“Now that we’re put in touch directly with our audience and that distributors can be completely removed from the equation, we have exactly the same problem selling the music as the distributors had. Just because the songs are available to buy, doesn’t mean we can sell them – in the same way that (and excuse the often-used analogy) installing a landline doesn’t mean that the phone is going to ring. And we can’t blame the distributors any more. The only people that are left to blame are ourselves. And that hurts.”
Tag: 08.28.08
Steel: “I Want To Make Dallas Opera The Best In The Country”
So says George Steel, Dallas Opera’s new director. “There was a time when such a statement would not have sounded as audacious as it does now. During its golden era, the Dallas Opera was a home away from home for Maria Callas, one of the most famous opera singers to ever step foot onstage. Placido Domingo had his North American debut here, and Franco Zeffirelli, who would go on to become a famous film director, served as a stage designer on a number of productions for the opera.”
Texas Ballet Leaders Say They’d Step Aside If It Would Save Company
“The Texas Ballet Theater’s chairwoman and its artistic director said Thursday that they would be willing to step aside if that would help the ballet raise $2 million by Sept. 10 — including $500,000 in cash — to stave off bankruptcy or a shutdown.”
Hollywood Scores A Record At Summer Box Office
“The school’s-out movie season concludes this weekend, and domestic ticket sales so far total $3.9 billion, up a little more than 1% from last year’s record summer, according to Media by Numbers. Year-to-date revenues stand at $6.7 billion, down slightly from 2007, but up from the three earlier years, the tracking firm says.”
Can You Really Have An Award For “Spirit Of The Fringe”?
Fringe festivals don’t work that way. “Isn’t the spirit of the fringe to do art for art’s sake, for no other reward than having created something beautiful or startling or ugly or interesting? The minute a finance company gives £4,000 and a Perspex award to someone, doesn’t that destroy any Fringe spirit that they might have had, in any case?”
Criticism Continues For Exclusive Smithsonian Travel Deal
“The Smithsonian Institution’s noncompetitive contract giving a Massachusetts travel agency exclusive use of the Smithsonian name continues to anger other agencies two years after the deal was first struck. The deal has been good for the Cambridge, Mass., tourist firm.”
José Carreras At 61
He’s still giving 50 concerts a year around the world. Some say it is time to stop now before his famous timbre goes, but he won’t hear of it. “I hope I can continue for another four or five years. I have great emotion every time I go on stage. Nothing in life gives me the same satisfaction that my profession gives me.”
Pope Condemns Crucified Frog Sculpture
A sculpture in northern Italy depicting a crucified green frog holding a beer mug and an egg could be soon removed from display after Pope Benedict condemned it as blasphemous.
An Explosion Of New Dance?
Are we in the midst of a dance boom? You’d have to think so from the way hot-shot choreographers are going out and forming their own companies.
Fastest-Growing TV Audience Demo Is People Over 55
“According to Nielsen’s 2008-09 national universe estimates, the 55-plus age bracket is by far the fastest-growing TV audience demo — accelerating at twice the rate of the overall TV audience.”