Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
The Women Who’ve Founded Dance Companies In The US Since 1929
“Keeping track of these female-founded ballet companies is vital in understanding the pivotal and often unknown role of women in shaping the American ballet...
Fatal Error: Universities Have Stopped Teaching HOW To Think
Modern education concentrates on teaching subjects, leaving the method of thinking, arguing, and expressing one’s conclusions to be picked up by the scholar as...
The Last Small Town Movie Critic (Great Read)
"He fulfilled his dreams, save for being Spider-Man. He wanted to write and direct plays and movies. He wanted to do stand-up comedy. He...
Publishers Have Found An Interesting Way To Fight Children’s Book Bans
Publishers, writers, and progressive organizations across the children’s book industry aren’t letting the book bans hold them back. Instead, they’re turning the bans into...
Actors Unions Make Deal For “Ethical Use” Of AI Voices
The deal also sets a minimum rate for AI replication of session singers’ voices, in the amount of three “sides” per project. (A “side”...
Things We Learned From The World’s Largest Music Company’s Annual Report
Much of the publication obviously focuses on UMG’s extraordinarily successful 2023: A year in which it posted USD $12 billion in total revenues, with annual adjusted EBITDA just north...
Tending To The Legacy Of Dance Theatre Of Harlem
“Moving the organization forward would depend not only on the art that the company produced, but also on the legacy through its alumni. And...
The Toll That Questioning Someone’s Authority Takes
Growing research shows regular exposure to even relatively subtle prejudice and discrimination degrades physical and mental health, leading to outcomes like high blood pressure, chronic...
Designers Are Rebranding: Say Hello To “Visual Strategists”
Look at the way most branding agencies describe themselves today and “strategy” now gets top billing. Design is out. Strategy is in. - Fast Company
How Studying Music Makes Better Employees
It is well known many musicians work simultaneously in arts and non-arts roles, often to create some income security. Less understood is just how...
The War On Theatre
In the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship. Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida,...
Amazon Is Clogged With Fake Books. How Does This Happen?
Many of them gleefully share misinformation or repackage basic facts from WikiHow behind a title that’s been search-engine-optimized to hell and back again. Some...
Opera Is Elitist? Er… Not So Much
We have entered a culturally risk-adverse period. Our present age of anxiety — which includes post-pandemic economic challenges to the arts, diminished attention spans...
AI Copyright Wars: US Copyright Office Shifts On The Rules
he is considered the author of the “selection, coordination, and arrangement of text generated by artificial intelligence.” This means no one can copy the...
Christopher Knight: LACMA Will Provide Art For New Vegas Museum — What A Bad...
As bad art museum ideas go, this one is right up there. But it fits LACMA’s similarly bad — and unprecedented — decision to build a...
The Virtual You Is Getting Closer
It would be a mistake to think that the algorithms in the room will remain mere observers. AI is more like an ambitious virtual...
Where The Money Is: Warner CEO Gets $50M This Year
David Zaslav’s 2023 pay consisted of a $3 million salary, and more than $23 million in stock awards, as well as $22 million in...
Is It Okay To Throw Away Books?
A book is different from a pair of shoes or a scented candle—but is it that different? The kinds of excess we permit—even exalt—for...
Bay Area Film Festivals Are Struggling
This is not just a Bay Area problem. Film festivals all over the world are hurting, no matter how well-established. The two biggest film...
Colorado Public Radio Has Big News Ambitions. There Are Challenges
Colorado Public Radio has a vision to be the state's top, free news source. Getting there has created some controversy. - WestWord
What Is Music? Noise?
With a universal definition hovering out of reach, the discourse concerning noise often starts with the personal. - The New Yorker
The AI Dilemma: Who Owns The Essence Of Our Work?
“More and more, we’re seeing AI used to replicate someone’s likeness and voice in novel ways without consent or compensation." - Politico
This Company’s Music Gets Played 2.5 Billion Times a Day, But Profits Are Thin
There are now 26 million videos on YouTube and TikTok videos featuring Epidemic Sound music, and the company reports that its tracks receive 40 million plays daily on...
New World Record For Dancers En Pointe
A total of 353 dancers from across the globe held the position, known as going “en pointe,” to beat the current Guinness World Record...
Spotify Audiobook/Music Bundle Means Lower Music Payouts
With the introduction of the stand-alone audiobooks offering, Spotify is now able to pay lower music-licensing rates for the music-and-audiobook bundle, introduced in the U.S....
