The Golden Globe Awards may be a corrupt and frustrating institution, but they certainly provide plenty to talk about in the period leading up to Oscar night. Legitimate or not, a Golden Globe win makes a film, actor, or director into an instant Oscar contender, and this year’s Globes provided a vey murky glimpse of who’s in and who’s out in the race for the prized Academy Awards.
Tag: 01.19.05
Healthy Music Industry? Look North.
“The Canadian recording industry, written off as obsolete after music downloading surged in popularity, has finally rebounded from a six-year slide. Record labels chalked up an increase in 2004 sales to everything from anti-piracy campaigns and consumers’ frustrations with the glitches of file sharing to lower CD price tags and a popular crop of new releases.”
UK Film Production Plummets
The number of films produced in the UK fell by 40% in 2004. The drop-off has been attributed to a cut in the subsidies provided to filmmakers as incentives to shoot in Britain, as well as to a tightening of the tax code. The British government has since introduced a new round of incentives, which it hopes will bring some studios back in 2005.
So The Sky Isn’t Falling, Now?
Music sales may have dipped slightly in 2004, but sales of legally downloadable music went through the roof, according to a new report from the UK recording industry. “Legal downloads from the 230 online music stores that now exist generated $330m (£175m) for the music industry in 2004.”
Eddins To Edmonton
“American conductor William Eddins, well known in the classical-music world for his charismatic and outspoken style, is the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s new music director.” Eddins has formerly served as a staff conductor for the Chicago Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, and is the principal guest conductor of Ireland’s National Symphony. He was reportedly the only candidate for the job to win the approval of ESO members.
New Leadership at SPAC
Upstate New York’s embattled Saratoga Performing Arts Center has chosen a well-connected state Senate aid to replace longtime President Herb Chesbrough, who is leaving under a cloud after a scathing report took the center to task for its shoddy management practices. Marcia White, who will earn less than half the annual salary that Chesbrough enjoyed as president, will take over the running of SPAC in March, and plans to spend her first few months developing a new business plan for the center.
Uncovering Nero’s Roman House
When Nero’s Rome fell, his palace in the middle of the city was buried. “This week, almost 2,000 years after Nero’s rule, Rome city officials unveiled a new find from the palace that offers a tantalizing hint of the treasures buried beneath the hill. It is a large mosaic, more than 9 by 6 feet, showing naked men harvesting grapes and making wine, a typical illustration for a Roman palace of the time.”
Win-Win Situation In San Diego
The San Diego Opera has signed an agreement to use the San Diego Symphony as its pit orchestra for all future productions. Previously, the company had hired its own orchestra from the ranks of area performers, many of whom were also SDS players. The deal means more revenue for the orchestra, more weeks of paid work for the musicians, and guarantees continuity without a lot of extra cost for the opera company.
All Opera Isn’t Local
The Scottish government’s plan to “save” Scottish Opera has looked a lot more like an attempt to destroy it, as many in the music world have noted. But politicians don’t tear down public institutions simply for fun, so the question is begged: what exactly turned the Executive against the opera? Andrew Clarke thinks he has the answer: “In a small, newly devolved country, there is no political capital to be made from supporting the most capital-intensive art form. Rightly or wrongly, opera is perceived by many Scots as a class-ridden activity without local roots.”