Warner Music now says iTunes is great, after months of decrying Apple’s iTunes business model. Why the switch? Maybe the music industry finally realizes that “resisting customer demand for digital content has ultimately backfired for labels, and instead has only led to more ‘illegal’ downloads which have in turn helped undermine CD and DVD sales.”
Tag: 11.14.07
Why Pick On Older Musicians?
“There is a perennial sense of battle in British music culture, the new pitched against the old, as if anyone who makes music a lifelong pursuit somehow occupies space better ceded to the young and thrusting. The underlying implication is the only musical values deemed important are freshness, innovation and adventure.”
How To Define A Good Short Story
Richard Ford writes in his “curiously defensive introduction to The New Granta Book of the American Short Story” about “the cold, suffocating hands of the American writing-program industry on our faltering national literary ‘product’. But this is surely a canard, an arthritic kneejerk generalisation…”
China Leads In Social Engineering Of Weather
“When next summer’s Olympics roll around, the Beijing Weather Modification Office will be poised to intercept incoming clouds, draining them before they get to the festivities. No fewer than 32,000 people nationwide are employed by the Weather Modification Office.”
Sherman Alexie Is National Book Award Finalist
“Winners in the four competitive categories — fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature — will each receive $10,000. Other finalists get $1,000. Author-humorist Fran Lebowitz was to host Wednesday night’s ceremony, which also features honorary medals for author Joan Didion and National Public Radio host Terry Gross.”
Social Networking Site To Begin Selling Concert Tickets
“Going.com allows users to check who else plans to go to a concert or party to help decide whether to attend, and they can see how many people are interested in an event like the Moby concert.”
Broadway Producers, Stagehands Will Talk This Weekend
The Broadway stagehands strike will last at least through this weekend. “The work stoppage has crippled an industry estimated at $939 million a year and has also affected bars, restaurants, hotels, souvenir stores and other businesses in the theater district.”
Can You Trademark A Town? Martha Stewart Thinks So
Stewart wanted to produce household items and trademark the town’s name to sell them. “Some residents of the tony hamlet in Westchester County, where Stewart has a 153-acre estate, objected to her using the name Katonah for commercial purposes and feared the trademark would harm existing businesses.”
East Coast Vs. West: West Is More Stressed
“Adults in the West were also more likely to report physical symptoms of stress, including headache (West, 53 percent; East, 42 percent); upset stomach (West, 41 percent; East, 32 percent); tightness in chest (West, 21 percent, East 15 percent); faintness or dizziness (West 18, percent; East, 11 percent).”
The New Digital Divide: Video Games
Video games are huge among kids. Not so much with older adults. “Reflecting the technology’s relatively recent introduction, 59 percent of those age 18 to 29 play at least sometimes, double the rate for people age 50 to 64. There is little difference among users by race or region, with middle-income earners likeliest to indulge.”