Several techno-savvy companies are banding together to explore the possibility of combining FM radio and cell phone technology to entice a new generation of consumers to re-embrace radio. “The technology would combine the traditional over-the-air FM broadcast — through a receiver included in the phone — with text and graphics displayed on the phone’s screen. Those text-and-graphics images could be coordinated with the broadcast — to display the title of a song and the name of the artist, for example — or provide information such as concert schedules, allow the user to buy ring tones from the artist or participate in radio station contests.”
Tag: 04.21.05
MCA/Denver Gets Closer To A New Home
The Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver has raised $7 million of the $12-to-$15 million it needs for construction of its proposed new home. The museum is hoping to break ground for the 26,000-square foot building later this year, but must still do some additional fundraising before construction can begin. In particular, MCA/D is still looking for a lead donor to step up with $5 million.
Lilly Prize Awarded
“Poet C.K. Williams, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and many other honors, has been named this year’s recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, for which he will be awarded $100,000.”
Cannes Includes Iraqi Film
“An Iraqi film will compete at the Cannes Film Festival for the first time, vying for the top prize against veteran directors and past winners such as Gus Van Sant. The United States accounts for four of the 20 movies (from 13 countries) selected to compete at the festival.”
Oprah – Please Help Us!
A group of prominent writers has written to Oprah Winfrey imploring her to retart her book club of contemporary fiction. “There’s a widely-held belief that the landscape of literary fiction is now a gloomy place. Book Club members stopped buying new fiction, and this changed the face of American publishing,” said the letter, which was signed by 158 authors.
Miami City Archaeologist Fired
Miami’s city archaeologist says she was fired because she wasn’t accomodating enough to developers. “What she encountered, she says, was a bureaucracy that thwarted its own preservation rules in order to make developers happy. ‘They did not understand that having an archaeologist on staff meant that if a development was going to destroy a significant archaeological site, I may object to it or, at the very least, try to get a developer to preserve part of the site’.”
The Pope J-P Insta-Biography Hits Shelves
“What is billed as “the first biography” to tell Pope John Paul II’s full story hits bookshelves on Thursday, less than two weeks after his funeral and with the new pontiff just moving in to his old apartments. The book is one of what will undoubtedly grow to form a pile of profiles on offer in book stores – the latest instant response to the death of a public figure.”
Content Control: Not Just For Creators Anymore
The controversy over “cleaned-up” DVD copies of Hollywood blockbusters – stripped of nude scenes, foul language, and references to homosexuality by specialty companies – continues to churn, but is it possible that everyone is missing the central truth about such doctored DVDs? “Control is shifting from the studios to the masses. One argument in favor of the sanitizers suggests that, if the government can’t dictate what people watch in the privacy of their own home, then the Directors Guild can’t, either… Just as unauthorized music remixes became the rage in nightclubs a generation ago, now movie re-edits are becoming cheaper and easier to do. And there’s no going back.”
A Frightening Diagnosis
The Utah Symphony & Opera is in trouble; on this point, everyone agrees. But what’s wrong with the organization? Bad leadership? Subpar marketing? Poor programming choices? Eric Snider thinks it might be something far more simple: no one really cares. “When you’re trying to convince someone that a particular city is nice, it’s always the artsy things you mention. ‘My heavens, Salt Lake City is a fine city!’ you’d say. ‘It has some great museums, and a world-class symphony!’ And it’s true, we have those things, but do you ever go to them? No. (Neither do I, but we’re talking about you here, not me.) Instead, those things languish on the outskirts of profitability, kept alive by generous donations and by the few people who actually patronize them.”
Do Opera Companies Need Quality Control?
Opera companies have been taking great pains in recent years to play up their commitment to new works, with world premieres given the type of publicity usually reserved for pop stars. But increasingly, it seems to Norman Lebrecht that the new operas to be performed at many top houses are chosen not based on quality, but on the drawing power of the composer, or even the performers who want to sing a certain part. “This is no way to run an artistic institution which depends on public goodwill and corporate support. But such is the chaos enveloping new operas that the commissioning process has fallen prey to external pressures.”