Carreras On A Mission

It’s been 16 years since tenor Jose Carreras almost died of leukemia. “His survival spurred him to work for the rest of his days for a cause – his concerts now raise money for the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation. This raises funds for research, including scholarships for young scientists; helps establish bone marrow transplantation centres; and supports round-the-clock information services for patients.”

2003 On Broadway – Revenue Up, Ticket Sales Down

2003 Broadway grosses are “projected to be $730 million, up roughly 3.2% from the $707 million for 2002 and nearly 10% from the $664 million for 2001, when that year’s final quarter saw the aftereffects of the Sept. 11 attacks. In terms of ticket holders, however, the league is projecting figures of 11.2 million in attendance during 2003, down from the 11.4 million in 2002 and down nearly one million from the record 12.1 million achieved in 2000.”

Culture To the People…

“The pompous, almost self-flagellatory, tone which compels us to suffer for our art is sounding increasingly irrelevant. Walk into the Tate’s Turbine Hall and what you will see is young people “hanging out”. That funny word from the cultural explosion that was the 1960s, “happening”, is happening again. And it is happening everywhere: at the National Theatre, whose new director Nicholas Hytner signalled his intent by putting on a blasphemous satire of trash culture; at the National Gallery, which surrounded us with ultra slow-mo videos that had us double taking to detect movement from stillness; at the Royal Opera House, which for the first time admitted a bona fide musical – Sweeney Todd -through its doors. We all felt a little dislocated in 2003.”

Protecting The Nude Barbie

A US federal court has ruled that a Utah artist can make art depicting nude Barbies being menaced by kitchen appliances. “Noting the image of Barbie dolls is “ripe for social comment,” a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected toymaker Mattel Inc.’s appeal of a lower court ruling in favor of lampooning the popular doll.”

Suing The Downloaders (It Works?)

Canadian recording companies are about to begin suing downloades. Why? It appears to be an effective tactic. “In the United States, since the American recording industry began filing lawsuits earlier this year, Kazaa usage has fallen 41 per cent, according to monitoring of Internet use by Nielsen/NetRatings. As a result, sales of CDs began to rise in the U.S. after three years of decline.”

Rethinking Music (And How To Sell It)

There are numerous experiments in selling music online competing for consumers. A company called Magnatune offers no set prices, and a variety of creative music licenses. “Magnatune is one example of a growing movement among arts organizations, civil libertarians and artists who are rethinking the whole notion of access to creative works and copyright laws. Some, like Magnatune, believe they can profit if their artists make their works more readily available, in some cases for no charge; or if they even relinquish at least some rights to their works.”