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| Musicians from 5 African countries in a festival in Lomé for the expensiveness of life | ||||||
| Source: Agence de Presse Africaine | ||||||
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| 2008 Kora All Africa music awards voting commences | ||||||
| The voting process of the 2008 Kora All Africa music awards - in which Oliver Mtukudzi is the only Zimbabwean entry - has began. | ||||||
| Source: The Herald (Harare) | ||||||
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| Mellencamp transitions from rocker to songwriter | ||||||
| Although John Mellencamp was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the veteran doesn't consider himself a rocker — at least not anymore. | ||||||
| Source: Yahoo! Music | ||||||
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| On your marks. Get set. Blow! | ||||||
| Flautists, trombonists and timpani-bashers from across the world gear up for the latest Olympic event - the Musicathlon. | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| Abba reunion: Don't hold your breath | ||||||
| Not even Meryl Streep's 'goddess'-like performance in Mamma Mia can tempt the Swedish pop legends out of retirement. | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| The « La Cucalambeana » beyond national frontiers | ||||||
| Source: Cubart | ||||||
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| Havana stages its XXIIIth Festival of Contemporary Music | ||||||
| Source: Cubart | ||||||
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| Seattle Symphony concertmaster finally goes solo | ||||||
| A long and sometimes discordant episode at Seattle Symphony came to a close when the orchestra announced that Maria Larionoff had been named sole concertmaster. | ||||||
| Source: Seattle Times | ||||||
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| Can't get it out of my head | ||||||
| I've never felt so paralyzed standing before my CD collection as the day I brought my newborn son home from the hospital and decided to play him his very first music. So much was at stake. Should it be modern or Baroque? Orchestral or opera? Would Mozart make him smarter? Would Schoenberg instill in him revolutionary tendencies? Would Wagner make him loathe his Jewish roots? | ||||||
| Source: The Boston Globe | ||||||
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| The arts - and audiences - move (really) | ||||||
| The classical arts - which have safely huddled in posh theaters in all their stately, stationary dignity - are suddenly on the move, literally, in ways previously unimaginable. | ||||||
| Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer | ||||||
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| A different class of diva | ||||||
| There are moments when an artist, seduced by the nuzzle of a radio mike, utters something so astonishing that the interviewer holds his breath and hopes to heaven that he has not misheard. ‘I got rid of my high notes,’ confides Natalie Dessay, in a backroom of the Theatre des Champs Elysees. ‘They were getting in the way.’ | ||||||
| Source: La Scena Musicale | ||||||
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| Why Joe Queenan is wrong about new classical music | ||||||
| It's fine for Joe Queenan to dislike contemporary music. But I wonder where he's been for the last 30 years. | ||||||
| Source: Guardian (The blog) | ||||||
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| Composers turn up the darkness for "Knight" score | ||||||
| It's quite simple, actually. Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard want to drive moviegoers insane. For their score for Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight," which opens July 18, the composers used as their inspiration the oppressive gloom of fictional Gotham and the unhinged character of the Joker, nemesis of Batman. | ||||||
| Source: Reuters | ||||||
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| Labels up volume on vinyl releases to meet demand | ||||||
| It may have seemed like a fad at first, but the resurgence of vinyl is now turning into a nice niche business for the major labels. With EMI's announcement that it would reissue eight classic albums in the format, all four majors are now onboard the vinyl bandwagon. | ||||||
| Source: Reuters | ||||||
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| Death Row Records auctioned for $24 million | ||||||
| Death Row Records, the hip-hop label that released seminal gangster rap albums by Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, has been auctioned for $24 million. | ||||||
| Source: Yahoo! Music | ||||||
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| The music industry—signing of a historic agreement between social partners | ||||||||
| Christine Albanel, France’s Minister of Culture and Communications, is delighted at the signing of an historic agreement between social partners in the music industry. | ||||||||
| Source: Diversity of Cultural Expressions News | ||||||||
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| On music - forget CDs: what every band needs is a brand | ||||||
| Neil McCormick explains why recorded music sales are just one component in a commercial equation. | ||||||
| Source: Telegraph.co.uk | ||||||
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| CD boxed sets face uncertain future | ||||||
| Have boxed sets lost their commercial luster, or can the configuration still shine when managed properly? | ||||||
| Source: Yahoo! News | ||||||
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| La Scala strike cancels 'Boheme' | ||||||
| A strike at La Scala has forced the opera house to cancel the opening performance of Puccini’s “La Boheme,” produced by Franco Zeffirelli. The next two perfs have also been called off. | ||||||
| Source: Variety | ||||||
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| Music industry insiders find upside in album leaks | ||||||
| During the first week of July, Nas' controversial untitled album leaked onto the Internet ahead of its July 15 release date via Def Jam. | ||||||
| Source: Billboard | ||||||
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| IODA expands Latin music distribution network | ||||||
| IODA broadens portfolio of Latin labels and digital retailers, bringing more independent Latin music to more music fans around the world. | ||||||
| Source: mi2n | ||||||
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| EC judges refer SonyBMG merger back to lower court | ||||||
| Thousands of music SMEs were surprised by the decision of the highest European court in Luxembourg, that the lower court needs to re-assess its previous judgement annulling the EC's first approval of the SonyBMG merger decision in 2006, in IMPALA's favour.The lower court remains free to conclude that the Commission got it wrong, in which case the merger approval decision would be annulled all over again. | ||||||
| Source: mi2n | ||||||
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| Choral singing makes you happy: survey | ||||||
| Singing regularly with others makes you happier, according to Australian research which suggests choristers have a better quality of life. The survey of more than 1,100 choral singers in Australia, Germany and the UK is the latest to point to the benefits of music on health. It found that while people who join singing groups tend to be less healthy than the average person, they are in fact happier. | ||||||
| Source: Sydney Morning Herald | ||||||
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| No release for singer Teddy Afro | ||||||
| Singer Teddy Afro is still imprisoned after he appeared in court again on 4 July 2008. “This is a political trial, where the authorities are framing a popular singer. | ||||||
| Source: Freemuse | ||||||
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| 18 months in prison for 'insulting the president' | ||||||
| The popular Yemeni singer and performer Fahd al-Qarni is said to have insulted the president and the ruling party, and for this he recieved a sentence of one year and a half in prison as well as a fine of 500.000 Yemeni Riyals (2,500 US dollars) by the primary court in Taiz. The sentence also said that he must give a grant never to sing again. | ||||||
| Source: Freemuse | ||||||
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| Singer taken to court in chains | ||||||
| One of Cameroon’s best-known singers was in chains when he was brought to a court room on 9 July 2008, accused of causing anti-government riots in February. Lapiro de Mbanga’s case, however, was adjourned to 23 July. Another arrested musician, Joe La Conscience, was released on 16 June. | ||||||
| Source: Freemuse | ||||||
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| Music as torture may incur royalty fees | ||||||
| Could artists like David Gray, whose music has been used to torture Guantánamo Bay terror suspects, get performance fees? | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| Cuba pays tribute to culture of North American people | ||||||
| Source: Cubart | ||||||
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| Battle for radio royalties gains momentum | ||||||
| Chances appear slim that Congress will vote this year on legislation requiring terrestrial radio stations to pay artists and labels performance royalties to play their recordings. | ||||||
| Source: Yahoo! News | ||||||
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| Second grant to symphony OK'd | ||||||
| The Ohio Arts Council has provisionally approved the second year of a sustainability grant for the troubled Columbus Symphony. | ||||||
| Source: The Columbus Dispatch | ||||||
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| Gray's warning on 'torture' music | ||||||
| Singer David Gray has warned that US interrogators playing loud music as a form of "torture" - including his own song Babylon - was no laughing matter. | ||||||
| Source: BBC News | ||||||
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| EU says music collecting societies must compete | ||||||
| Societies that collect music copyright fees for artists from the Rolling Stones to the Arctic Monkeys must end deals to stop competing against each other across borders, the European Commission said. | ||||||
| Source: Reuters | ||||||
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| Choral singing makes you happy: survey | ||||||
| Singing regularly with others makes you happier, according to Australian research which suggests choristers have a better quality of life. | ||||||
| Source: The Sydney Morning Herald | ||||||
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| Japan to scrap iPod copyright fee | ||||||
| giving in to opposition from electronics makers, officials said. | ||||||
| Source: The Sydney Morning Herald | ||||||
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| A real-life orphan works dilemma | ||||||
| Richard Esguerra calls attention to a real-life example of the orphan works problem in a recent New York Times story. A history teacher and part-time book publisher wanted to use two photographs from the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society -- and was willing to pay for the rights to use them. But the Brooklyn Historical Society refused his offer, because the copyright status of the photographs is unclear. | ||||||
| Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation website | ||||||
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| Brazil: Law brings music education back to schools | ||||||
| Brazilians are celebrating a very important decision of the National Congress, who has recently approved a Law that brings music education back to schools after 38 years. Since 1971, Brazilian school children only had arts education as a compulsory art subject, where one teacher was teaching all the arts in a few hours per week. During that time, only few schools, mostly private offered music education as part of the school education. | ||||||
| Source: International Society for Music Education | ||||||
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| New invention makes music studies easier | ||||||
| A simple new device allows music students to quickly locate the scale or mode they are looking for. The Decodamode®Scale and Mode Decoder is a simple to use reference tool that gives access to 264 scales/modes. It has received glowing endorsements from leading musicians and music educators and is now available to the general public and educational institutions. | ||||||
| Source: Jazz Queensland | ||||||
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| A classical education | ||||||
| Teaching music has been a lifelong work for Nehama Patkin, and now she's taking it to a bigger stage. | ||||||
| Source: The Age | ||||||
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| Pop goes the traditional music lesson | ||||||
| Music lessons were once confined to the living room, where parents hounded and their children begrudgingly practiced a classical repertoire. Today, younger and younger kids are picking up electric instruments, assembling into rock 'n' roll bands, and performing for audiences soon after they start playing. Influenced by the music their parents love, not to mention video games and the preteen artists they see on television, kids are asking to rock and getting the chance. | ||||||
| Source: The Boston Globe | ||||||
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| Magazine strikes a chord with classical music lovers | ||||||
| It is a magazine for classical music lovers with a difference in taste and content. Classic, which was launched last month, has got many wondering if it is a Kenyan publication. Yes it is. It is a publication of The Art of Music. | ||||||
| Source: Business Daily | ||||||
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| Class D amplifiers are shrinking and greening your electronics | ||||||
| Technology has democratized the music industry in many obvious ways -- notice how every band, regardless of stature, has a MySpace page? But one of technology's more subtle effects has been to make our sound systems smaller, lighter and greener. | ||||||
| Source: Wired | ||||||
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| Video-game news: Metallica's 'Guitar Hero' album | ||||||
| Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour" is one of this year's most eagerly anticipated games, but the company has big news for fans who can't wait for that: Metallica will be releasing its next album, "Death Magnetic," as a "Guitar Hero III" download on the same day that the CD arrives in stores. | ||||||
| Source: Yahoo! Music | ||||||
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| Sweet: Pandora's streaming radio App for iPhone | ||||||
| With the tech world focused on the launch of the second-generation iPhone and Apple's App Store, which will allow iPhone users to download and install applications for the first time without jailbreaking their phone (cracking it so that unauthorized apps can be installed), Pandora has unleashed an iPhone version of their interactive internet radio service that moves beyond what has previously been possible in the portable radio arena. | ||||||
| Source: Wired | ||||||
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| Guns N' Roses to premiere track via Rock Band 2 | ||||||
| The band will debut the song Shackler's Revenge on the music video game when it launches in September. We're not sure if Axl will fire members of his band right there in your living room ... | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| Radiohead's camera trick | ||||||
| Cameras? Radiohead don't need your stinkin' cameras. Last year Radiohead let fans download their album without paying a thing, and now they've shot a music video that doesn't use a single traditional camera. | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| Last.fm to help unsigned bands | ||||||
| Music website Last.fm has launched a new programme that ensures unsigned acts receive the same royalty privileges as those signed to major labels. | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||
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| Music instruments for the gadget freak | ||||||
| In 1919, Leon Theremin, an electronics wizard who had migrated from the Soviet Union, created one of the simplest musical instruments in existence, all of two metal rods protruding from a base. It didn't have to be touched to elicit positively ethereal sounds: spaceship noises invented before anyone knew what a spaceship was. | ||||||
| Source: International Herald Tribune | ||||||
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| iCame, iSaw, iPod | ||||||
| Most people consider digital music - that is, tracks stored in a computer-friendly file format - is somehow inferior to what comes out of a CD. This was certainly true in the early days of the digital music revolution. The first MP3 players had very little memory and internet connections were exceptionally slow, so a digital track had to be relatively small. Small files could be downloaded faster and you could fit more onto your portable music player but the music wasn't substantially better than you'd get from a clear FM radio signal. | ||||||
| Source: The Sydney Morning Herald | ||||||
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| ReverbNation registers 200,000th band in first twenty months | ||||||
| ReverbNation, the leading Marketing and Promotion Platform technology for Musicians, Labels, Managers, and Venues, signed up its 200,000th Artist last week, adding 100,000 in the last six months alone. In addition, over 6,000 Labels and Managers have created profiles to promote themselves and their rosters, and more than 2,500 Venues and Clubs are using the 'venue tools' to help pack their shows, grow their fan bases, and integrate promotional efforts with musicians. To date, Artists and Labels have posted nearly 700,000 full-length songs to the site. | ||||||
| Source: mi2n | ||||||
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| Panned by reviewer, then told to go bankrupt | ||||||
| A British composer was told to go bankrupt after he unsuccessfully tried to sue the London Evening Standard for libel. Keith Burstein ran up legal costs of £67,000 defending a test-case libel action against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Standard, over a critical review of one of his operas. | ||||||
| Source: The Independent (UK) | ||||||
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| Free rock tickets! (If you do community work, that is...) | ||||||
| 'RockCorps' scheme imported from the US will give seat at gig in return for four hours of volunteering. | ||||||
| Source: The Independent (UK) | ||||||
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| Festivals overshadowed by deaths and violence | ||||||
| T in the Park, Oxegen and Norway's Kvinesdal festival all report tragic incidents. | ||||||
| Source: The Guardian (UK) | ||||||