Category: music

In Philadelphia, they’re trying: after-school programs like Play On, Philly! are now well-established, and both local musical institutions like the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Mann Center and major foundations are directing energy and money specifically to music and arts education. Yet, Peter Dobrin reminds us, there are dangers to look out for.

Seph Rodney sees a music-and-video project about the late Julius Eastman at the Sharjah Biennial.

“Switched on Pop takes the work of pop stars like Jepsen, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande seriously as music. While there is a surfeit of music criticism focused on the lyrics and personal backstories of these artists, there is little that considers the role of certain chord progressions or instrumentation. Harding and Sloan believe that the people behind today’s pop music are often brilliant composers, and that the nuance of their work is too frequently missed.”

“The decision follows a Board vote in April to suspend operations for the 2017-18 season, pending a review of the organization’s prospects.”

“This list, of the greatest albums made by women between 1964 and the present, is an intervention, a remedy, a correction of the historical record and hopefully the start of a new conversation. Compiled by nearly 50 women from across NPR and the public radio system and produced in partnership with Lincoln Center, it rethinks popular music to put women at the center.”

Ann Powers: “I’m officially tired of writing about music that recognizes women when gender is the topic, but when music itself is the topic, almost always returns its focus to men. Talking about this problem with Jill [Sternheimer of Lincoln Center] and then with several of my colleagues at NPR, I began to wonder if focusing on what women have done in music, instead of constantly remarking that wow, they exist, might be a way to begin correcting this pattern.”

“SoundCloud was once a platform beloved by listeners and creators, whose leaders hoped to revolutionize the music industry. Hamstrung by management mistakes and fierce competition, they never did. Here’s the story of how it all came crashing down.”

“Mr. Jordan, 42, a well-respected, charismatic second-generation conductor who is music director of the Paris Opera and the Vienna Symphony, will succeed Franz Welser-Möst, who abruptly resigned in 2014. Mr. Welser-Möst was the most recent in a long line of eminent musicians who left the post early, whether by choice or not – a roster that includes Mahler, Richard Strauss and Herbert von Karajan.”

As the traditional win-win equilibrium between act, management, record company and promoter falls to the wayside, just like the music industry itself, the balance appears to favour the profit-oriented large promoters.