5 Links to Consider | March 5, 2024
A round-up of this week's compelling and considered clicks, compiled from The Absolute Sound's veteran staff of experts and reviewers.
It’s Time To Incorporate Music Into International Development Finance
The way the world invests in human and infrastructure development is going through a review process. This year, the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA) is meeting to determine its budget for the next three years, referred to as its replenishment. This is the foundational fund offered to 77 countries to support their development with a proposed budget of USD 120 billion. These discussions, which have happened throughout the year, conclude on December 5th and 6th in Seoul, and the challenges these investments will address are immense. Only 18% of the funding requested to address crisis areas was raised globally last year. The pandemic has erased many historical gains that were reducing extreme poverty. Moreover, developing nations are facing an acute debt crisis, spending more money on servicing interest than investing in their populations as the climate crisis continues to worsen. Therefore, how these funds are deployed and their impact on addressing these challenges are as pressing as ever. Maximising them to reduce extreme poverty and creating sustainable, non-extractive jobs is not just about replenishing the pot. It's about broadening the scope and means of how it can be deployed. To do so, one opportunity is to explore additional asset classes that could deliver this return to both recipients and funders. One such sector that could do just that, if treated and invested in as an economy, is the creative and cultural industries. And music, with its potential to drive economic growth, is the best place to start. Continue Reading at Forbes...
Belgian pop singer Paul Van Haver, aka Stromae, performs on October 17, 2015 in Kigali. Decca Records: A History Of 'The Supreme Record Company'
Decca is one of the most celebrated record labels in music history. The imprint has a varied history that spans from classical music to popular music, but it’s impact on all music is undeniable. This short history of Decca Records is by no means the whole story, but it should give you an insight as to why Decca remains revered to this day. The story of Decca Records begins with a man named Edward Lewis in 1928... Read the full story...
Two hundred years ago, people got fed up with algorithms. And they went to war against them. That’s a prototype for what we need today. And we will get it. Buckle up, my friends, it will happen again! That’s because people now see the sterility and human waste created by a culture of brutal algorithms—imposed by a consortium of billionaires operating without accountability or constraint. The backlash is already underway, and will gain momentum with each passing year—maybe even with each passing month. Read full article...
4. The upstate engineers immersing viewers in the sounds of Oscars The 97th Academy Awards on Sunday will bring together musicians as diverse as Doja Cat, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, LISA of Blackpink, Queen Latifah and RAYE, complemented by an orchestra that anchors the motion picture industry’s biggest night of the year. These musicians are bound by a thread that runs across the country to the Hudson Valley, to a team of engineers who will broadcast the audio of their performances to millions. Harris Elff Audio Resources, also known as HEAR, features New Paltz resident Jody Elff, Rob Macomber of Mahopac, and John Harris, a former Westchester County resident who lives in southern New Jersey. Their job, you might say, is to make sure that viewers — 19.5 million Americans watched the 2024 Oscars on TV — have no idea that outside engineers are mixing the sound. If they do, something has likely gone wrong. Read the full article..
Eileen Barton - “Pretend” (1953)
Eileen Barton (1924–2006) was an American pop singer and a hidden gem of the early 1950s, best known for her chart-topping hit "If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake." Though her popularity faded over time, her bright, playful vocals and contributions to the golden age of radio and novelty pop remain an underrated part of music history.
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