With no end to the musician work stoppage in sight, the St. Louis Symphony has canceled this weekend’s concerts with music director-designate David Robertson. Meanwhile, the musicians have issued a call to other orchestras for financial assistance, and spent yesterday walking a picket line in front of Powell Symphony Hall.
Tag: 01.06.04
Over-50s – Now There’s A Market For You (Really!)
For advertisers, “neglect of the 40 per cent of adult population over 50 – sometimes known as the grey market – is nothing new.” But why? “Eighty per cent of the country’s wealth is controlled by the over-50s but 95 per cent of adspend targets people under-50; 86 per cent of over-50s say they don’t relate to most current advertising yet, for example, 66 per cent of new cars are bought by people over-45. The over-50s in employment outspend their under-50 counterparts by 20 per cent. And over the next 20 years the over-50s market in the UK will grow by 30 per cent, while the under-50s market will shrink by 5 per cent.”
Is Art Sneaking Back Into The Mainstream?
“Emerging from the domain of museums, galleries and textbooks, art seems to be a hot topic these days, appearing all around us in everyday culture. Walk into a bookstore, hit a movie, go to a play – and you may find yourself thinking about art.” From movies with titles like Mona Lisa Smile to bestsellers like The DaVinci Code to a new wave of novels whose plots evolve from the experience of looking at a single painting, fine art is sneaking its way back into middlebrow American culture.
The CDs That Could Save The Industry
A new CD technology which creates a fuller, more ambient sound for the listener is being hailed as the technology that could reverse the slide in international record sales. Super-Audio CDs (SACD) have two different layers of music embedded in them: one for “normal” CD players, and one for players equipped with the special digital capabilities that unleash layers of music previously unheard of in digital media. For audiophiles, its the best development in recording technology since the vinyl record. For the rest of the world, even the “normal” CD layer is a vast improvement over the current standard.
Coming Soon: Digital Rush Limbaugh!
In what is being touted as the biggest technological advance in the radio industry since the FM band made its debut, stations around the U.S. are preparing to begin broadcasting digital signals in addition to their standard analog transmissions. The new technology will allow radio stations to broadcast CD-quality sound, include text with the music, and even to broadcast more than one program on the same frequency. Consumers will need a digital receiver to pick up the new transmissions, and currently, only one station (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,) has begun digital broadcasting, but industry observers are expecting digital to become the new standard within the next decade.
Whitbread Finalists Announced
The Whitbread Prize for Book of the Year won’t be announced until the end of the month, but the list of finalists (one winner in each of the Whitbread’s sub-categories) is out. DBC Pierre won Best Debut Novel for his biting satire of Texan/American culture, Vernon God Little, and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was named Best Novel. A detailed portrait of George Orwell won the biography category, and the children’s book prize went to David Almond for his story, The Fire-Eaters, “a tale set in Newcastle at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
San Francisco’s New Arts Mayor?
San Francisco has a new mayor, and the city’s cultural community is optimistic. “As Gavin Newsom takes center stage in City Hall with his swearing in Thursday, San Francisco’s panoramic arts world awaits the new perspectives and conceptual shifts that may come with a new mayoral administration. Fingers are crossed – with some eyes skeptically rolling at the idea – that a kind of arts renaissance could be in the works for San Francisco in 2004 and beyond.”
Threats Deter Turks From “Ararat”
“Terrorist-style threats in Turkey are preventing people there from seeing Atom Egoyan’s Ararat and learning the truth about the country’s violent past, the Armenian National Committee of Canada says.”
What Defines A Blockbuster?
More than 25 movies grossed more than $100 million at the box office in 2003. A hundred mil is the traditional mark for declaring a film a blockbuster. But some of these “blockbusters” didn’t even recoup their production costs. “Many analysts and even studio executives say that it’s time to redefine the term “blockbuster” — or throw it out. Some argue that the label should be reserved for movies that take in $200 million because that remains rarefied air: Six movies topped that mark in 2003.”
Broadway Gets A Mid-Winter Perking Up
Broadway had a particularly tough autumn. But “as the New York theatre world welcomed in 2004, it seemed to have popped a couple of hits of Viagra, putting a temporary spring in its step from big Christmas and New Year’s weeks, supported by last-minute rushes for tickets to shows closing out their long runs. Cabaret and Take Me Out shuttered on Sunday, and Urinetown will follow on Jan. 18.”