Audio News for March 6, 2015

by | Mar 6, 2015 | Audio News

Shout Factory Free Streaming During March – Shout! Factory TV has started a digital streaming service of movies, cult TV shows, comedy, specials and more which is free this month at their site. Here is a highlighted programming video. They have most of the films of Werner Herzog and many other entertainment alternatives.

Jazz Producer Orrin Keepnews Dies at 91 – The legendary record executive founded the Milestone and Landmark jazz labels after he left Riverside (of which he was co-founder). He produced Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Rollins and Cannonball Adderley and discovered pianist Bill Evans. The Concord Music Group, who now own his labels, mourn the loss of Keepnews’ contributions to jazz and their company.

Composer John McCabe Dies at 75 – One of Britain’s most prolific composers (he wrote seven syphonies and almost everything except grand opera) celebrated his 75th birthday in April. His highly individual style is a mix of Vaughan Williams, Britten and Tippett – leavened with some serial procedures, although it has always been tonal. He was also known as a pianist of formidable gifts and his Decca set of the complete Haydn piano sonatas in the mid-‘70s was called ‘one of the great recorded momuments of the keyboard repertoire.’ Thruout his output he created a series of Alkan-sized piano works – many paying homage to an earlier keyboard composer such as Dukas, Scarlatti, Debussy, Ravel, Mussorgsky and Tippett.

Do Sales of Recordings Help Classical Recording Artists? – is the question poised by the Talk Classical blog. Responses include: I see a lot of people buying at live concerts; good to see an artist whose performance you’re enjoyed being snapped up in CDs – even if they are at inflated prices compared to online… I can’t imagine there are any classical artists for whom recording represents a high proportion of their income. (Only a very few, actually…Ed.) There are some instances where classical performers are paid nothing – just like pop performers starting out…

NextRadio and HD Radio Debut Car Platform –  The possibilities of interactive digital radio in connected cars are being demonstrated by the first implementation combining FM analog and over-the-air radio services – including HD Radio – with the visual and digital capabiliies of the NextRadio smartphone app. Video images tell the user what is playing on the stations in a given market. There is a thumbs up/down, social media integration, a “Buy” feature and enhanced tuning and discovery. The app has been visually simplified to reduce driver distraction, and is now preloaded on 34 devices. iBiquity, the developers of HD Radio (the HD does NOT stand for high-definition) worked with NextRadio on the platform.

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