Industry News

Local/Club Date

The Broward Cultural Division and the School Board of Broward County are requesting updates for their Artists/Teaching Artists Directory. If you are available to work in school or community-based settings to enhance learning through the arts, please visit http://preview.gxtweb.com/projects/browardarts .

Laurence Johnson has been hired as classical music critic for the Miami Herald. Johnson had been classical music critic at the Sun-Sentinel for the past six years.

Symphonic

The Dallas Opera has reached an agreement on a new 5-year collective bargaining agreement. Wages will immediately rise to $901.25 per week. The Opera currently has a 17-week schedule, which will be spread out over a longer time span under the new agreement as the Opera moves into the new $275 million Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in 2009. 

The Jacksonville Symphony saw its debt double in 2006, despite a 7.5 percent increase in ticket sales and an increase of 7.9 percent in contributions to its operating fund. The orchestra blames the deficits in part to lower than average support from corporations and small businesses.

The Pittsburgh Symphony has received a $29.5 million pledge from Allegheny Ludlum chairman Richard P. Simmons, the fifth-largest private gift ever to an American Orchestra. The bulk of the funds are contingent on the orchestra raising significant other funds and balancing its budget for three years. 

The Southwest Florida Symphony (Fort Myers) has appointed Ernest Toplis as executive director. Toplis was formerly executive director of the Lansing Symphony and director of operations at Aspen Music Festival and School.

Recording

CBS and YouTube have reached an agreement where CBS will offer news, sports, and entertainment videos in exchange for a share of the revenue from advertising. Additionally, Sony BMG and Warner Music have signed deals with Google to offer music videos. 

Cingular Wireless estimates that over half of the 200 million cell phone users want to listen to portable digital music. Next year, Cingular customers will be able to wirelessly download songs directly to their phones, and Apple is expected to start selling a music-playing cell phone.

The RIAA states that physical Latin CD sales are down 23 percent since  last year. Part of the decline in physical sales was offset by digital revenues, but overall sales in all formats was still down 6.1 percent.

Warner Music has teamed with Brightcove to provide view-on-demand music videos. It will also be possible to embed the videos into blogs and sites such as MySpace.com. The embedded videos will be free but supported by advertising.

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