Netflix has released its Top 10 lists. But "the obsession with the numbers generated by films in the first few days of their release has had ... a negative effect on the quality of the films themselves, squeezing out the offbeat in favour of franchises and sequels." - Irish Times
BookTok, as it's known, is an unusually lively corner of the mini-video app's subculture: the most popular reviewers can get a couple hundred thousand followers, the most watched videos rack up a million or more views, and yes, they can affect sales. - The Guardian
Let’s be clear: Netflix’s bigger bucket of Top 10 lists, even if they’re independently verified, is ultimately self-serving — designed to promote its most popular titles. - Variety
"In this blog, we first examine the historic impact of COVID on performing arts ticket sales and then we use the data to simulate three plausible 'what-if' scenarios – realistic worst-case, realistic best-case, and idealized best-case – to predict the impact of each scenario on ticket sales." - SMU DataArts
Fewer people than back in The Time Before will be able to swing by the theater or concert hall after leaving the office. Will they come in from home? In no American city does the question loom larger than in San Francisco. - The New York Times
Patrons attending A Christmas Carol were seated and ready for the 7:30 p.m. showtime when a woman began screaming in the crowd. According to social media posts from witnesses, the woman ranted for upwards of 30 minutes. - Bring Me The News
Deaths are rare, but they're hardly unknown; however, music promoters like Live Nation, for instance, say that the rarity "proves that most shows are perfectly safe." - The New York Times
The two most-attended are the same as most years, the Louvre and the National Museum of China; below them, pandemic closures changed the rankings considerably, with the Met falling to eighth and the most popular Smithsonian museums gone from the top 15. - World Economic Forum
In all, the 30 productions had a combined paid attendance of 193,309, about 82% of total capacity. The previous week’s attendance was 78% of capacity. - Deadline
"Audio is hard, from both a publisher and a consumer perspective. … And if Google couldn't figure out a way to assemble the sort of audio news packages that users want, that's a decent sign that we have a lot more hard thinking left to do." - Nieman Lab
A survey of top execs at 64 companies in 25 states found that, following an initial flurry of interest in the spring of 2020, the vast majority of theaters had disappointing viewership and revenue from their online presentations. Many think it was worthwhile nevertheless. - American Theatre
There's massive stress on the resurgent medium, and for Adele's new album, producers ordered half a million LP discs. (Who could have predicted this in, say, 1990?) - FADER
"Even before the digital age you could access the World of Music through recordings, via the radio or the local music shop or even the Columbia House Record Club." And now? Livestreaming! - Oregon ArtsWatch
The Netflix series revives the always-popular with Austenites tourism industry in Bath, but then there's David Attenborough's Our Planet and other productions that, said one mayor, "help put our area on the map." - BBC
The anecdotal evidence, gleaned from social media and private conversations with industry leaders, suggests a variety of challenges — lingering fears of the coronavirus, the disinclination by some patrons to wear masks and resistance to high ticket prices. - Washington Post
