Category: music

“Disney Hall will finally open this fall—16 tortured years after the late Lillian Disney, Walt’s widow, instigated the project with a $50 million gift. The ultimate verdict on its acoustics will come from music critics after the gala first concert on Oct. 23. But if the building does sound as good as it looks—and early reports are enthusiastic—it will be a masterpiece, even greater than the spectacular Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which made Gehry an international star in 1997.”

A coalition of 100 internet service providers is protesting against the Recording Industry Association of America’s tactics trying to force ISP’s to turn over names of customers the RIAA suspects of downloading music. The group “contends the RIAA’s enforcement tactics would essentially force its members, such as EarthLink and America Online, to act as the ‘police of the Internet’ for the recording industry’s interests.”

Supporters of the Florida Philharmonic working to revive the bankrupt orchestra announced they are abandoning their efforts. “The Philharmonic reorganization team, unable to raise enough money to save the symphony, will try instead to purchase the orchestra’s music library in the hope that it will provide the seed for a future Philharmonic in South Florida. But assembling a new orchestra will take more than a music library and may be more difficult than the fundraising effort the group abandoned.”

Microsoft announces a new deal that will allow computer users to download music from all five major recording companies. “The new venture will be accessed through Microsoft’s Windows Media Player software and will allow users to download songs from a choice of more than 200,000 by major artists.”

This summer music from rural India is scoring big audiences in Britain. “The buzz in the music industry is that bhangra and indeed other forms of Asian music are hot, and, at last, record executives and non-Asian music fans are waking up to the potential of the music.” But as the music transfers to the West, can it keep its soul?

Two of the big five music recording companies – Warner and BMG – are in final negotiations to merge. “The industry heavyweights are negotiating the nuts and bolts of combining their recorded music empires but are closing in on an agreement that would create the world’s second-biggest music company, the sources said.”

“Throughout this event-heavy summer, live concerts are being recorded onto discs and sold shortly after the performances. Post-concert CDs are typically two- or three-disc sets that sell for about $20 each. Few major acts have agreed to participate in this new concert merchandising segment, and most of the activity is taking place at small venues. Revenue has been modest. Still, two high-profile concert-CD startup companies believe they can eventually win the faith of the industry’s biggest names.”

“The chromatic scale — the musical scale that follows the notes of the piano and of which the Western seven-tone do-re-mi scale is a subset — may not be based on number ratios, as many physicists and mathematicians have proposed, but rather on human speech, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience…”

In the UK, consumers are buying songs for the ringers of their mobile phones. The tones generate huge profits for recording companies. “An estimated £70m of ringtones will be sold in 2003 – up from £40m in 2002. Most pop hits are available to buy as mobile phone rings – as are other popular tunes such as TV themes – for between £1.50 and £3.50. Many young mobile phone-owners change their ringtones regularly to keep up with the latest songs.”

The Opera Company of Brooklyn staged its “Magic Flute” over the weekend with a virtual orchestra instead of live musicians. How did it sound? “The Virtual Orchestra, developed by Realtime Music Solutions, which donated the hall and its services, behaved well. It allowed for pauses and shifts in tempo, thanks to the real-time control of an assistant at the synthesizer, and its surround loudspeakers (nearly 30 of them) created a sense of space. It sounded a little thin and tinny in the overture, but it never overpowered the singers and they appeared comfortable with their high-tech partner.”