Category: music

The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and distinguished history. But the orcxhestra is in big financial trouble. “The leaders of the proud Pittsburgh Symphony are trying to portray its current situation as an opportunity, not a crisis. ‘It’s very clear that the symphony is at a defining moment in its history. It is time for new energy and new ideas. We have an opportunity for great change.”

The British government’s emergency bailout of the English National Opera came just in time. “For some time the ENO has been chronically sick. The company would have died last week had the Arts Council not intervened.”

The LA Philharmonic’s new Frank Gehry-designed concert hall is beginning to take final form. “Curvaceous and shiny as a Hollywood starlet, Disney Hall will have little trouble seducing the Philharmonic from the gloomy luxury of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion across the street. Despite its cheerful predictions, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, like other American orchestras, struggles for listeners and money. Its endowment of $57 million is precariously low for an institution of this size. Forty million dollars of a ‘quiet’ $100 million drive is said to be promised. Skeptics note the Disney’s near-death struggle for funds and believe the well may have run dry.”

Just how did a singer by the name of Eartha get nominated for a Grammy for Best Female R&B Artist? “The raw numbers tell quite a story. The albums from which Aaliyah, Ashanti, Blige and Scott’s nominated songs were taken have sold a collective 7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The total sales in SoundScan-surveyed outlets for Eartha’s album, ‘Sidebars’: 52. You didn’t hear her on radio, either. Her nominated song, ‘I’m Still Standing,’ did not appear among the top 1,000 songs played on R&B or adult R&B radio stations in 2002.”

A new music-licensing proposal for English pubs has musicians and pub owners protesting. “The bill is potentially fatal to the future of live entertainment of all kinds.” It’s described as “a central plank in the government’s drive to tackle anti-social behaviour. Overnight, live music ‘in any place’ will be illegal unless a licence or temporary entertainment notice from local authorities is obtained, with all its attendant costs and red tape. This means everything from Christmas festivities to impromptu music sessions in small, out-of-the-way pubs will be liable to penalties of up to £20,000 and six months’ imprisonment.”

British musicians protested a proposed new licensing scheme for entertainment in small pubs. “Around 500 musicians wore gags in a demonstration against the government’s licencing bill, which they claim will silence live entertainment in Britain’s pubs and clubs.” The bill will require venues in England and Wales to obtain licences from their local council for any form of entertainment, with a maximum punishment for performing without permission of £20,000 or six months in jail. Protesters claim it will hit small acoustic bands, folk singers and even carol singers and nativity plays in church halls and could kill off traditions like Morris dancing.”

The huge success of Norah Jones in a format that isn’t the standard pop formula has the recording industry rethinking… “In an era full of great voices, from Mariah Carey to Whitney Houston, that have been plugged into formats that make them more manufactured than memorable, her success is leading record executives, always on the lookout for the next big thing, to search for singers again, not just voices with hit formulas.”

“The Utica Symphony Orchestra, upstate New York’s oldest continuing orchestra, may be forced to shut down if it does not get at least $112,000 by mid-February.”

Gerald Posner goes to Detroit to talk about his new book chronicling the history of Motown and gets an earful from the audience. “Only in Detroit could you write a book and have all the main characters show up at your book lecture.” Mostly they were critical.

The recent decision of the US Supreme Court to uphold the extension of copyright terms to 95 years might be a good thing for music publishers. Might. But it discourages performers, particularly small non-profit school ensembles, from performing music written in the past century. And that can’t be good in the long run, even for publishers.