Industry News
Club Date
The Miami Sax Quartet and guests Richard Bravo, Lee Levin, Chuck Bergeron, Arturo Sandoval, and Jon Secada recently played a benefit concert in support of WDNA Radio FM 88.9.
Recording
Electronic Arts has created a music publishing company to acquire music for its games, as well as license its music for commercials and films.
Digital Is In
The digital music industry is expected to grow from $270 million this year to $1.7 billion by 2009…
Latin labels are beginning to digitize their catalogs as Wal-Mart targets Latin downloads as a growth area, Juanes launched the “Mi Sangre” album with an iTunes campaign, and Univision.com now claims 6.1 million users per month.
Warner Music has signed a deal with Melodeo to distribute tracks digitally; Nokia has partnered with Loudeye; Motorola has partnered with Apple to create music download services; and AT&T Wireless recently launched the mMode Music Store, where you can sample and purchase music from your cellphone.
Wireless companies hope “Ringback Tones” will be the next big thing. The service, which is currently debuting in California on the Verizon Network, allows users to have songs instead of dialing noise played when someone calls them. Warner and Sony BMG are providing the music for Verizon subscribers.
Billboard Magazine now tracks the top 20 ringtones, and has even created a “Ringtone of the Year” award for the Billboard Music Awards. According to Billboard, ringtones are now more popular than regular music downloads.
The XM Satellite Radio CEO expects a convergence of satellite radio and cellphone service in the next few years. XM recently debuted MyFi which lets users store and replay XM content on a wearable device.
Former Viacom president Mel Karmazin has been hired to run Sirius Satellite Radio, whose subscriber base now exceeds 800,000.
ClearChannel has hired AOL music and radio division head Evan Harrison to head its online division.
The FCC expects it to take up to seven years for a consensus to be reached and new media ownership rules to be established.
Symphony
The Delray String Quartet (violinists Mei Mei Luo and Lazlo Pap, violist Debra Spring, and cellist Ian Maksin), a part of the newly formed Delray Beach Chamber Music Society, made its debut in December at the Colony Hotel in Delray Beach.
The New World Symphony received a $50,000 Access to Artistic Excellence Grant from the NEA for the 2005 fiscal year.
Of the top eight groups in private support in 2003, three were orchestras (San Francisco, LA, Nashville) and two were opera companies (San Francisco and the Met).
The Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia announced its 5-concert inaugural 2005-2006 season, which will feature American music, as well as a world premiere. General Director Marshall Turkin states that he wishes to challenge the audience and make a statement that this will be a serious orchestra. The BRPS has also stated that they will pay union scale and sign union contracts for its inaugural season.
The Kentucky Opera has chosen to use students from the University of Louisville School of Music instead of members of the Louisville Orchestra for its second production of the 2005-6 season.
The Renaissance Chamber Orchestra, presenting ten concerts at Second Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale in its debut season this year, has announced that it has received requests to play throughout Florida and into Georgia and the Carolinas. President Amichai Hendel and Vice President Richard Fleishmann also hope to launch an educational program, including a Junior Renaissance Symphony, in 2006. RCO members will serve as faculty.
The Jacksonville Symphony is trying new approaches to climb out of its $2.5 million debt. This year they began a “Plugged In” series featuring joint performances with rock bands in an attempt to reach more diverse audiences and create an image of accessibility. They also increased their marketing efficiency by using direct mail campaigns.
Theater
Orange County musicians demonstrated at performances of “Oliver!”, which has used prerecorded music and synthesizers to replace live musicians.
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