“The tragic fact of the matter is that giant media players are pulling out of minority art, a myopic strategy that gives them no chance of tapping the next quirk in public taste or contributing to cultural evolution. Warner bought its way into classics just ahead of the Three Tenors 1990 boom and scored an eight-million follow-up CD at the Los Angeles World Cup. It gobbled up one independent after another – Erato in France, Teldec in Germany, Finlandia, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi – and went into overproduction along with all the others in the 1990s until the roof fell in and the outlet was slimmed down to a single stream of mainstream classics. That, too, ha now been deemed surplus to requirements.”
Tag: 06.12.06
Steinbeck Heirs Get Rights To Author’s Books
A US judge has ruled that the rights to ten works by John Steinbeck belong to his relatives. “The rights properly belong to the author’s son, Thomas Steinbeck, and granddaughter Blake Smyle. The ruling came after the two canceled rights previously held by various individuals and organizations, including publishing house Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and the heirs of John Steinbeck’s widow, Elaine, who died in April 2003.”
Any Music, Any Time, Anywhere
“Pundits have been yammering away for years about a ‘celestial jukebox’ that will give everyone the ability to access all content ever created, from anywhere, at any time. This long-discussed concept is finally becoming a reality, at least as far as music goes.”
Gyorgy Ligeti, 83
“He was known for his avant garde compositions, including the 1962 piece Poeme Symphonique, which is played on 100 metronomes. His most famous works are those used in the Stanley Kubrick film, including Atmospheres and Lux Aeterna.”