“Dune,” the sprawling first installment of Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious adaptation of the 1965 science fiction novel, was the only nominated film that could claim to be a classic box office success, having earned more than $100 million in bricks-and-mortar theaters. - Washington Post
"The definition of success (is) more slippery than ever. Gone are the days when box office is the only metric; streamers calculate their investments not based on conventional monetary returns, but in gaining and retaining subscribers." And some nominees simply don't fit within the art-pop binary. - MSN (The Washington Post)
To boost its efforts to offer an alternate means of counting the video-watching masses, NBCU is working with more than 30 different advertisers to test a new measurement tool it has built with iSpot.TV — and using the company’s Olympics and looming Super Bowl broadcasts as a sort of test run. - Variety
"Spotify has a responsibility for what it’s amplifying. Does that mean that it has the only responsibility? Does that let the producer, the content creator off the hook? No. Does it let the audience off the hook for their need to engage in critical thinking, critical listening?" - Slate
Vice Media, Audible, iHeartMedia, and the children's podcast producer Tinkercast are all working to expand offerings in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, French, and other languages — both by translating popular English-language properties and by creating original programming. - Digiday
"During the months when the pandemic kept Broadway shuttered, a hypothesis took hold: Once theaters reopened, the audience would include more New Yorkers and fewer tourists, and the result could be a more receptive marketplace for ambitious new plays. It did not turn out that way." - The New York Times
First, of course, you could just buy music. But if you're a streaming fan, there are a lot of other options, some of which even seem to pay musicians in a half-decent way. - Los Angeles Times
"The world’s three biggest music companies: Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, control about three-quarters of the UK recording market, allowing them to strike increasingly advantageous deals with streaming companies." That's not good for smaller artists - or maybe consumers. - The Guardian (UK)
Anne Archer shooting Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Julia Roberts dancing with Rupert Everett to end My Best Friend's Wedding. The freeway dance that opens La La Land. All there thanks to test audiences. And that Kevin Costner baseball movie nearly went out under the title Shoeless Joe. - BBC
It was only from the 1970s that American commercial theater settled on the rule: start at 8:00 for evening shows and 2:00 for matinees (maybe 3:00 on Sundays). COVID has loosened that rule — and though ticketholders have to pay attention, they now have more choice and flexibility. - The Stage
Between April and the end of the 2021, the VAB says, Nielsen did not count “one and a half billion impressions” in 20 top events. The group believes the true total of advertising dollars lost during the period could be more than $350 million. - Variety
"Has one of the great theater cities on the planet just suffered the kind of blow that may require a recovery time of years?" asks Chris Jones. "Certain truths seem to have revealed themselves" — and not only that one can't predict the course of a virus. - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
A digital drug for anyone with a phone, and especially young people, the TikTok app uses random reinforcement — similar to a slot machine on the Las Vegas strip — to keep users scrolling. It has changed the way Americans tell and view stories. - Salon
You know, hologram theatre in your kitchen or living room or ... wherever. "Theater makers are naturally fascinated: They’re used to working in 3-D. ... As soon as you bring a director or stage designer or choreographer into V.R., you see their brains whirring." - The New York Times
Recently, Broadway shows haven't needed to cancel because of COVID cases in cast or crew, but there are a lot of empty seats - and three shows are closing in hopes of reopening in the spring. - NPR
