Conservative Christians have fought Hollywood over the years. But now Hollywood is finding support from these critics, who are “stepping up to back the entertainment industry in its moment of need: a high-stakes battle against online file-sharing services that has reached the nation’s highest court. File-swapping services make pornography easily accessible to minors, the social conservatives submit. The entertainment companies, meanwhile, blame sharing for declining sales and lost revenue. An unlikely alliance thus formed.”
Tag: 03.01.05
Truth In Podcasting
Podcasting is the hot new medium. But whre is it going? ”As is the case with advertising on blogs, there seems to be some potential. However, it is too early to tell if there is a serious market opportunity there.”
Study: Canadian Artists Earn Less
Minority artists earn less than other artists in Canada, says a new study. “The October study revealed a huge growth in the number of artists in the country; in fact, the growth rate for the profession expanded at almost three times the rate of the overall labour force since the early 1990s. Despite the popularity of the career choice, the pay was significantly lower for artists than for the average Canadian worker.”
Bournemouth Works On A New Arts Complex
Arts supporters have a plan to rescue an underused concert hall in Bournemouth, England. “Ambitiously billed as ‘Bournemouth’s Guggenheim’ after the famous art gallery with sites in New York and Bilbao, the centre will provide a home for Dance South West, the Big Little Theatre Company, the education and contemporary music arms of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and the town’s music competitions festival among other creative activities.”
Satellite Radio Raises Subscription Rates
In a sign that satellite radio is gaining a foothold, XM says it will raise its monthly subscription fee. “XM said it would raise the price of its basic service to $12.95 per month from $9.99 beginning April 2, matching Sirius’ monthly fee.” The company is trying to recoup some of the massive investments in programming it has made.
Clear Channel Hopes To Boost Its Ailing Concert Business
When Clear Channel Communications Inc. dropped $4.5 billion five years ago for SFX, the giant concert promoter, the idea was to boost growth in fast-growing entertainment while the company’s core radio audience matured. Instead, the once-promising acquisition has become Clear Channel’s problem child, with consumers expressing dismay — and staying away — because of high ticket prices and poor service.” Now the company hopes it has found its turn-around artist…
Oscar TV Audience Down From Last Year
The numbers are in, and this year’s Academy Awards broadcast scored lower with viewers than last year. “Like the Golden Globes and Grammys before it, this year’s Academy Awards broadcast, on ABC, was down in total viewers from a year ago. The program drew an average audience of 41.5 million viewers, versus the 43.5 million who watched last year. That was better than in 2003, when the start of the Iraq war a few days before the ceremony helped push Oscar ratings to their lowest in nearly 30 years. This year’s show drew almost 8.5 million more viewers than that broadcast.”
A Shostakovich Premiere – 74 Years Late
Seventy-four years after it was written, a Shostakovich ballet received its world premiere in Moscow last weekend. “For the first time in 74 years his 1931 score The Bolt rang out from a theatre pit, and its story was told in ballet on the stage above, in a new production by the Bolshoi Ballet.”
Is Ancient German Star Map A Modern Fake?
“One of Germany’s most acclaimed archaeological finds – a 3,600-year-old disc depicting the stars and the planets – is at the centre of a dispute following claims that it is a modern forgery.”
Philly Concert Hall Struggles With Budget
Only three years after it opened, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center is struggling to make ends meet. “Hobbled by a paltry endowment, the Kimmel still is not operating with a balanced budget. The last fiscal year ended with a $2.5 million deficit on a $32 million budget, and Kimmel leaders, after predicting that the current season would be their first in the black, now say their hopes of that happening are dimming.”