Category: music

The world’s largest producer of CDs has announced that it will drop the price of the average disc sold in the U.S. by 30% this fall. Universal, which has suffered from a 3-year slump in album sales, will lower the retail price of an average CD from $17-$19 to $13, and lower the wholesale cost from $12.02 to $9.09. The price cut is seen as an acknowledgement by Universal that the problems of the industry go beyond the phenomenon of online piracy, and that consumers are no longer content to pay inflated prices for pop music.

As CD sales have dropped 15 percent in the past two years, recording companies have become more shrill in their contention that piracy is hurting their business. On the other hand, maybe CD prices are just too high. So Universal – one of the Big Five – is dropping its album prices. Come October, the company will lower the “suggested” price in the US for most CDs to $13 – down from $17-19.

An EMI exec defends the pricing system for CDs. “The gap between the perception of how record companies like EMI work and the actual reality is now a chasm. I sometimes wonder if it’s because music is intangible that people forget that there are many more costs involved than merely manufacturing a piece of plastic.”

The Detroit Symphony is moving into a renewed home this fall. But that home will be part of a new complex of cultural groups – a new Detroit High School for the Fine, Performing and Communication Arts be built there. “The $122.5 million high school is under construction, and after it opens in 2005, its 1,200 students will study in closer contact with symphony musicians than almost any students anywhere. Detroit Public Television will open a studio there, and there will also be a 50,000-watt AM radio station.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s contract with its musicians doesn’t expire for another year, but the orchestra’s board chairman wants to reopen negotiations immediately, and to get a new labor deal in place before the start of the season later this month. According to chairman Richard Smoot, the orchestra is pursuing some massive financial gifts, but donors are only willing to lay their money on the line if the organization can bring its financial situation under control. Among the management proposals being floated are plans to reduce the size of the orchestra through attrition, to replace unionized substitute players with students, and to delay scheduled raises for the musicians by a year.

No writer in the history of the English language has had as many operas, ballets, and other musical works written around his words than William Shakespeare. But there are some rather big stumbling blocks in the path of any composer attempting to add his/her imprint to The Bard’s work. Says one director, “It’s almost like trying to choreograph a Beethoven symphony… It’s already there; you don’t need to add an extra level of music onto it.”

A battle is brewing over a $1.7 million bequest made to the Victoria State Opera, which was taken over by Opera Australia in 1996. Opera Australia believes it is entitled to the money, but others believe the bequest ought to b e divided among other small Australian opera companies.

When the recording industry began going after individuals for the practice of illegal online ‘song-swapping,’ many predicted that the pirates would not be cowed. At least one target of the industry’s lawsuits is indeed fighting back: a US woman known as “nycfashiongirl” has filed suit against her pursuers, claiming that the industry’s tracking of her internet usage violates her right to privacy.

A researcher reports that jazz greats are “eight times more likely to have suffered from drug dependency. Dr Geoffrey Wills also found that mood disorders appeared to be four times more likely among this group of jazz greats. The psychologist said that he was not trying to imply that all jazz musicians had such problems, but that they shared the same vulnerability to mental health problems as other creative types such as writers and artists.”

This year’s Latin Grammys are being held in Miami. “For years the Latin Grammys have been mired in a debate centering on whether arts and politics associated with Cuba can ever be separated. If the event succeeds, it could greatly bolster Miami’s position as the Latin entertainment capital, organizers say. If it doesn’t, it would be another strike against a city that for years has struggled with an image of intractable political strife over Cuba.”