“Operating revenue for the book publishing industry in Canada edged down 1.2%, to C$2.1 billion, in 2006 after increasing 3.2% in 2005 as the average household spending on books declined from C$111 in 2005 to C$108 in 2006.”
Tag: 07.14.08
Composer Loses Suit Against Newspaper Over Opera Review
A British composer was told to go bankrupt yesterday after he unsuccessfully tried to sue the London Evening Standard for libel, after one of his operas got a bad review.
Performers Pressure EU Countries To Double Copyright
European Union leaders are facing mounting pressure from music campaigners to almost double the term of copyright protection for performers, as they prepare to debate the issue in Brussels.
Recession? Not For DVD Spending
“Consumer spending on DVDs and Blu-ray in the first six months of the year, purchases and rentals combined, was up 1.6% from spending in first-half 2007, according to Home Media Magazine’s market research department. The first-half 2008 tally: $10.77 billion, compared with $10.6 billion a year ago.”
The Others Who Weren’t Salman Rushdie
“Midnight’s Children is still a wonderful, buoyantly self-delighted novel, where east and west – Sheherazade and Tristram Shandy – meet as they never met before. But it hardly needs this poll to tell us of its qualities or its influence. The point of the ‘Booker of Bookers’ vote was not this result, but the invitation to look back down the line of sometimes forgotten winners, to see which seem to have outlived the literary fashions that they might once have exemplified.”
Where The English Avant Garde Fiction Went
Ever wondered what happened to British avant garde fiction? Well, it seems to have found a home in London’s conceptual art world.
Banksy’s Identity Is Out. Does Anyone Care?
“The question of the artist’s anonymity seized the public – and more importantly the media – since he first started making serious money. And that’s the main issue. The secrecy of Banksy’s identity seems to be much more about the public’s fascination with celebrity and money than anything to do with art.”
I’m Going To Live Forever! (And Here Are The Schools To Make It Happen)
“Britain has become a world leader in Fame-style schools. The best known is the British Record Industry Trust (Brit) School in south London, attended by Amy Winehouse, Adele, Kate Nash, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap and Leona Lewis. Its rock credentials come from having taught members of the Kooks, the Feeling and Athlete.”
$50 Million Redo Reveals Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece
“This is the most narcissistic of Wright houses — and that’s saying something. Wright used the windows, eves and piers to frame other elements of the house in perfectly composed abstractions.”
NPR To Cancel “Bryant Park Project”
“The last broadcast of this New York-based program, which many listeners tuned into at npr.org rather than over the air, is expected to be on July 25. It’s an expensive failure — the first-year budget was more than $2 million — and comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting.”