Stratford in the Winter

    I am not a live theatre buff, nor do I know much about the streaming service about which I am about to post. I will keep this short because who needs more subscriptions, either streaming or printed. I do, however, have theatre buff friends and Stratford is something local to promote. If you go there much, you may already know this. My friends are now in Comox for the winter and being far away and not digitally-inclined, they may be unaware that Richard III can be watched from the couch.
    Barry Hertz of the Globe and Mail yesterday offered his weekend streaming suggestions. Here is one of them:

Richard III [and much more]
"Not that you need yet another streamer to add to your monthly subscription fees, but those interested in something that Netflix and Co. cannot possibly hope to offer should check out the Stratford Festival’s nascent digital service, Stratfest@Home, which has just added a filmed version of 2022′s Richard III starring Colm Feore. Directed for the stage by Stratford’s artistic director Antoni Cimolino, and for film by Barry Avrich, the production gets about as close as anyone can hope for to capturing the live-wire energy of Stratford at its peak. For adventurous viewers, it costs $7.99 a month to gain access to the service (whose catalogue contains a true wealth of Canadian stage-to-screen treasures), or you can rent Richard III as a one-off for $4.99."

Streaming and Shopping

   The link he provided above, I will put here. That website provides a lot of information, but it looks like it is about to move to: stratford.vhx.tv, where you will also find the information you need. Plus, you can buy merchandise, such as the Shakespeare Magnetic Finger Puppet which one of my Comox friends will appreciate. 

Sources:
   "Stratford Festival adds Richard III Production to Streaming Service:

The Stratford Festival's 2022 production of Richard III featuring Colm Feore in the title role is coming to Stratfest@Home, the Festival's subscription streaming service, for national and international viewing." Cory Smith, Stratford, The Beacon Herald, Jan. 12, 2024.

Stratford Festival: Stratford on Film.    

The Bonus:

It is not all Shakespeare.

The wait is finally over. Leer Estates is back and more outrageous than ever! Dan Chameroy stars in a one-actor series with two cameras, nine episodes, 12 characters, 14 wigs and a whole lot of shenanigans. Join the Leer family on a hilarious journey of glamour, loyalty and debauchery, as they continue to fight against the tide threatening to tear the bonds between members apart.

Chart of the Week (1)

 

The Plight of the Musicians

   Most of the music I now listen to comes to my ears, rather miraculously and mysteriously, by way of "Siri", who when consulted, provides it automatically and adds similar tunes without being requested to do so. Occasionally something is actually purchased and downloaded, but trips to 'record' stores and the loading in of CDs rarely happens. The music just streams along. Siri is sometimes asked to skip a song or replay a good one, but I am not asked by 'her' to pay for it. The assumption is made that if a tune is played, the artist receives something and if it is played again and again, the artist receives more and more. 

  How these financial transactions work is also rather mysterious, at least to me, but it does appear from the chart above, that it will be a miraculous thing if many musicians are able to survive. The service behind Siri we are currently using is Apple Music and it appears that if we stream a song 128 times, the musician (and, I guess the whole band) makes a buck.  On Spotify (not included in the chart), the artist receives $1 after the song is streamed 315 times.

   Spotify is currently being criticized for a reason unrelated to the payment of musicians, but it is because of the controversy that I spotted the chart, which is found in this article:

"Why Did Spotify Choose Joe Rogan Over Neil Young? It's Not a Music Company," Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post, Jan. 28, 2022. The chart appears in the section labelled, "Spotify's Strained Relationship With Musicians", and apparently it originates from the rapper T-Pain. 

  It will be clear from what I have written that I don't know much about the music business or the making of money. What is clear is that musicians, like newspapers, will soon disappear if we don't find a better way of supporting them.