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Spotify’s Real Problem: Unrealistic Ambition

What’s become increasingly clear in recent weeks is that the source of Spotify’s headaches isn’t Rogan. It is Spotify’s own corporate ambition to dominate the audio business — and keep investors happy — by reaching 1 billion users and 50 million “creators.” - Los Angeles Times

US Treasury Department Warns Of Money Laundering Through Fine Art

The treasury department did find evidence of money laundering in the high-value art market. A common theme is that criminals use shell companies to buy art and hide behind a corporate veil. - Toronto Star (AP)

Cellist Leslie Parnas, 90

From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, Parnas was the principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He went on to be a prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky, Geneva, and Musich International Cello Competitions, as well as a Pablo Casals Prize recipient at the Paris International Cello Competition. - The Violin Channel

Here’s How China’s Influence On American Culture Works

“Red Dawn” would become a case study observed by every producer in Hollywood who needed this market to make a profit. And soon, it wouldn’t be just Hollywood taking the lesson of the movie to heart.  - The Wall Street Journal

Is Hollywood Rethinking The Romantic Gender Age Gap?

“Men on screen have a whole life, and women only have a shelf life,” says Nicky Clark, the founder of campaign group Acting Your Age, which lobbies for age-appropriate casting and representation for older women on screen. - The Guardian

Perhaps We Need A True Oscars Villain To Know Movies Can Come Back From The Pandemic Brink

The true way to unite a culture is to give the Best Picture nod to something like Crash. (Please do not, though. Please.) - Vulture

Henry Darger’s Landlords Inherited The Rights To His Art, But Should They Have?

Good question, though without the landlords' advocacy, the world might never have heard of the artist and his work. "Now distant relatives of Darger — tracked down by a collector of vintage photography — are making a legal claim to that legacy." - The New York Times

How Physics Shape Opera, And The Rest Of Reality

It's all about resonance. "A system’s natural frequencies depend on its intrinsic properties: For a flute, for instance, they are the frequencies of sound waves that exactly fit inside its cylindrical geometry." - Wired

It’s Possible That On Tuesday, The Oscars Will Nominate No One New For The Major Acting Awards Or Director

The trend is weirdly strong: "If you read the tea leaves put forth by the nominations for the DGA and SAG, there’s a strong possibility that all three of those categories may not include a first-time nominee." - Variety

Artist Damien Hirst Faces His 16th Accusation Of Plagiarism

Can one plagiarize a painting of cherry blossoms? Perhaps. "English artist and writer Joe Machine ... says they look just like his own cherry blossom paintings." - The Observer (UK)

Why Are People Upset About The Sudden Demolition Of This 1945 House?

The Marcel Breuer-designed Geller House "embodied the optimistic, now-vanished values of postwar suburbia: technological progress and a lifestyle built around children’s needs." - The New York Times

Along With COVID Disinformation, Turns Out Joe Rogan Was Peddling The N-Word An Awful Lot

Spotify has removed 70 episodes wherein Rogan used the N-word, but none of the episodes removed were related to the protest over Rogan's habit of hosting guests who say ... interesting ... things about the novel coronavirus. - Washington Post

A Harvard Student Has Created An Entire Musical For A Korean Disney Princess

Julia Riew's senior thesis at Harvard is "complete with script, screenplay, and more than 15 original songs. Her Disney-inspired work tells the story of a Korean princess named Shimcheong, who’s based on a character from a Korean folktale." Hollywood has noticed. - MSN (Boston Globe)

One Way Singapore’s Theatre Actors Have Kept Busy During The Pandemic

Would you believe that interactive Zoom mystery theatre is a thing? Actor Bright Ong says, "The tectonic plates under have shifted, and the industry is changing." - BBC

The New Trend In Indie Movies Is Female Silver Foxes

But whew, the discourse. For instance, Emma Thompson isn't "brave" for acting in sex scenes; she’s "an actress who’s still at the top of her game, performing brilliantly and telling a story that isn’t often told. So there are small steps." - The Guardian (UK)

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