“Hollywood’s all-out war against movie piracy is turning into a big-budget bomb, with illegal copies of virtually every new release — and even some films that have yet to debut in theaters — turning up on the Internet… The abundance of bootlegs arrives just as the movie studios have launched their most aggressive campaign yet to protect their business from the rampant downloading that has plagued the record industry… The steps may have made some thievery more difficult, but overall, piracy appears to be up from previous years… In fact, the new security measures seem only to have emboldened some pirates.”
Tag: 12.04.03
Steel City Windfall
A gala fundraiser held to mark the opening of Pittsburgh’s new convention center has raised nearly $700,000 for area cultural groups, according to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “Checks in the amount of $115,000 each were received yesterday by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Cultural Trust.” The amount raised is far in excess of what any of the arts groups had expected to receive from the event.
Looking For A New Paradigm
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the arts in South Florida are on life support, and in serious danger of slipping into oblivion. With the demise of the Florida Philharmonic still sending shockwaves through the arts community, and legislative funding for all arts having been slashed by nearly 80% in one year, local leaders have convened a summit with the intent of finding new, workable business models for the arts. Lobbyists are encouraging supporters to look beyond the traditional model of state funding, which they say may never return to previous levels.
Litton Stepping Down In Dallas
Andrew Litton, who has been music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 1994, has announced that he will leave the post when his current contract expires in 2006. In his time in Texas, Litton has hired nearly 1/3 of the DSO’s musicians, and taken the ensemble to national prominence as one of the top American orchestras. Litton says he intends to devote more time to conducting opera and developing children’s television programs about music. He will also continue to hold his current conducting positions in Minneapolis and Bergen, Norway.
Klass: Classical Music Needs To Be Hipper (Maybe A Leather Jacket?)
Former pop singer Myleene Klass – now trying to make a career in classical music, says classical music has to get hipper, not dumber: “Donning a leather jacket doesn’t just suddenly make you accessible, it is the whole package. I think that’s what the classical world needs to give. Let’s get everything to the same edgy degree that the pop world’s got at, because it looks stronger on the television – none of this soft-focus classical nonsense. Let’s make it edgy, let’s make it current, let’s make it exciting.”
More Lawsuits, Just In Time For The Holidays!
The recording industry has filed another 41 lawsuits against online file-swappers accused of trading at least 1000 songs illegally, and warned an additional 90 individuals that legal action is imminent if they do not stop their file-trading activity. Since this past summer, the industry has sued more than 300 users, settled with 220, and received pledges from over 1,000 that they will delete their illegally-downloaded songs and never download again.
Here’s Betting The Industry Doesn’t Like This, Either
In Europe, final touches are being put on a next-generation portable MP3 application known as tunA, which will not only function as a playback machine, but has the potential to turn every user into a walking radio station. The application “employs Wi-Fi to locate nearby users, peek at their music playlist and wirelessly jack into their audio stream… tunA is being designed for wireless PDAs, cell phones and even its own hardware device.”
Businessman/Actor Named To Head New Scottish National Theatre
Richard Findlay, a trained actor and respected businessman who runs a media empire, has been named as the Scottish National Theatre’s first director. “The Scottish Executive this year set aside £7.5 million in funding for the theatre over two years. It is to operate on an entirely untried model – with no building of its own, commissioning productions from existing theatres and companies.”
Crowe Warns Aussie Movie Industry
As Australia considers cutting off funding to its film industry, actor Russell Crowe warns that to do so would damage the industry.”I don’t think the structure that we have in place should become a social welfare system for people who can’t compete,” he said. “But he said the industry should concentrate on making improvements and becoming internationally competitive rather than consider withdrawing funding.”
Klezmeriffic
Klezmer is big right now, and becoming more popular. “It is now not only respectable, becoming an academic discipline and the beneficiary of generous Lottery funding through the Millennium Commission, it is also a flourishing part of our new, spiritual age.”