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Did Yoko Ono’s Celebrity Doom Her Art?

Like any artist, Ono wanted recognition, but she was never driven by a desire for wealth and fame. Whether she sought them or not, though, she has both. - The New Yorker

Is Spotify Just Not That Good A Business?

Questions about its profitability outlook often have been seen as keeping a lid on its stock. - The Hollywood Reporter

It’s The Purity Of Ideology That Gets In The Way

The quest for purity informs cancel culture. It pushes partisans to ever-greater extremes, even when those positions are politically self-defeating. It turns historical heroes /into villains and closes nuclear power plants in the face of climate change. - Virginia Postrel

Can An Artist Really Make A Living Online With A Thousand Serious Fans?

That was the proposition of Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired: if you can amass 1,000 people who'll each spend $100 annually to support your work, that's a good middle-class living. That didn't work out in the '90s or '00s, but might it be possible now? - The New Yorker

Why Is The Entertainment Industry Obsessed With Pre-existing Content?

Today’s entertainment marketplace is defined by its faith in the limitless potential of preëxisting intellectual property. There are sprawling franchises. There are reboots, dark and gritty or comic and winking, of properties that have barely had time to recede into nostalgia. - The New Yorker

One Of America’s Hottest Young Playwrights Is Putting Down Syndrome Onstage

Corsicana, the latest script by Will Arbery (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), is "the rare play to feature both a lead character — and a lead actor — with Down syndrome." (Arbery himself has a sister with Down syndrome.) - The New York Times

What Radio Hosts Bring To Classical Music

Throughout the country, radio hosts play a key role in bringing classical music into the everyday lives of listeners and connecting them to the classical community. - Strings

Has A Stolen Altarpiece From Italy Been Sitting In The Cleveland Museum Of Art For A Century?

"At least, that was the assertion made by a group of nine Italian senators in a July 2020 parliamentary session. (They) urged the Minister of Cultural Heritage to pursue the restitution of the artwork to Italy." The Cleveland Museum says this is the first they've heard of it. - Artnet

This String Quartet’s Board Fired Them. Now The Board Has Been Replaced And Musicians Rehired

The resolution was reached with help from two attorneys who read about the plight of the fired quartet members – cellist Myles Jordan, violinists Ferdinand “Dino” Liva and Lydia Forbes and violist Kirsten Monke – and wanted to support them. - Portland Press Herald

Keeping Jazz Alive In Detroit

You cannot tell the history of jazz in America without also telling the history of jazz from Detroit. From the mid-20th century until the present day, Detroit has been one of the primary feeders of talent to the national scene. - Jazz Times

“Fundamentally, It’s Just Really Beautiful”: Reviving The Music Of The First Published Black Composer

Born in 1520 to (most likely) a Portuguese father and African-descended mother, Vicente Lusitano published three volumes of highly accomplished sacred works and music theory. (Performers call his motets "top level polyphony," "opulent," and "really gorgeous.") Why was Lusitano forgotten? It wasn't only racism ... - BBC

Nashville (!) Has Developed A Thriving Early Music Scene

"(Historical performance has) been ebbing, flowing, and growing in Nashville for nearly 20 years. The city is home to two HP ensembles ... (and) there are (two) churches ... that serve as regular venues for early-music performances, along with choral groups that routinely perform Renaissance and Baroque music." - Early Music America

Okay, Who At Netflix Thought It Was A Good Idea To Turn “Squid Game” Into Reality TV?

Granted, the losers in the reality-show version won't be killed, but still.  In his announcement, the suit who greenlit this thanked the original series's director for "his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment."  (Maybe he should be a contestant.) - Newsweek

The Washington Post Now Has A Hollywood Deal

"The Washington Post and Imagine Entertainment have entered into a strategic partnership to create scripted and non-scripted film and television properties culled from The Post's vast archives, current reporting, and ongoing investigations." - Deadline

Kevin Spacey Arraigned In UK On Four Charges Of Sexual Assault

"The 62-year-old is also facing a fifth charge of causing a man to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He was not asked to enter pleas for the alleged offences from 2005 to 2013 ... (and was) given unconditional bail."  (Pleas will be entered on July 14.) - BBC

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