It may not be the most socially responsible company on the planet, but WalMart has a profound understanding of the science of pricing and how it affects consumers. AJ Blogger Andrew Taylor suggests that arts organizations, which are forever being blasted for high ticket prices, could learn a thing or two from the world’s largest retailer: “It is interesting to consider what elements of price are in the minds of our audiences, and how we can scale our pricing (both up and down) to shape their on-going dance of cost and value.”
Tag: 03.02.05
African FilmFest Looks For Some Hollywood Glitter
“This week, Africa is holding its version of the Cannes Film Festival… in the capital of Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries. Le Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou (FESPACO) screens nearly 200 films, many of them made on budgets no more than the cost of the Versace dress that Halle Berry wore on Sunday. FESPACO is the biggest and most prestigious film festival in Africa, but it faces a problem moviemakers here would like to solve: a distinct lack of participation from African-Americans in Hollywood.”
C-sharp Minor: Looks Like Red, But Tastes Like Ice Cream
“A Swiss musician sees colours when she hears music, and experiences tastes ranging from sour and bitter to low-fat cream and mown grass, astounded scientists say. Zurich University neuropsychologists were so intrigued by the case of ES, a 27-year-old professional musician whose full name has been withheld, that they recruited her for a year-long inquiry. They say she is the world’s most extreme known case of synaesthesia, the phenomenon whereby hearing music triggers a response in other sensory organs.”
A Plan For Low-Cost Electricity For Broadway
A bill in the New York State legislature would provide for cheaper electricity for Broadway theatres. “It’s hard to know what the savings would be because it’s based on usage. So up-to-date theatres’ energy costs would be less than those of older theatres. The money involved across the board would be substantial. We don’t do anything for Broadway enterprises the way we do for professional sports. It’s nutty. It matters much more for New York that we have a thriving Broadway theatre season than a baseball or football team. But we’ve never been able to bridge that gap. The sports teams get cheaper power.”
UK To Dismantle BBC Board Of Governors
The British government is starting the process of dismantling the BBC’s board of governors. “Today’s green paper on the future of the Corporation said its governance needed to be modernised to suit the changing demands from the broadcasting industry and that the current system lacked clarity, transparency and accountability. ‘The governors’ dual role as cheerleader and regulator does not sit easily in a public organisation of the size and complexity of the BBC’.”
See It, Feel It, Touch It – Art For The Blind
Shouldn’t blind people have art too? “Sense & Sensuality, at the Royal College of Art, is the first in a planned annual art competition and exhibition open equally to sighted and unsighted artists and launched by the new charity BlindArt. The charity has ambitious plans for a permanent national collection of art which can be stroked and listened to as well as looked at, equally enjoyable to sighted and blind and indeed to anyone in a wheelchair or with a disability that can make visiting galleries a nightmare.”
New (Positive!) Art Magazine Launches In China
A new art magazine is launching in China. Called “Art”, it will (promises its editors) be full of articles that “will be neutral and objective on the assessment of art works, while closely monitoring the movements of art market.” Will it be readable? “The magazine will adopt a simple and vivid style,” we’re assured.
Euopean Musicians Want US Royalties Paid
“According to the European Commission, musicians are losing up to $25 million a year in revenue as a result of the USA’s ongoing failure to comply with copyright obligations established with fellow members of the World Trade Organisation. Now British Music Rights, the national umbrella group representing composers, songwriters and publishers, has begun lobbying the UK government to ensure that British artists receive a fair deal when their music is played across the Atlantic.”
Auckland Orchestra’s Dire Straits
The Auckland (NZ) Philharmonia is in terrible shape. And the woes don’t just extend to funding. “According to a consultant’s report, it is wracked by internal conflict “verging on dysfunctionality”. All in all, the Philharmonia’s 25th year has become far from the celebratory occasion it should be. It need not have been this way. The orchestra’s funding difficulties can be laid, in large part, at the door of miserly local authorities.”
Dont Have A Conservatory? Import One.
Washington, D.C. is one of America’s legitimate centers of classical music, with excellent venues, a top-ten orchestra, a major opera company, and countless smaller ensembles. But the nation’s capital is missing one crucial element of a thriving classical scene: music students. “Most of the country’s great orchestras draw enormous energy from their close relationships with nearby world-class schools, and eager concertgoers can engorge themselves on their endless stream of open recitals.” The District’s Kennedy Center is attempting to fill the void with a series of recitals put on by top music schools from around the country, and so far, the results have been impressive.