The global live music industry is worth some $30 billion every year. Or, rather, was. In a matter of weeks, Covid-19 shut down everything from pub gigs to festivals. And in doing so, it also made apparent the lopsided shape of the modern music industry, in which artists are paid to perform, but often barely anything for the music they record. One of the truisms of the streaming era has been that while Spotify might have gutted the income you make from records, it makes it easier for people to find your music. That grows your live audiences, which is where you make your money. Now, with live audiences at zero, that deal is looking increasingly unworkable. – Esquire
Chinese Government Bans Knockoffs Of Foreign Buildings
In recent years Chinese developers have been putting up, and opening to buyers and renters, reproductions of such attractions as an English village, a lakeside Austrian town, and a Paris neighborhood complete with Eiffel Tower. The government has now had enough: it has prohibited “plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting” foreign landmarks or historical styles, calling for “a new era [of architecture to] strengthen cultural confidence, show the city’s features, exhibit the contemporary spirit, and display the Chinese characteristics.” – BBC
The World Is Changing. So What Is Art In A Time Like This?
“In a world where we are already confronting critical interconnected challenges: climate change, the refugee crisis, food scarcity, system collapse, etc. I think it is essential that we continue asking these questions: what is the role of art at a time of social transformation? Why do we make art, for whom and does it make sense to continue using the same formats and materials? What should art be focusing on and what difference can it make?” – Medium
First Guidelines For How Full Orchestras Can Perform Under Social Distancing Rules
“Scientists at the Charité in Berlin have issued a 13-page paper, at the request of seven Berlin orchestras [including the Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle], advising the distances to be observed in rehearsal and performance for the foreseeable future, and suggesting that orchestras might be able to meet again under the following conditions.” – The Strad
The Problem With Pulitzers
Elite journalism is chosen by elite journalists. Any problems with that? Well, it leads to certain kinds of myopia… – The Baffler
The Hague’s New Art Court Nearly Septuples Its Pool Of Arbitrators And Mediators
“The specialist Court of Arbitration for Art … [was created in 2019] to adjudicate art world matters ranging from chain of title, authenticity and copyright fair use. Last year, the panel appointed around 30 specialists, with arbitrator experience, but this latest round of [170] appointments is more focused (although not exclusively) on qualified art lawyers.” – The Art Newspaper
Isolation Multiplied: Artist Retreats In The Time Of COVID
“For many artists, writers and composers who have been rewarded prestigious residencies to isolate themselves in remote places and sometimes in punishing climates, it is a coveted situation. But if, as Matisse put it, ‘creativity takes courage,’ the extra isolation during a pandemic can start to wear away at even the most stoic artists.” – The New York Times
Write About Sex? Garth Greenwell Wonders ‘Why One Would Write About Anything Else’
“Sex is an experience of intense vulnerability, and it is also where we are at our most performative, and so it’s at once as near to and as far from authenticity as we come. … Sex is a uniquely useful tool for a writer, a powerful means not just of revealing character or exploring relationships, but of asking the largest questions about human beings.” – The Guardian
How Might Classical Music Work Differently Going Forward?
What if concerts were announced one or two at a time, just a week or two in advance? The tickets would be sold per concert, not per season, and the marketing would be heavy on social media. Concert programs could be designed to attract different communities in the county, rather than the monolithic subscription crowd. What’s more, it would allow the groups to perform exactly when circumstances allowed, rather than cancel concerts when they didn’t. – Voice of Orange County
Novelist Jenny Odell Wrote About Nature And Art, And Suddenly Her Book Seems Even More Relevant
Odell’s simply considering things, not worried about producing art during the lockdown. “I have been thinking about that redirecting of attention. Our grocery store has the usual spaced-out lines with markings on the ground, and as you stand in line you just find yourself standing near this weird part of the building that you would never stand near. So now you have all this time to contemplate this wall. That seemed like a visual metaphor for everything else. The thing has always been here; now you’re like standing in a very weird relation to it and you’re looking at it.” – Vox
Tenet Is The Test
So Tenet is scheduled to come out July 17, which seemed like a long time ago when the lockdown began, but … wow, that’s soon. “The equation being pored over in Hollywood is whether pent-up demand from people stuck at home means they’ll be willing to pack into theaters, even with heavy restrictions, by the summer. When three theaters opened in San Antonio opened last week, around 3,000 people showed up in total, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s enough to make some executives feel confident.” – The Verge
In The UK, Equity Calls For Much More Support For Self-Employed Creatives
Most theatres won’t reopen until 2021 (if they can even open then), says the leader of Equity. “While it may be possible for some sections of the audiovisual industry to go back to work in the coming months, health and safety issues such as social distancing provide complex challenges to a sector where audiences are an integral part of the experience. We anticipate that the majority of theatres, pubs, comedy clubs and other live entertainment venues across the country will not start to open their doors until early next year – if indeed they manage to survive until then.” – The Stage (UK)
When You Come To The End Of Your Books
Nana Ruby reads almost her weight in books every week, but the libraries are closed. Where to turn? – The New York Times
Sneaking In A Terrible Private Development Idea Under Cover Of The Pandemic
Does any of this seem like a good idea right now? “The scheme is set to bring a 12,500-seat arena, 300-room hotel and three vast exhibition halls to the 10-acre waterside site, along with shops and restaurants, all packed inside a crumpled mishmash of competing structures. It looks like the compromised result of design-by-committee, employing a plethora of materials and awkward angles in a vain attempt to break up the lumpen mass. Public reaction has been caustic.” – The Guardian (UK)
Satish Gujral, Indian Painter, Sculptor, And Architect, 94
Gujral studied with Diego Rivera and David Siquieros, recorded the pain of 1947’s Partition, and designed the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi – among his many, many, many other accomplishments. – The New York Times
Starring The Mothers Of Movies In A 14-Hour Showpiece
The herstory is real: “This is not about slamming the patriarchy, but a joyous trip through women’s work on screen, puckishly curated into 40 chapters on different themes including openings, interiority, meet cutes, sci-fi, tone, love, death, editing and musicals. The clips cover six continents, 13 decades and 183 directors.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Theatre Is Empty, But On Its Abandoned Set, A New Show Is Going On
An art installation called Caretaker will run on the Royal Court’s stage until the theatre reopens. The show “is a livestream of the theatre’s uninhabited main stage, with intermittently broadcast ‘witty, playful and supportive audio messages’ accompanying the Shoe Lady set.” – The Guardian (UK)
Golden Globes Make More Temporary Changes To Accommodate The Worldwide Lockdown
The new changes are for the foreign language motion picture category to match similar changes for all other categories – making pictures eligible that would have been released in their home country if the virus hadn’t gotten in the way; and making sure that the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have to arrange for official screeners instead of seeing films in theatres. – Variety
Chinese Cinemas May Now Truly Reopen, If They Follow Distancing And Other Guidelines
“‘Finally, there’s a glimmer of hope!’ wrote one enthusiastic cinephile.” – Variety
Living In Fear Of Dying With A Book Unfinished
Australian writer Mem Fox knows what it’s like to worry about being well enough, surviving long enough, to finish a book. “She feels the terror in her body – something like cold sweats and slight panic attacks. She wonders sometimes whether she will survive the coming winter. But within that terror – and boredom, as she lay in her hospital bed unable even to queue up podcasts – she began to write a story in her head.” – The Guardian (UK)
At First, Hollywood Unions Praised Government Bill, But Six Weeks Later, They Say It Doesn’t Help Enough
After many members of SAG-AFTRA and other Hollywood unions were locked out of a bill that was supposed to help freelance and self-employed artists, the unions are calling for changes. “Musicians in particular have been affected. Those who work on location or perform on tour earn freelance income in multiple states, some of which does not come with a 1099, the entertainment organizations said in their letter.” – Los Angeles Times
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Marabar?
Actually, Marabar, the million-pound granite sculpture, isn’t the problem: The National Geographic Society’s plan for expansion is the problem. Artist Elyn Zimmerman isn’t happy with the plan. “In 2017, when she was first told about the proposal, she said she did not take it seriously at first because so much work had gone into preparing the site for its installation. The plaza infrastructure below the pool and boulders was engineered to support Marabar, she said, and district officials had to reinforce sewer lines before trucks could drive over them to deliver the granite in 1984.’ – The New York Times
La Scala Launches Virtual Tours Of Its Opera House
The project includes virtual tours of the theater, backstage and museum, along with 240,000 archival photos and 16,000 documents, more than 40 digital exhibits and close-up views of costumes worn by stars such as Maria Callas. Performances of operas are available on another platform through Italy’s RAI state television. – Washington Post (AP)
The Poetry Foundation Has Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars. Should It Be Giving Away More Right Now?
The foundation has only pledged $25,000 for COVID relief. “The Poetry Foundation’s IRS filings between 2016 and 2018 suggest the Foundation averaged about $213 million in assets that weren’t tied up in real estate or restricted. In 2018, the Foundation reported that it spent about $4 million on education, public programs and prizes; nearly $1.5 million on its website; and $1.2 million on Poetry Magazine, after accounting for $703,000 in revenue.” – Chicago Tribune
Canada’s Finest Orchestra (What Does That Even Mean?)
Sir Thomas Beecham used to say that there are no good or bad orchestras, only good or bad conductors, and to an extent he has a point. – Toronto Star