It’s been decades since comedian George Carlin first gained fame with an unprintable routine he called “Seven Words You Can’t Say On The Radio.” So broadcasters and consumers nationwide were stunned recently, when the FCC announced that U.S. broadcast standards had not been violated during a live awards show broadcast on NBC, when the singer Bono used the word “fucking.” The word was allowable, said the FCC’s board of governors, because Bono had used it as an emphatic adjective, rather than as a verb meant to describe a sexual act. That’s a bit too far into the realm of semantics for FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who is now pushing for a flat ban of the word.
Tag: 01.15.04
Selling It
In what is likely to be a controversial move within the classical music industry, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra will “rebrand” itself this week, with the assistance of a top UK marketing firm. The ‘new’ Philharmonia will stress accessibility (think Classic FM as opposed to BBC Radio 3) and attempt to attract “the type of people [who are] currently visiting Tate Modern,” and to do so without alienating its core audience. The orchestra will also look at ways to begin offering downloadable music online, and generally make a concerted push to pique the interest of a younger, more technologically savvy demographic.
The Online Film (R)Evolution
“In the late 1990s, a half-dozen online film companies – each promising to revolutionize movie viewing – were among the noisiest participants at the Sundance Film Festival. A few years later, the revolution has stalled. Most online film channels have disappeared (Steven Spielberg’s Pop, AntEye, Digital Entertainment Net, Scour and Pseudo), with some changing direction (Eveo is now a purveyor of rich media). The two leaders, AtomFilms and IFilm, have settled into relatively mellow maturity. But online film festivals, an offshoot of the commercial film channel, are stepping up to fill the void.”
Broadway Hunkers Down
“Winter on Broadway usually means a winnowing of shows as tourists leave town after the holidays and the audience in the New York region tends to stay home. Several shows, like “Cabaret,” closed in early January in expectation of the long, fallow cold months. But the first weeks of this winter, after a fall season crowded with money losers and critical pariahs, look a bit grimmer than usual because of bitter weather and continued doubts about the economy and tourism.”
What Is The Future For Recovered Iraqi/Afghan Treasures?
Two major collections, not seen for years, have been uncovered in Afghanistan and Iraq. “But when will these astonishing objects next be seen, and where? That, too, is highly controversial. In neither Baghdad nor Kabul is the security position good enough to allow museums to reopen – and the Kabul Museum is a ruin. It has been mooted that both the Bactrian and Nimrud treasures should go on international tour to museums in America. The Musée Guimet in Paris – which has a magnificent Afghan collection – has expressed interest in the Bactrian gold. But these are highly sensitive proposals. To parade the Nimrud jewellery around the USA, would ‘not be at all a tactful thing to do. Let the Iraqi people see their treasures first’.”
Slick Campaign For Marbles As Public Attitude Changes
“An increasing number of Britons believe that it is wrong to keep the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum in London. A new video, sent yesterday to 1,000 parliamentarians, opinion formers and television companies, begins a new, slicker phase in the longstanding campaign to return the Parthenon stones, formerly known as the Elgin marbles, to Athens.”
Yes, But Is It The RIGHT Edition?
Charles Rosen, responding to a reader of one of his earlier articles, writes that the internet is not the panacea of free-flowing information that many suggest it is. “I believe that the literary and musical tradition of a culture ought to be easily available in the best form as a matter of course, like street lighting or public transport. This is not such a radical notion: making it available is often given tax-exempt status as if it were a public service, but in the present economy this is no longer good enough. Record stores, above all the big chains, no longer offer the full range of classical records but have cut back; in most bookstores only the cheapest editions of works of the past are to be found on the shelves; and publishers and record companies no longer believe that keeping their products available for any stretch of time is economically justifiable.”
Remembering Nureyev
It’s been ten years since Rudolf Nueyev died. He has a long relationship with the city of Vienna, and the Staatsoper has staged a commemoration of his career. “The programme insisted upon Nureyev as apostle of the Russian classic repertory. It is only as you consider the list of his stagings, the revisions and re-workings that constantly occupied him, that you realise the ceaseless energy, the prodigious determination to ‘do better’, that marked Nureyev’s creative life.