“Since the advent of recorded music, labels have exploited artists. And though they’ve certainly taken their licks, the big three (Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros.) have also begun to learn from some of their mistakes, and may have positioned themselves to regain their stranglehold on the industry.”
Is A Restoration Damaging Chartres Cathedral?
“According to author Stefan Evans, the restoration has made the cathedral’s interior look like it was built just yesterday. Its walls and vaulted ceilings have been covered with historically inaccurate paint and plaster. And many architectural nuances — for instance, the fact the north tower was constructed in the 16th century in a different style from the rest of the church — have become imperceivable.”
Which Cities Are The Best For Artists?
You have to consider many factors. How expensive is housing and work spaces? How much does a city support culture? Is there anything going on?
Notes Toward A Theory Of Hair: Siri Hustvedt Reflects On The Cultural Meaning Of Coiffure
“All mammals have hair. … We are the only mammals who braid, knot, powder, pile up, oil, spray, tease, perm, color, curl, straighten, augment, shave off, and clip our hair.” Not to mention using it as a signifier of gender, religion, and/or cultural politics.
Where Did The Audience Go? Fall TV Premiere Week Ratings Collapse
According to Nielsen fast national data, every returning Tuesday night drama suffered double-digit ratings declines, while the three new series were a mixed bag.
New English National Opera Boss: We’ve Lost Our Way
Mark Wigglesworth: “If you get the work right and you get your promoting of it right, then filling this building shouldn’t be a problem, but I completely agree that we have lost our way a little bit — in terms of people coming, frankly. You can’t deny that the work [at ENO] is good and you can’t deny that the box office has become more challenging. And that’s not a price worth paying.”
Gore Vidal, The Citizen Kane Of Literature
Blake Bailey: “Vidal’s life was a tragedy whose great themes put one in mind of Citizen Kane: the story of an insatiable egoist who had everything and lost it. Standing on his balcony in Ravello, overlooking the gorgeous coast, a friend asked him what more he could possibly want out of life: ‘I want to make 200 million people change their minds,’ Vidal replied.”
Has The Louvre Pulled Out Of The Rijksmuseum’ S €160M Rembrandt Deal?
“The Dutch government has pledged to help the Rijksmuseum acquire a pair of rare, full-length Rembrandt portraits from the French businessman Éric de Rothschild for €160m, a record price for a Western museum. … The news follows speculation that the Rijksmuseum would jointly acquire the works with the Musée du Louvre in Paris.” But mention of the Louvre seems to have disappeared from recent reports.
Laurie Anderson On Bringing Guantánamo To Park Avenue
“I’ve been trying to describe an upcoming project called Habeas Corpus, and it’s much harder than I thought. There are just too many angles. ‘Why are you doing this?’ my friends keep asking. Sometimes I no longer know myself.”
So “Happy Birthday” Is Now Public Domain. But Many Other Common Classic Songs Remain Behind Bars
“At holiday time, some classes may perform a rousing rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town or White Christmas. Unfortunately, both remain copyrighted and out of the public domain, according to the Public Domain Information Project, a site where users can search for royalty-free songs.”
Why The World’s Only All-Boys Ballet School Is A Great Idea
“One of James Anthony’s main aims was to create an atmosphere where boys and adolescent young men weren’t afraid or uncomfortable about expressing their interests, or practising their pastimes perhaps because of embarrassment, or logistical difficulties.”
How Algorithms Are Changing The Way We Design Things
Explicit design is when “you have an idea in your head and you draw it. Generative design is when you state the goals of your problem and have the computer create design iterations for you.”
Study: How Television-Watching Impacts Attitudes About Diversity
The study found that, when “aggregate fictional television contains few or no recurring working women or minority characters, frequent viewers exhibit lower levels of social tolerance than non-viewers. When the number of recurring characters is high, this negative effect evaporates.”
Peggy Guggenheim’s Relatives Lose Challenge To How Her Collection In Venice Is Displayed
“A French appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by the descendants of the art collector Peggy Guggenheim, who had sought to gain more control over how her Venice museum is managed by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York. It was the third attempt by relatives of the philanthropist to challenge the display of the collection amassed by Ms. Guggenheim who died 36 years ago at the age of 81.”
Yogi Berra Wasn’t Dumb, And He Wasn’t Trying To Be Witty – So How Did The World Come To Think Of Him As A Mr. Malaprop?
We can blame sportswriters who weren’t above making up quotes for some of it, and we can blame Berra’s boyhood friend and former colleague, sportscaster Joe Garagiola, for spreading the image nationwide. But Berra – who was, among other things, a real shark at negotiating a contract – really did utter some of those famous lines, and he wasn’t above using them to his own advantage.
09.23.15
Royal Albert Hall Refuses To Accept Result Of Staff’s Union Vote
“A ballot was held earlier this year over whether or not employees should be recognised by BECTU, with 117 of those who took part in favour and 109 against … RAH chief executive Chris Cotton has now written to staff to inform them that the vote did not have ‘the support of the majority of the employees within the hall’.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.23.15
Changing the curriculum
Time now to talk about the curriculum at conservatories, about what classical musicians should learn in their professional education. As I said in an earlier post, this was something I was eagerly asked to speak about at … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-09-22
Rorschach Test
We’re all artists now Quick. What’s your reaction to that sentence? This was the title of a September 2015 New York Times article that considered expanded definitions of and options for creativity and the increasingly … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-09-22
So Long, Summertime
This is the last day of summer. It would be wrong to let the season get away without a proper sendoff. There are, of course, countless recorded versions of the George Gershwin song from Porgy and Bess … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-09-22
Snapshot: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sing a duet at the 1958 Oscars
Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas sing “It’s Great Not to Be Nominated” at the 1958 Academy Awards ceremony. (The song was written for them by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen.) Neither man had been … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-09-23
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UK Movie Theatres Deploy Guards With NightVision Goggles To Try To Thwart Piracy
“The days of trying to conceal a camcorder are over. It is much easier to conceal a smartphone. They use various tricks like cutting a hole in a popcorn cup and putting it wedged in a popcorn cup. Sometimes we see a sock with a hole cut in it which they put over the phone so there is no shine to the phone.”
Think Your Theatre Is Old? Old Vic Is About To Celebrate 250 Years
“Since it first opened, this historic playhouse has been celebrated for its remarkable design and as a place where countless artists, from Sarah Siddons and Henry Irving, to Peter O’Toole, Daniel Day Lewis and Miranda Richardson, have found their voices.”
Harry Potter Fans Are Leaving Notes For New Fans In Book Stores
“Fan site MuggleNet.com kicked off the Twitter trend #PotterItForward, encouraging users to write a message on a post-it note inside the novel at a local book store or library. Potterheads across the globe swiftly delivered, leaving heartfelt messages about what the series meant to them and how it affected their lives.”
Next Year’s Tony Awards Might Get The Boot From Radio City
MSG Entertainment said Tuesday that it will again put on a “New York Spring Spectacular” starring the leggy dancers next year, but it will run from June 15 through Aug. 7 at Radio City Music Hall, meaning it may have to boot the annual theater awards show from the iconic venue.
Celebrate! “Happy Birthday” Has Been Liberated From Copyright
In a stunning reversal of decades of copyright claims, the judge ruled that Warner/Chappell never had the right to charge for the use of the “Happy Birthday To You” song. Warner had been enforcing a copyright since 1988, when it bought Birch Tree Group, the successor to Clayton F. Summy Co., which claimed the original disputed copyright.
Surprise: E-Book Sales Slow And Print Sales Pick Up
E-books’ declining popularity may signal that publishing, while not immune to technological upheaval, will weather the tidal wave of digital technology better than other forms of media, like music and television.
Opening Weekend Box Office Is Everything For A Movie (And Yet, A New Strategy Emerges)
“Obviously, the best-charting wide-release averages were Jurassic World and Avengers; if you’re adept at elementary-school math, you probably deduced as much. But where these per-screen numbers get truly interesting are the limited releases. Often, prestige and art-house distributors will launch their titles in fewer than ten theaters, usually in New York and Los Angeles; if they perform well, that can lead to larger rollouts that take advantage of momentum and high tidings.”