Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Uh-Oh… The New York Times Discovers There’s Culture In LA (Again)
"I’m feeling very energized by California. There is clearly a rich universe of creative forces at work — not to mention good food and...
Algorithms Are Dulling Your Musical Taste
“Algorithmic recommendations are addictive because they are always subtly confirming your own cultural, political, and social biases, warping your surroundings into a mirror image...
Uh-Oh: AI Can Be Infected With Worms
Now, in a demonstration of the risks of connected, autonomous AI ecosystems, a group of researchers have created one of what they claim are...
Creating Invented Languages For Movies
Today, with the budgets of the biggest films and series rivalling the G.D.P.s of small island nations, constructed languages, or conlangs, are becoming a...
A Wave Of Civic Construction Along The Mexican Border
Known for keeping a tireless schedule, Meyer Falcón said P.M.U. has so far completed about $2 billion worth of public buildings and community infrastructure....
The New Science Of Telling History
What if instead of digging in the archives and criticising arguments, you could write history directly from the physical remains of the past, reconstructing...
The Crisis In Pop Music
In the streaming era, tours have become the main source of cash as sales of recorded music have plummeted. However, a recent study by...
The Volunteers Who’ve Pitched In To Keep UK Theatre Going
A theatre belongs to the people who make it more than just a building. That includes the volunteers just as much as it does...
Updating Our Map Of The Brain
Beyond the operating table, knowledge of how the body maps onto the motor cortex has been instrumental in the development of brain-machine interfaces that control prostheses...
A World Of Hurt For Hollywood
Twenty twenty-three was a year of downsizing, diminishment, shelving, sidelining, retrenching, retreating and bet hedging. And 2024 is the year of consequences. - The New...
Could Generative AI Finally Break Copyright Law?
Contrary to popular belief, copyright does not exist for the benefit of creators. Its purpose, according to founding documents and recent interpretations, is to...
The Strain Pop Music Inflicts On Voices
Pop vocals, then, routinely run up against the physical limits of the human body. Yet what makes a song difficult to sing doesn’t necessarily...
Time To Give Up Streaming? (It’s Getting Worse)
Once you've bought it, you're never going to find that the retailer has reached into your movie, CD, or record collection to remove it...
American Museums Have A New Approach To Provenance
We are currently witnessing a changing climate—specifically when it comes to objects taken from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Indigenous peoples—that has led to a...
ASCAP Reports Record Music Royalty Collections In 2023
ASCAP’s 2023 revenues represent an increase of $215 million or 14.1% over 2022. ASCAP says it increased the value and monetization of its members’...
An Arts Council Funding Program For Artists May Be Backfiring
If it’s tough for venues, it’s even tougher for artists, who in the past have found it hard but possible to sustain some kind...
Why Putin Is Using Shostakovich For Propaganda
Putin clearly hopes that the “Leningrad” Symphony will be as helpful for his invasion of Ukraine as it was for Stalin’s defense against the...
Some Straight Talk About Censorship
When we look at history’s major censorious regimes, all of them—I want to stress that; all of them—invested enormous resources in programs designed to encourage self-censorship,...
Text-To-Music AI: Meet The Photoshop Of Music
Project Music GenAI Control is a new prototype tool that allows users to generate music using text prompts and then edit that audio without...
Giant Replica Of The Ancient Colossus Of Constantine Arrives In Rome
The Colossus of Constantine has returned to Rome, recreated from existing fragments with the help of latest 3D scanning and modeling technologies. - Artnet
Scientists: Pythagoras Was Wrong About Universal Music Harmonies
Researchers have now discovered two key ways in which Pythagoras was wrong. Their study, shows that in normal listening contexts, we do not actually...
Netflix Becomes A Broadway Producer
The company will pick up its first Broadway credit this spring as a producer of “Patriots,” by Peter Morgan, the creator of the hit...
Universal Music’s War With TikTok Tells Us Much About How The New Music Business...
They are negotiating in a new world in which a seconds-long clip of a song on TikTok can be just as valuable as the tune in...
Oregon Arts Groups Pressure Legislature For $27 Million In Funding Relief
Despite Oregon’s arts sector garnering $829 million in economic activity every year, the state is ranked at No. 41 for its annual arts funding per capita. - KOIN
Huh? New AI Synthesizes Radio Listener Voices
Artificial intelligence is already enabling stations to replicate the voices of on-air talent. Now a new Benztown product uses AI to craft “listener” audio...