John Paul II, said the orchestra.”
When Familiarity Leads To Contempt
It’s not true that you can’t play a song too much. “It’s unclear when a tune crosses the line to become contemptibly over-familiar, but I always know the boundary has been crossed when I automatically start reaching for the radio dial or the remote control because it’s coming on again. ‘Oh, well. Another one retired.’ It’s never a great feeling when a song you once loved suddenly triggers indifference bordering on revulsion.”
New Jersey Opera Festival Calls It Quits
The well-regarded Opera Festival of New Jersey, a summer music fiestival, has announced it is closing because of financial pressures. “The festival, which was founded in Lawrenceville, N.J., 20 years ago and has been praised by critics as a highlight of the region’s summer classical music season, has been troubled by debt since it moved to the McCarter Theater in Princeton five years ago. A spokesman said the festival ended its 2003 fiscal year just under $700,000 in debt.”
A Music Museum For Washington DC?
Plans for a $200 million music museum to be built in Washington DC, were unveiled this week. “Supporters want a 155,000-square-foot museum included in the 10-acre redevelopment of the old D.C. Convention Center site six blocks east of the White House. The museum would contain three theaters, with 3,200, 750, and 250 seats for different types of performances. It would have 50,000 square feet of exhibit space for memorabilia and artifacts, many contributed by the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress.”