Rap has clearly established itself as a major cultural force. “What’s less clear – but no less true – is that rap’s cultural ascendence happens to coincide with the music’s creative bankruptcy.”
Tag: 02.08.04
Baltic Sea – An Archaeological Paradise
Searchers are finding hundreds of beautifully preserved ships in the Baltic Sea, making it an “archeological paradise.” “Politics and nature have conspired to preserve the secrets of the Baltic. The Cold War seriously hindered exploration, and the low salt content of the Baltic waters kept away the shipworms that feast on wooden wrecks.”
Classical Independents Day
It looks like classical recording has died – if you look at the gimmicky, anemic “big” labels. But the smaller independent labels are producing some good stuff. “It’s that emphasis on repertoire rather than cult celebrity that marks out the independents from the corporate big boys. And how they’ve grown.”
The End Of Grammys As We Know Them
Enjoy Sunday’s Grammys? Well, lock it away in memory, because “while it may look like any other recent Grammy telecast, this one will be historic. It will be the last to be driven by MTV music videos, compact-disc sales and broadcast radio. Technology is going to change the Grammys, just like it’s changing everything else about the recording industry. By this time next year, legal music downloading, music DVD sales and Internet and satellite radio stations will greatly influence the Grammys.”
BBC To Invest Heavily In New Arts Ventures
The BBC says it will spend £8 million on new arts programming in the next year and a half, representing “the biggest single new commitment to the arts on British TV. The BBC currently spends £50m on arts coverage.”
TV Networks Flop Around Trying To Reinvent
You can smell the desperation in the air. “Network television — battered by years of audience defections to cable channels and fearing the devastation that personal video recording machines like TiVo could wreak on advertising, its only revenue source — is beginning to embrace tactics considered heretical just a few years ago as it struggles to keep viewers tuned in and attentive.”
When Did Hollywood Give Up Happy Endings?
Hollywood has been a specialist in happy endings. But lately, happy conclusions seem to be out of fashion…
Increase Funding For The NEA? Yeah, Right!
So arts supporters are cheering George Bush’s proposal to raise the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts. Big deal, writes Dominic Papatola. “Even if Bush’s proposed boost isn’t the cynical political maneuver it appears to be — who wants to bet that congressional Republicans don’t have a backroom deal to nix the increase? — the NEA budget will still be $37 million less than its high-water mark. And that’s in nonadjusted dollars.”
When Science Explains Art (Is That Good?)
Some art lovers get angry when scientists try to attach literal explanations to art. But “such literalism can actually add to an artwork’s mystique. By helping us identify the part of art that’s not a mystery, these efforts help us focus more narrowly on the part that is.”