“According to the latest figures from the BPI, combined sales of digital and physical albums fell overall by 5.6% to 113.2m last year. At the industry peak in 2004, 163.4m albums were sold. Although digital album sales rose 26.6% to 26.6m, the growth failed to offset the sharp drop in sales of albums on compact disc, which fell by 12.6% year on year to 86.2m. A further 389,000 albums were sold on vinyl and other formats.”
Category: music
Wait A Minute – Just How Was That Stradivarius Test Performed?
A recent sound test of musicians playing modern instruments versus fine old Master violins might have had some flaws…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s New CEO, And The Challenges He Faces
“When symphony president Larry Tamburri resigned abruptly on Nov. 14, the symphony was already facing multimillion dollar deficits and attendance issues. Suddenly, it also needed a leader to handle those problems.” The PSO got that leader the very same day.
Israel Philharmonic Sues Document Thief
“The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra submitted a request to a Jerusalem court last week to join the suit filed by the National Library against a collector who allegedly stole hundreds of valuable documents from their archives and put them up for sale on eBay.”
Double-Blind Violin Test: Which One’s The Stradivarius?
A research team “gathered professional violinists in a hotel room in Indianapolis. They had six violins – two Strads, a Guarneri and three modern instruments. Everybody wore dark goggles so they couldn’t see which violin was which. Then the researchers told the musicians: These are all fine violins and at least one is a Stradivarius. Play, then judge the instruments.”
Are The Blues Going Extinct?
“Ever since notes could be etched on paper, no beloved music has gone completely silent, especially since recorded technology emerged in the late 19th century. But some genres have become so peripheral to American lives as to be reduced to historical footnotes. Studied by academics, performed by die-hards and applauded by connoisseurs, they’re forgotten by nearly everyone else. This is where Chicago blues is headed.”
Alexandria Opera Strike Ends; Egyptian Government Considers Staff Demands
“The Ministry of Culture assigned Monday two committees to examine the demands of the Alexandria Opera employees, who have ended their 36-day strike. The committees, which were formed after a delegation of the employees met the minister on Dec. 21, would discuss all their demands with one tasked solely with examining the financial demands.”
U2 Tops Concert Ticket Sales In 2011 With $232 Million
“The band brought in $231.9 million US in 34 shows, narrowly beating out British boy band Take That, which took in $224 million after reuniting with its popular front man, Robbie Williams. U2’s 2009 concerts earned $311 million worldwide.”
Judy Drucker’s New Florida Concert Venture Gets A Rocky Start
Earlier this year, the veteran Miami impresaria, who founded the Concert Association of Florida in 1967 and was ousted from its helm in 2007 over persistent deficits, announced a new series of four concerts featuring such artists as Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Pinchas Zukerman. Now the first two performances in the series have been postponed to allow the organization and its board – only just appointed – “to organize an agenda.”
Anger Fizzles Over Cuts In Grammy Categories
“When the group that organizes the Grammy Awards abruptly announced last April that it was cutting nearly a third of the award categories and eliminating trophies for smaller genres like Latin jazz and zydeco, it did not take long for the protests to start. … But with the awards ceremony less than two months away the steam seems to have gone out of the protests.”