Industry News

A new book published by cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin suggests that listening to live music affects the brain differently from listening to recorded music. Levitin directs the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, and his book is entitled This is Your Brain on Music. A Study done by Levitin also shows that music triggers the reward centers in the brain.

The Coral Gables Congregational Church Community Arts Program is calling for string orchestra compositions reflecting African and Hispanic culture as part of its Young Musicians' International Composition Competition. The winning composition will be performed by the CGCC Young Musicians' Orchestra during the 2007-8 season. 

Broadway had a good year in 2006. Wicked alone brought in $73 million, and attendance during Christmas week broke records, with combined revenues from all shows on Broadway approaching $30 million for that week alone. Part of the increase is due to the new concept of premium tickets, where the best seats in the house can be bought for a price often considerably above the top-listed ticket price.

Members Eric Allison, Nicole Yarling, Steve Ahern, and Mark Marineau performed with the Gold Coast Jazz Society Band as part of the unveiling of the U.S. Postal Service Ella Fitzgerald stamp. 

Symphonic

A ten-year study by the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation debunks many of the traditional beliefs about increasing classical music attendance. The study shows that offering free concerts, programming adventurous repertoire, and exposing school children to classical music have little impact on increasing attendance.  On a more positive note, the study found that nearly sixty percent of adults have some interest in classical music, and that seventy-four percent of ticket-buyers had played an instrument or sung in a chorus at one time.

Gracenote Inc. has developed a new standard for displaying composer, artist, title, and movement data for classical music. In the past, classical music databases have been difficult to use due to multiple artists (ensemble, conductor, soloist, etc.) and other information being listed inconsistently. Gracenote operates the database of iTunes and other digital song services. 

The high-definition simulcasts of the Metropolitan Opera production of The Magic Flute filled ninety-one percent of the seats in 60 theaters across the country. Worldwide, about 30,000 patrons saw the broadcast. 

The Hollywood Philharmonic received over $107,500 from the city of Hollywood last year, up from $15,000 in city money in 2001. 

Recording

Universal has opened a download store dedicated to classical and jazz music. Classical and jazz downloads grew nearly 1000% last year, according to Universal. 

Online consumers are listening to more and more diverse music and attending more live concerts, according to Digital Media Association. Sixty percent of the 1008 consumers surveyed reported listening to more music, and seventy percent reported listening to new genres. Fifteen percent reported attending more concerts.

Overall music sales fell three percent in 2006. Digital sales rose about eighty percent in 2006, to $2 billion, but the growth of digital sales has slowed and the growth was not enough to offset declining physical sales.

Independent Labels have banded together to compete on a more level playing field with the major labels. Indies have signed on to Merlin, a licensing agency that will cut deals on their behalf. While Indie labels account for about eighty percent of new music releases, they only generate about thirty percent of total revenues. By working together, Indies will have more clout with retailers such as iTunes, and retailers will only have to negotiate one unified contract, rather than many different agreements with each label.

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