“Almost £1m has been given out to nearly 700 authors since the end of March, to help those facing financial crisis through the coronavirus pandemic. But the Society of Authors has warned that funds are now running low, and that losses for writers are set to continue into next year.” – The Guardian
Tag: 08.10.20
A Brief History Of Music Shaped By Technology
Music has been around as long as there have been people. Longer if you count music made by animals. It’s safe to say that music will be a part of this world as long as there is life. So what happens when new technology encounters an eternal constant for humans? – 3 Quarks Daily
Those Ubiquitous Ads For MasterClass? Here’s What You Actually Get
MasterClass launched in 2015 with just three classes: Dustin Hoffman on acting, Serena Williams on tennis, and Patterson on writing. Since then the company has grown exponentially, raising $135 million in venture capital from 2012 to 2018. It now has more than 85 classes across nine categories. (Last year it added 25 new classes, and this year it intends to add even more.) After the pandemic hit, as people started spending more time at home, its subscriptions surged, some weeks increasing tenfold over the average in 2019. – The Atlantic
Why Is Everyone Beating Up On TikTok?
TikTok, the video making and sharing app probably most known for its quirky video memes and gags made by people under 20, seems to be in many governments’ crosshairs. The attacks either come directly on the platform itself or to people using it in ways that violate the local social order. – Hyperallergic
Salome Bey, 86, Canada’s “First Lady Of The Blues”
After making their first appearance in Toronto in 1961, Salome settled there in 1964 and began playing the jazz club circuit, soon earning the sobriquet that would be with her the rest of her life: “Canada’s First Lady of the Blues.” – CBC
Extras Being Replaced By Mannequins?
Showrunners have been changing scenes to have little or no background performers, Paula Spurr says. She’s even heard of some smaller-budget productions using mannequins “in the deep background” these days. “It’s like, ‘Oh great, we’re being replaced with dummies,”‘ Spurr says with a laugh. – CBC
A Reappraisal Of Stanley Kubrick
David Mikics’s “Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker” is a cool, cerebral book about a cool, cerebral talent. This is not a full-dress biography — there have been several of Kubrick — but a brisk study of his films, with enough of the life tucked in to add context as well as brightness and bite. – The New York Times
Broadway Star Danny Burstein On Struggling With COVID
“The other day, my pal, the brilliant songwriter Tom Kitt, called me. He said he was frustrated by his lack of creativity because of the pandemic and was reaching out to several friends to see if we could write songs together. He said, “Is there something going on in your life at the moment that you just have to express?” And I sat at my computer and wrote the following: “The question we keep asking is how do you have hope when every moment is a struggle? When every second is a reminder.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Reconsidering Poulenc
He was no originator, like Schoenberg or Stravinsky, nor did he possess Britten’s or Shostakovich’s command of manifold genres. He was, however, a composer of rare gifts, particularly in the setting of sacred and secular texts. As the decades pass, he grows in stature, and his aloofness from musical party politics matters less. – The New Yorker
UK Report: Theatres With Proper Ventilation Could Be Safe To Reopen At Full Capacity
Ventilation is more effective at protecting against airborne transmission of the Covid-19 virus than social distancing or PPE – and “many performance venues have the capability to provide good levels of ventilation,” according to Government advisers. – Arts Professional