Industry News

A study by Americans for the Arts shows that the American nonprofit arts organizations support 5.7 million jobs and generate $166 billion in economic activity each year. This figure includes $63 billion in direct spending by the organizations and $103 billion in related spending by their audiences (hotel and restaurant spending and so on).

The organizations were responsible for nearly $30 billion in tax revenue, far more than the $4 billion that federal, state, and local governments contribute to the arts. The study, which surveyed 156 communities across the U.S., also shows that the arts are the cornerstone of tourism. For more information on the study, please visit http://www.americansforthearts.org .

Local organizations Receive Grants

Miami City Ballet, $20,000 (Knight Foundation, for a new ballet commissioned from Twyla Tharp and Elvis Costello)
New World Symphony, $15,000 (Knight Foundation, for its 20th Anniversary Season Viennese Program)
the Opera Macandal by Carl Hancock Rux and based on a cuban novelist's book about Haiti's first slave revolt, $50,000 (Knight Foundation and Funding Arts Network, to be premiered at the Carnival Center in December 2008)
Kravis Center, $232,425 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Palm Beach Pops, $151,616 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Sunfest, $168,969 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia, $11,526 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Boynton Regional Symphony Orchestra, $3,622 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, $7,328 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council)
Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County, $12,257 (Palm Beach County Cultural Council

Live Nation posted losses of over $45 million for the first quarter of 2007. The attribute these losses to a slow touring schedule and the expense of recent acquisitions such as House of Blues. Live Nation revenues for the first quarter were $584 million.

Recording

Downloading Music can be Bad for your (Computer) Health

A new study by security firm McAfee reveals that music websites are more likely to contain viruses and spyware than adult websites. The study shows that users browsing digital music websites through a search engine have a 19 percent chance of being infected by spyware, adware, and other malicious code. Filesharing software such as Kazaa and LimeWire, often used to share music, also poses a significant risk.

Nielsen, famous for measuring TV audiences, will begin measuring media consumption over cell phones. Nielsen already tracks ring tone sales, and mobile entertainment is expected to become one of the fastest-growing markets. Already, over 3 percent of the 230 million cell phone users watch video on their phones.

Following the lead of EMI, Universal Music will begin testing sales of digital music without copy protection. Universal is the world's largest record company, and officals at SonyBMG and Warner warn that if the industry leader drops copy protection, they will not be able to continue copy-protecting their digital music and still compete.

Symphony

During the 2004-5 season, the 75 professional symphony orchestras in America spent over $1 billion, an almost 14 percent increase from four seasons earlier. These figures do not include America's opera and ballet companies, which would push the figures even higher.