Brexit—the exit of Great Britain from the European Union—will have profound effects at home and abroad, with wide-ranging repercussions on the economy and international trade whether it’s a negotiated “soft Brexit” or a no-deal “hard Brexit.” What are the implications of Brexit for classical music? The bottom line from my perspective: Brexit is bad news for British orchestras.
News, moves, and events in the orchestra industry.
Seeing media coverage from Hong Kong, where people first took to the streets on June 9 against an extradition bill proposed by the local government, you might think that protests are taking place 23 hours a day, breaking only for commercials.
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If Beethoven were a candy, how would he taste? A goofy question, admittedly, but at airport duty-free shops everywhere, Mozartkugeln turn Mozart into a confection: an orb of marzipan and dark chocolate enrobed in a flattering foil portrait.
$150k to the SPCO; Turns out online opera is a good idea; Knight Foundation launches $750,000 initiative for immersive technology for the arts; Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ gets brilliant encore, bound for TV; What is Spotify thinking with its ‘Dance Like Nobody’s Paying’ ad campaign?; Spotify tops 108 million paying subscribers; Spotify abruptly shuts down its direct upload & distribution plans; For new video game music, Salt Lake City is becoming a hotspot; Digital tools and community first — A bright future for the TSO; Taylor Swift says she will rerecord her old music. Here’s how; U.S. copyright office awards mechanical licensing collective contract to NMPA bid; Amazon music has 32 million subscribers — and a 70% yearly growth rate; Is traditional radio about to crash?; Apple decides to invest in original podcasts — Putting a buzzkill on Spotify’s expansion; Exploring an immersive future in classical music; Imagine being immersed in the OSM — without the orchestra present; Stanford researchesrs point to dramatic improvements in virtual reality sound; Apple music’s analytics dashboard for artists is offically out of beta; Spotify, Apple, Pandora, Amazon, Google, warns against ditching PRO consent decrees; Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, Google/Alphabet protest streaming royalty rate increases; Commentary: Classical streaming has arrived. How do the new services stack up?;
How does a performing arts group draw younger audiences and build loyalty? A case study in the September 2019 issue of American Theatre magazine reports how Portland Center Stage in Oregon used support from The Wallace Foundation to experiment with its marketing and engagement programs for new theatergoers—and gained insights that are relevant to orchestras seeking to strengthen their own audience-building efforts.
The League’s 74th National Conference in Nashville, June 3-5, was an extraordinary gathering of musicians, composers, board members, administrators, and volunteers, filled with provocative content and wonderful music, hosted by the Nashville Symphony. See below for videos, presentations, handouts, and more.
Updated January 29, 2025 Efforts to increase restrictions on travel and trade in African Elephant ivory and other endangered animal and plant species has placed a new focus on long-existing permitting rules for international travel with instruments that contain endangered species material. Those rules are contained in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, otherwise …
Following three years of consensus-building among music stakeholders, governmental authorities, and conservation experts, policy requests put forward by the League of American Orchestras (the League) and partners in the international music community gained approval today at the gathering of 183 parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), where musical instruments in use by musicians across the globe were on the agenda August 17 through 29, alongside urgent new policies shaped to address threats to plant and animal species worldwide.