“In a post on its website, Amazon made the argument for lower e-book prices and outlined that it would be willing to continue accepting 30 percent of e-book sales, its current take, if Hachette stopped pricing titles at $12.99 and $14.99. The company did not suggest that Hachette lower all e-books to $9.99, leaving room for exceptions for specialized titles that warrant higher prices.”
Tag: 07.29.14
UK Reverses Ban On Guitars In Prisons
“A ban on steel-string guitars in prison cells in England and Wales has been reversed after a campaign by rock stars including Billy Bragg and Johnny Marr. Prisoners had been unable to play the instruments outside supervised sessions since rules were changed last November.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber Sues Over Cancellation Of “Superstar” Stadium Tour
“The show had been due visit 50 US cities, with a cast including Sex Pistol John Lydon and former Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams. But the promoter, Michael Cohl’s Options Clause Entertainment, pulled the plug at the end of May” without giving any reason.
Rochester Philharmonic Names New Music Director
Ward Stare, who played in the Rochester Youth Philharmonic as a youngster and spent four years as the St. Louis Symphony’s resident conductor, takes over this fall “after the turbulent tenure of … Arild Remmereit, who was terminated mid-season in 2012 after two years into his four-year contract.”
U.S. Authorities Drop Effort To Seize Ancient Mask From St. Louis Art Museum And Return It To Egypt
“‘The Department of Justice will take no further legal action with respect to the mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer,’ U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said [Monday].” Authorities are unable to produce any evidence that the item, which disappeared from Egypt sometime between 1966 and 1973 and was purchased by the museum from a U.S. dealer 25 years later, was stolen.
Subway Dancers Vs. The NYPD
“Cheered by tourists, tolerated by regulars, feared by those who frown upon kicks in the face, subway dancers have unwittingly found themselves a top priority for the New York Police Department – a curious collision of a Giuliani-era policing approach, a Bloomberg-age dance craze and a new administration that has cast the mostly school-age entertainers as fresh-face avatars of urban disorder.”
Met Museum President Emily Rafferty Retires
“The Met’s first female president managed some 1,500 workers. Working with Met director Thomas Campbell, she oversaw renovations of its Islamic galleries and American wing, new digital initiatives and an increase in attendance fueled by blockbuster shows.”
What Happens When Archives Aren’t On Paper Anymore?
When Salman Rushdie donated his archives to Emory Univeristy, he didn’t mean only his papers: the collection includes four of his old computers (and will include all his later digital effects). How do archivists go about making the material on these old pieces of technology available to the public?
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.29.14
Retirement For Emily Rafferty?
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-29
St. Louis: Ka Nefer-Nefer Case Ends With A Whimper
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-30
John Luther Adams’s outdoor music needs to come indoors
AJBlog: Condemned to Music | Published 2014-07-29
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On The Sad Sad Mess That The Metropolitan Opera Has Gotten Itself In To
“Of course the lockout will be toxic, as we learned from the Minnesota Orchestra and from the last Met lockout, in 1980. Subscribers flee, musicians flee, and the art suffers too. Whatever happens, a lockout will mean bitterness between the workers and Gelb. It will mean a division among the subscribers and donors, and worse, it will mean that other institutions may follow the Met’s hardline example. In other words, something rotten will spread beyond Denmark.”