Seattle radio station KEXP is a technical innovator. But “technology innovation in music is dangerous inherently because the labels are always afraid that somehow technological innovation is going to further encroach on their sagging revenue. Rather than trying to embrace technology to improve revenues, their knee-jerk reaction is to figure out how to strangle technology.”
Tag: 04.30.07
Curbing TV Violence May Run Afoul Of The Courts
The FCC and various lawmakers are looking for a way to exert more control over how much violence is allowed on television in the US. But if new regulations are to stick, the trick will be defining “violence” narrowly enough that the rules won’t be immediately struck down by the courts.
Ashkenazy To Give Up Performing
“Vladimir Ashkenazy has decided to give up playing the piano in public,” apparently because of painful arthritis in his hands. Ashkenazy, who was recently appointed chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony, “decided to give up public concerts several months ago. He does plan to continue recording, however.”
UK Humanities Funding Cuts Matter
“Although much has been written about the robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul mentality of the raid on lottery arts funding, far less in the way of column inches have been spent on the recent cut of £5.3 million to the largest funding body for arts research in the UK, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The cuts were made by the DTI to cover the department’s costs involved in the Rover car company collapse and British Energy’s nuclear liabilities. Why does this cut matter so much? First, it is part of a general attack on research for research’s sake.”
Indianapolis’ Antiquities Moratorium, Explained
“The Indianapolis Museum of Art recently decided to impose a moratorium on acquiring antiquities that left their probable country of modern discovery after 1970, unless we can obtain documents establishing that they were exported legally,” writes Maxwell Anderson, the IMA’s director, who hopes others will follow suit. “A universal moratorium would seriously impact the clandestine trade in antiquities, which fuels the destruction of ancient sites.”
The Pleasing New Prado
Spaniards aren’t happy with Rafael Moneo’s extension to the beloved Prado Museum. “People have taken to the streets. Placards have been painted, voices raised, passions stirred. Questions have been asked in parliament, petitions heard in the supreme court.” But “get real. Rafael Moneo’s newly completed extension is as far from tacky as it’s possible to get. It’s like accusing Cary Grant of slovenliness.”
Is Boredom The Worst Sin In Theatre?
“I often sit in theatres and wonder why the audience doesn’t just storm the stage in protest at the tedium being inflicted. But there is a difference between dull and boring. Dull is something that is really not very interesting; feeling bored in the theatre is often more to do with incomprehension and sitting through something that you can’t find a way into, something that perhaps just isn’t to your personal taste. This just means that you have to work far harder at it to get a reward.”
Culture Clash – Arts Vs. Sport
The current battle over who gets public money – the arts or sport – runs a lot deeper than the runup to the 2012 Olympics. It reflects a much wider split in our culture, a culture in which we can’t imagine the poet competing in an international javelin event, or the gold medal breast stroke champion composing an opera.
It wasn’t always so.
Charge: Publishers Trying To Block Sale Of Book Supplier
Woolworths department store “has accused the publishing industry of waging a campaign to block its planned acquisition of the book wholesaler Bertram, one of the largest suppliers to independent bookshops in Britain.”
Minneapolis To Update Concert Hall
Minneapolis’ iconic 1970s-era orchestra hall is getting a major facelift. “The board of the Minnesota Orchestra on Monday approved a $90 million expansion and renovation of the concert hall.”