Category: music

“The live music industry stuttered last year, analysts have revealed. In the UK, live music revenues dropped by 6.7%, after a decade of growth that saw income increase by 9.4% in 2009 and 13% in 2008.”

“The project has opened up the library’s archive with an initial posting of more than 10,000 pre-1925 recordings from the Victor record label, now under the Sony Music umbrella. The recordings span jazz, blues, ethnic folk, gospel, pop, spoken word, comedy and other genres dating to the early 20th century.”

“The recorded music business has shrunk dramatically. But people’s interest in music is higher than ever. We’re going to have an Arab Spring in technology that will liberate the people who create content from the influence of guys who have dominated them for a long time.”

“At least 7.7 million visits to events in 2009 resulted in £1.4bn being spent, equivalent to a positive contribution to the economy of £864m, UK Music said. This expenditure sustained the equivalent of 19,700 jobs, it added.”

“We on the opposing bench won 365 to 57, with 88 abstainers. How did we manage it, when the facts seemed to be so against us? Well, we mustered some pretty good arguments.”

“Met spokeswoman Lee Abrahamian said a malfunctioning encoding sensor in one of the set’s 24 aluminum planks was discovered Saturday morning as the stage was being put in place. The performance started at 12:44 p.m. — 35 minutes later than the Met planned to begin — and ended about 45 minutes behind schedule at 5:50 p.m.”

“As the Glyndebourne Festival gets under way in East Sussex next Saturday, companies are throwing off the genre’s fusty, elitist image and attracting more twenty-somethings with cut-price tickets and innovative schemes to broaden opera’s appeal. Glyndebourne is enjoying record box office sales, up 8 per cent on the same time last year.”

It is the first time that Azerbaijan has won the contest in its 56-year history, having only joined Eurovision in 2008.

“The less ego you have, the more influence you have as a conductor. And the result is that you can concentrate on the only things that really matter: the music and the people who are playing it. You are of no account whatever. But if you can help people to feel free to play as well as they can, that’s as good as it gets.”

“The maestro was so invested in what the trombones were doing on the Orchestra Hall stage that he didn’t notice an extra seat being placed in the cello section or Yo-Yo Ma then walking out with his own instrument to sit among the youth musicians being run through a special open rehearsal Monday night.”