So the FCC wants to regulate violence on TV. But “there’s a reason no one is keen to define excessively violent programming. Anyone who tries will face insoluble practical and constitutional problems. Because opinions about what is appropriate for children vary widely, any definition of excessively violent programming would be attacked as too narrow, too broad, or both.”
Tag: 05.16.07
Amazon Unlocks Music
The internet retailer will sell downloads without copy restrictions. “Millions of songs will be sold without Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, allowing – for example – customers to burn their own CDs freely. Amazon says it will launch the new store later this year.”
Is Cultural Diversity Backfiring?
“Cultural diversity policies are a major priority across the arts world today; the ability to ‘demonstrate diversity’ is central to all arts funding bodies and organisations.” But Richard Hyton writes that: “Since the 1970s, cultural diversity initiatives within the visual arts sector have arguably exacerbated, rather than confronted, exclusionary pathologies of the art world. They have compounded the problems of tokenism and racial separation within the arts sector.”
K-W Symphony Still Looking For Long-Term Stability
Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, which came dangerously close to shutting down earlier this season, has presented a new financial plan it says will keep the orchestra solvent going forward. A key component of the plan will be boosting the KWSO’s endowment, and new directors of marketing and development are being sought.
NY Opera Orch Bounces Back
“Having come through the financial struggles that jeopardized its continued existence earlier this year, the Opera Orchestra of New York has announced a complete three-work season for 2007-08… Reports of OONY’s money woes seem to have galvanized what company spokespeople describe as an outpouring of support from legions of fans, many of the opera world’s leading singers, and members of the orchestra.”
Budapest Orchestra At A Crossroads
The Budapest Symphony is one of Europe’s oldest orchestras, established in 1853 and playing concerts ever since in the celebrated Hungarian State Opera House. But this year, the Hungarian government declined to pay the usual subsidy that kept the orchestra afloat, and the organization finds itself scrambling to find new revenues to replace the public funds.
Smithsonian’s Business Unit Chief Steps Down
“Gary Beer, 46, a former executive at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks as the Smithsonian has been roiled by controversy over its leadership and finances. In March, the Smithsonian’s top leader, Lawrence M. Small, was forced to resign following revelations of lavish expense account spending, including $2 million in housing and office expenses over seven years.”
Why Writing Music For Theatre Beats The Concert Hall
“Writing for the concert hall means waiting for a commission (probably for a concert opener, if it’s an orchestral gig; maybe an unusual chamber combination if you’re lucky), writing the piece, and much later on hearing it played two or three times as a novelty, or as a warm-up to masterpieces of the established canon. Your overture, no matter how good, probably won’t have a chance with audiences against the Mozart concerto that follows it and that Schubert/Brahms/Tchaikovsky symphony after intermission.” For the theatre, on the other hand…
Motor Mouths
Since the 1960s, most artists have been audiotaped or videotaped talking about their work; because of changes in how they are trained, artists have become increasingly sophisticated in talking about their work and cooperating with critics to shape the interpretation of it. But where does this leave the historian?
Darcey Bussell, Role Model
“Critics and audiences rank her at the top of her profession. Her backstage reputation is that of being a staunch trouper, a loyal colleague and a good laugh. Without being pompous about it, she’s kept her family life – banker husband, two daughters – private. She’s managed to have fun on the glamour side of things without cheapening herself, and she’s generously and unaffectedly given her time to a lot of worthy causes.”