Showbiz Sandbox 595: Vinyl Sales and Payola on the Rise in Music Industry
September 28, 2022
With mid-year music revenue figures finally tallied it appears the growth of streaming music has begun to slow as vinyl sales has increase. Also on the rise are reports of payola as indie music artists can’t seem to get played on the radio without paying promoters for the privilege of being put in rotation. These promoters are using a loophole in the law which prevents record labels from paying radio stations in exchange for airplay.
Another loophole allows radio stations in the United States to avoid paying musical performers and creators when their song is actually played. The American Music Fairness Act looks to change that which will have a big impact on terrestrial radio.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how James Earl Jones will continue to provide the voice of Darth Vader thanks to artificial intelligence, Spotify gets into Audiobooks and Rihanna heads to the Super Bowl for the halftime show.
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Showbiz Sandbox 579: The Award For Best Awards Show Goes To The Grammys!
April 5, 2022
The coronavirus pandemic once again nearly foiled the Grammy Awards, delaying the ceremony and forcing the event to relocate to Las Vegas. Yet once again, the show’s producers managed to do a stellar job of putting together all-star performances that helped promote and celebrate music. We discuss our thoughts on the telecast and all the winners.
Speaking of awards shows, Will Smith’s actions at last week’s Academy Awards continues to generate lots of fallout and finger pointing. We have a thought on how awards shows should handle such moments in the future.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Netflix may be looking to pinch their pennies, why media outlets continue to hire former political staffers and the illness that is causing Bruce Willis to retire from acting.
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Showbiz Sandbox 578: The Oscars Get Slappy With It
March 29, 2022
If there was ever a year to speak with Indiewire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson the day after the Oscars it would be this one. In what should have been a celebration of first’s; from the first deaf actor to win an Oscar (Troy Kotsur), to the first openly gay actress to win a prize (Ariana DeBose) to the first streaming film to win Best Picture (CODA). Instead, all of this was overshadowed by Will Smith taking the stage to assault comedian Chris Rock over a joke about his wife.
Thompson tells us what it was like to be in the room where it happened (she was), the industry’s response to Smith’s actions and what the incident means for the future of the Academy Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including audiences (and profits) returning to Broadway, the music industry pulls in $26 billion in 2021 and an Indian Telugu language action film nearly tops the worldwide box office.
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Showbiz Sandbox 576: Director Frank Marshall Strikes A New Note With Jazz Fest
March 15, 2022
Frank Marshall is probably best known as a producer of some of Hollywood’s biggest films, but he has also directed four successful narrative features throughout his career. More recently he has turned to directing documentaries, including “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” which he co-directs with Ryan Suffern. Marshall joins us to discuss the film, which premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival ahead of its theatrical release.
Meanwhile, as we inch our way closer to this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, the Directors Guild, BAFTA and the Critics Choice Awards were all announced over the weekend, helping to better define who may take home an Oscar.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how compact disc sales are on the rise (sort of), Amazon launches a live DJ streaming service and this year’s Olivier Award nominations.
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Showbiz Sandbox 575: Should Movie Theaters Charge More For Blockbusters?
March 8, 2022
The opening weekend of “The Batman” was the anticipated blockbuster everyone was expecting, though an ongoing pandemic and a political crisis in Europe softened its global take. AMC Theatres on the other hand saw an opportunity to raise ticket prices, but only for the latest entrant to the Batman franchise. Is this a strategy that was a long time coming or one that will keep casual moviegoers at home.
Meanwhile, the cultural boycott of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has escalated over the past week with film festivals banning Russian delegations, movie studios pausing new releases and Netflix halting its streaming service in the country.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including video game publisher Epic gets into the music business, Amazon closes its physical bookstores and the big winners at this year’s Spirit Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 574: Entertainment Industry Shuns Russia
March 1, 2022
After Russia invaded Ukraine it didn’t take long for various sectors of the global entertainment industry to respond by canceling concerts, sporting events and film releases in the territory. While this is insignificant in comparison to the loss of life and liberty currently taking place in Ukraine, it still serves to show how art, culture and sports can play a role in protesting unprovoked military aggression.
Back in Hollywood, France held it’s annual César Awards and the Screen Actors Guild shook up the awards season race by handing out a few prizes that made history.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the Oscars are cutting with award presentations from the live telecast, why China’s moviegoing declined from last year during its Spring Festival and CNN gets a new leader.
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Showbiz Sandbox 570: The Realistic Future of a Mature Netflix
January 26, 2022
When Netflix was just shy of meeting its estimated new subscriber growth during the last financial quarter it faced immediate repercussions as its stock price plummeted over 20% in a single day. We explain why Netflix is not suddenly a failing company, it’s just one in a mature market of its own making. Even so, Netflix’s sudden deflation has given Hollywood’s media giants cause for concern, since most of them followed the company’s lead by launching their own streaming services.
Meanwhile the Sundance Film Festival, which usually takes place in Utah each January was forced by COVID forced to go virtual for the second year in a row. However, even remotely, the festival remains one of the premiere launching pads for independent film and, at the halfway point, we’ll tell you what titles are generating all the buzz.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Microsoft’s big video game acquisition, YouTube stops paying for original content and Adele postpones her Las Vegas residency.
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Showbiz Sandbox 563: The Grammy Nominations Are Bigger and More Baffling Than Ever
November 30, 2021
When this year’s Grammy nominations were announced last week the Recording Academy made a last minute decision to expand some of its biggest categories from eight to 10 nominees. This allowed popular artists like Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Lil Nas X to be included in this year’s list. While this generates a small amount of grumbling, we discuss why it may not be such a bad move.
Meanwhile the Thanksgiving weekend helped the worldwide box office continue to recover from the ongoing pandemic. Still some industry watchers are dismayed that popular releases like Disney’s “Encanto” and the latest “Ghostbusters” aren’t opening to bigger numbers. Though, when you have studios claiming blockbusters such as the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” are still in the red after earning nearly a billion dollars, would it really matter if they doubled their opening weekend gross?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Adele got Spotify to stop shuffling around, The Weeknd breaks a long-standing record on the music charts and Netflix (sort of) becomes more transparent with viewership data.
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Showbiz Sandbox 553: CinemaCon Makes A Case for the Big Screen
August 31, 2021
After more than a year in which most blockbuster releases headed to streaming services, movie theater operators gathered in Las Vegas last week for CinemaCon, their annual convention. Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times moderated a panel discussion at the event featuring the heads of major movie chains, distribution executives and director Patty Jenkins. He tells us what he learned at this year’s show.
One consistent headline to come out of CinemaCon was the call from both exhibitors and distributors for an exclusive theatrical release window. When it comes to China however, Hollywood studios are relieved to get any type of release these days, even if they only have a week to prepare for it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Apple is buying into classical music, women top the music charts for the first time in ten years and why China is canceling celebrities.
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Showbiz Sandbox 552: Disney and the Great “Shang-Chi” Experiment
August 19, 2021
First Disney tried to shame Scarlett Johansson for daring to sue them over the studios distribution strategy on “Black Widow.” Then during an earnings call the company’s CEO described the upcoming Marvel “Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings” as an “interesting experiment.” Simu Liu, the star of “Shang-Chi,” was quick to push back on such thinking, saying “We are the underdog; the underestimated.”
Meanwhile, actor Johnny Depp believes he is an underdog as well these days, claiming in an interview with The Sunday Times that Hollywood is boycotting him. International film festivals are doing the exact opposite however, honoring Depp for his body of work.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including “Funny Girl” is headed back to Broadway, the television game show “Jeopardy” officially has two new hosts and production of “The Lord of the Rings” Amazon series moves from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
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