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Arts & Entertainment: Industry News
Art
The Teresa Long Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Palmer Auditorium) will be opening with a bang in early March 2008. Enter: "The Earth Harp," a gargantuan outdoor stringed instrument created by these guys. /// Art thieves strike in Brazil! They robbed the Sao Paolo Museum of Art (MASP), making off with two paintings worth a total of approximately $100 million dollars. The paintings: Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (Picasso) and The Coffee Worker (Portinari). The holdings at the MASP are regarded by many as Latin America's most important art collection.
Film
The Austin Film Critics Association announces its rankings for top 10 films of 2007. There Will Be Blood tops the list of praises. /// More drama from the WGA/AMPTP standoff in Hollywood: With negotiations now 2 weeks dead, the fight between writers and studios has morphed into a public relations battle. Hark! Let loose the baseless research statistics of war!
Books
"Watcha' readin' fer?" Are people reading less? And are fewer and fewer books being purchased? A new study jointly performed by the Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts suggests so. New Yorker article paints a dystopian picture of a possible future for publishing. Warning: Reading this article probably won't brighten your day. /// In related news, the L.A. Times has performed a 2007 year-in-review for the publishing industry. "It was a quieter year."
Music
Xiu Xiu and Fucked Up have initiated a class action suit against Rolling Stone Magazine & R.J. Reynolds (the parent company of Camel Cigarettes) on behalf of themselves and nearly 200 other bands. The charge: illegally attempting to associate the Camel Cigarette brand with the multitude of bands featured in last month's 40th anniversary issue. If the bands have their way in court, Rolling Stone could be required to publish a full-page admission of guilt and to help Camel pay damages in excess of $195.3 billion. /// Sony BMG, one of the "Big Four" music companies, appears (finally) poised to join the digital revolution. The juggernaut plans to launch "artist-specific digital download album cards" in MP3 format by mid-January. To see what in the hell that actually means, please, read on. /// Having dissolved its partnership with ticket vendor Ticketmaster, Live Nation has announced a new partnership with CTS Eventim, the second largest ticketing company in the world. The deal is purported to convert LiveNation.com into a "best-in-class" e-commerce portal for purchasing concert tickets to shows across the world.
