The Kennedy Center has fired senior director of operations Sarah Kramer. She had been working at the Center for nearly a decade. This follows the resignation of the senior vice president of artistic programming, Kevin Couch. Couch had only been on the job for two weeks, and had replaced Jeffrey Finn, who had stepped down after a decade at the Center.
President Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center will close on July 4 for two years for $200 million in renovations. The announcement came as a surprise to all, and there was no mention of what would happen to events already scheduled at the Center after the July 4 closing. The National Symphony will continue to receive funding and the Center will assist them in finding alternate venues, but the Broadway tours will have more difficulties. The tours generally plan stops two years in advance, and their nearest alternate venue is booked. Rerouting tours is nearly impossible, and the losses from the closure or attempts to reroute could cause the tour to close completely. Staffers at the Center state that the repairs needed do not require the Center to close completely.
recording
Spotify‘s payout to the music industry rose 10 percent, to $11 billion last year. This was the largest payout to music from any retailer ever. Spotify now accounts for 30 percent of all recorded music revenue.
Music publishers including Universal Music are suing Anthropic over copyright infringement. They are seeking $3 billion in damages from illegal use of more than 20,000 copyrighted songs. They are accusing Anthropic of illegally downloading pirated songs over bittorrent and using those songs to train their AI models without authorization.
Sony operating profit rose 22 percent last year, on a modest revenue increase of one percent. While Sony’s top revenue driver was its Playstation gaming console, those sales were down due to the cost of RAM chips, but its music revenue rose over twelve percent due to growth in live events, merchandising, and streaming.
symphonic
Gustavo Dudamel is making plans to expand the presence of the New York Philharmonic when he takes over as music director in the fall. As guest conductor, he has already brought the orchestra to Radio City Music Hall, and in the fall he plans to bring the orchestra to Carnegie Hall to present a concert opera. The concert opera at Carnegie Hall will be an annual event for the next five years, and Dudamel hopes to bring the orchestra to other venues across the region during his tenure.
Despite record donations and ticket sales at pre-pandemic levels, the Minnesota Orchestra posted a $4.2 million loss for last year. Ticket sales were up nine percent over the previous year, and the Orchestra hopes to diversify its revenue streams to address the deficit. The Orchestra still has $187 million in assets and no debt.
Troubles continue at the San Antonio Philharmonic. Music director Jeffrey Kahane has stepped down. Kahane had previously held the same position at the San Antonio Symphony and had helped resurrect the orchestra from the ashes. The orchestra has also cancelled the remainder of its season, although it intends to perform its scheduled Young People’s Concerts in area schools and also stage performances around town. It is still homeless after a dispute with Scottish Rite, which was supposed to be its new home.
The Atlanta Opera has broken ground on the $72 million Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts. The new space will be located at the historic Bobby Jones Golf Course Clubhouse and will include a theater, office space, classrooms, and a recital hall. The Center is scheduled to open in 2027 and will preserve the historic 1941 clubhouse as a lobby for the recital space.