[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qUIajYbX9hto2gQVHqpXSXAzUoXDE0A8"] WHAT does it mean to be a digital bestseller? We continue to hear that removing the middleman and getting rid of the expenses of print will be good for readers and writers. The experience of Tony Horwitz, a first-rate writer of narrative nonfiction like Confederates in the Attic, shows it doesn't always work out that way. He calls … [Read more...]
Jaron Lanier on Moore’s Law
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="aip73amsvg3xUNYYXf6tSsLWbr1Rp29w"] I'M going back to the work of the dreadlocked writer/musician/digital skeptic this week because of a conversation that will appear soon. He's got a great few lines near the beginning of Who Owns the Future? -- recently out in paperback -- that sums up Moore's Law, as well as what's called Baumol's Curse, about as succinctly as I can … [Read more...]
Magazines in the Digital Age, and Artist Documentaries
THERE'S a long, vivid and often fascinating story in Politico magazine about Tina Brown, Newsweek and The Daily Beast. The article includes a memorable scene: "It was right around this time that Brown, forever in high heels, stood to make her way to the bathroom. As she crossed Diller’s marble floor, she wiped out and smacked her face on the ground, according to a source who was not involved in … [Read more...]
All Rock-Music Edition: Dean Wareham, and the Poptimists
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="dTd8KUgvezSMCnL3vPx3MNcoWYDv5jqq"] OVER the last few years I’ve been corresponding with a number of rock musicians about how their world has changed in the post-label, post-recordings world we seem to be moving into. One of the most observant of them is Dean Wareham, former leader of indie-rock bands Galaxie 500 and Luna. Dean has a new solo album – his first – and … [Read more...]
Arts Funding in the UK, Minimalism in LA and Crash in New Jersey
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lpJ1NjBTQ91gXSFAYVELC8izsXpf07Li"] WHY do folks in much of the rest of the post-industrial world – not just Europe but Canada and Australia and elsewhere – feel so much less anxiety about state funding of culture? I have my theories – some of which I explore in my book – but the issue continues to baffle me. Turns out that in the UK – a nation both very similar and … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, J.S. Bach, You Scary Bastard
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="fCuLD2IqdN12lY1YuMoXVQLgOFYy7oc1"] Since the exact date is ambiguous -- he was born sometime in late March of 1685 -- I've decided to declare today Bach's birthday. That gives me great pleasure; Bach was the first composer to hit me hard, and is still my favorite. It also frightens me, because of the way Bach's music is typically used in films to signify something … [Read more...]
The Death of Music Journalism, and SXSW
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="QsLx7wwZeCPiHbCCxGIMq5cuGHsw7dvf"] DOES music journalism have any interest in music, as opposed to celebrity and wardrobe? What happens to the audience when they get fluff instead of criticism, paparazzi shots instead of real journalism? A tough, intelligent new article by my friend Ted Gioia is sure to lose him friends among the fraternity of culture scribes: … [Read more...]
The Future of Alternative Weeklies, and Chiming Indie
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ShQp9YeN13ifE3cCtt2c9QeB43k2DCRC"] DOES the alternative press have a future? Do these papers still matter to their cities? And how much of that future will be corporate controlled? Those are some of the topics that an editor at the Baltimore City Paper gets into in a smart op-ed today. Alt-weeklies have had a hard time of it over the last few years, Baynard Woods … [Read more...]
Snubbing Sarah Polley, and Musicians Souring on Facebook
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="C9J6uLN8DJGJrhAieA8jJpyWE47Vp38G"] IT’s always healthy going into Oscar weekend angry about something, usually a good film that you feel has been ripped off by not being nominated. For me, that’s Sarah Polley’s ingenious and deeply felt documentary, Stories We Tell. The movie follows the Canadian actress/director into some odd family history; saying any more will … [Read more...]
Reporting, the Digital Age, and the Disappearing Middle Class
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="UdzFLHqHKqJ9wXVQI1GqH0q0PFUfcGe7"] HOW are digital technology and the 21st century economy reshaping journalism, including arts reporting? I'll plan to dig into economy-of-culture questions on this blog as often as I can. Today, a business columnist gets into it quite smartly in a new piece. Michael Hiltzik’s Los Angeles Times column, “Supply of news is dwindling … [Read more...]