Month: April 2015

Copyright SoundBox/San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Stefan Cohen. http://www.sfsoundbox.com, http://www.stefancohen.com.

SoundBox is a new project by the San Francisco Symphony. It started last December with the hope of funneling that SFSO magic into a venue with different lighting, seating, drink options, and different crowds. Here’s what you’re in for:

Musicians perform in casual clothes instead of tails or black gowns, and the audience wears bow ties, fedora hats or hooded sweatshirts and jeans. Mobile device use is encouraged. And instead of receiving a printed program, attendees can learn more about the performance by downloading the club’s app.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is a Swiss lobbying organization that represents interests of record companies. They work to combat music piracy. You may recall them being repeatedly antagonized by the Pirate Bay.

Every year they issue a state-of-affairs industry report. This year’s saw global parity — for the first time ever — between digital & physical sales. People are moving from CDs to online-only. Streaming subscriptions are up 39%.

LA Times classical writer Mark Swed took up arms on behalf of the creators of “Blurred Lines” a few weeks back.

“Blurred Lines” was a song written by Alan Thicke’s son and genius producer/singer Pharrell Williams. It featured rapper T.I., as well as two separate music videos, one which would get you fired if watched at work, and the other which would make coworkers think slightly less of you.