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Songwriting Articles |
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Entertainment Cyberscope by Jerry Flattum, CyberAstronomer[ Back To Portal Menu ]
Entertainment Capitals
Up until the 21st century the U.S. has dominated the global entertainment market. But America's entertainment hegemony is shifting due to a global network economy, foreign economic growth and an increased importation of World-generated entertainment and high technology.
In Melbourne, Australia is the Crown Entertainment Complex. The complex totals 5.3 million square feet, has one of the world's largest casinos, a 500-room hotel, 25 restaurants, 40 bars, 3 nightclubs, and a 2,000-seat theater. In Malaysia is Genting, called the "City of Entertainment." Genting attracts 10 million visitors yearly, and is modeled after Las Vegas with gambling, convention centers, golf courses, restaurants and sports facilities (Wolf 2000).
Europe and other points-global have long been a Mecca of entertainment, from Parisian fashion shows to window-shopping for sex in Amsterdam. Euro-techno is a popular genre on the global music scene. Karaoke is a Japanese innovation. At the turn of the 21st century, Europe dominates in the wireless industries with wireless technology being the driving force behind globalization. What will really turn the world upside down in unforeseen ways is when Africa, India, the Arab Nations, and most importantly, China, hop on the entertainment and hi-tech bandwagon.
Nashville
Metropolitan Government of Nashville
Music Row - Nashville's Music Industry Publication
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau
Nashville Scene
Nashville Net
Opry.com
New York
My NYC.gov Portal
NY.com
NYC.com
New York Convent and Visitor's Bureau
New York Times
Las Vegas
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos
Lasvegas.com
LVLOCALMUSICSCENE.com
Vegas.com
London
Corporation of London
LondonTown.com
Thetube.com
Times Online
Los Angeles (See Film)
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles.com
Los Angeles Times
UCLA
Holland
Holland - Netherlands Board of Tourism
Holland - VisitEurope.com
Holland Convention and Visitors Bureau
Montreal
Montreal.com
Montreal - Canada.com
Montreal's Official Tourist Info Site
Toronto
Globe and Mail
The Star
Toronto - Official Website
Toronto City Guide and Information
Toronto Convention and Visitors Association
Toronto.com
University of Toronto
Paris
Disneyland Paris
Office de Tourisme et des Congres de Paris
The Paris Pages
Paris Tourism
Rio de Janeiro
Ipanema
Live in Rio
Rio de Janeiro - Turismo, Cultura e Lazer
Vestibule of the City Hall
Sydney
Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Indymedia
Sydney Opera House
Sydney's Official Tourist Site
Tokyo
Planet Tokyo
Tokyo Journey
Tokyo Meltdown
TokyoPop.com
Welcome to Tokyo
United States Embassy
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Entertainment Conglomerates
Internet addresses for these sites might not always be consistent since all these corporations own a vast suite of sites.
The world economy is easily described by the metaphor of one big fish swallowing up a smaller fish. I suppose this applies to nations as well. In entertainment, the smallest fish of all is, of course, the artist. But it's not just an image of big and little. It's more like a big bang theory. Radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, magazines, book publishers, record labels, movie companies, Internet companies--are only a few of the diverse kinds of enterprises falling under the umbrella of a megaconglomerate.
Through the 1990's, Napster, mp3.com, and other companies gave the appearance in their rise to fame that new companies could survive and even thrive independently from a parent company. Vivendi/Universal just bought MP3.com in Spring of 2001 and Bertelsmann followed a deal with Napster. So much for independence.
It's hard to say if mega-merger-mania is the force behind convergence or if it's the other way around. The lines between communications (phone, cable, satellite) broadcasting (TV, radio), entertainment (movies, CDs), publishing (books, magazines) and hi-tech (computers, online, software) are disappearing at an ever accelerated rate.
AOL/TimeWarner (AOL, Time, Warner Bros., Netscape, CNN, Turner, HBO, New Line Cinema, Warners Music and TimeWarner Cable Network)
AT&T
BMG Entertainment (Bertelsmann)
Bertelsmann - Bertelsmann--as with other conglomerates--either owns or is in some form of partnership with dozens of media and entertainment companies across the globe. This include Bantam/Doubleday, Random House, Barnes & Noble, CDNow, AOL Europe, Lycos Europe, and many more. Label holdings include Arista, BMG, Windham Hill and RCA.
CBS
CNN.com
CNN.com/Entertainment
Columbia Journalism Review (Who Owns What)
Disney Online - Disney Insider
Disney Online - Where the Magic Comes to You
Disney's Digital Showcase
EMI Group (Includes Capitol Records, Chrysalis, Abbey Road Studio, Virgin and dozens more)
Fox
MusicNet (AOL, RealNetworks and other partners)
NBC (Owned by General Electric)
News Corporation (dozens of newspapers, Fox Entertainment)
Sony
Top Media Conglomerates (1998 data from Broadcasting & Cable)
Turner Broadcasting
Viacom (Paramount, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, Comedy Central, Showtime, Blockbuster Video, Simon & Schuster, CBS and, of course, dozens more across the spectrums of publishing, broadcast and cable, film and TV production, theaters and film distribution and more.
Vivendi/Universal (Canal+Group, Universal Studios, Universal Music Group, MCA, Seagram). UMG's record labels include Barclay, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M, Island Def Jam Music Group, Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub.com, MCA Nashville, MCA Records, Mercury Records, Motor Music, Motown Records, Philips, Polydor, Universal Records and Verve Music Group. Publishing ventures include "full range of content in the games, education, health, information and general literature fields." Vivendi has many other operations.
Warner Brothers Online
Warner Brothers Originals (AOL/Time Warner)
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Entertainment News
Entertainment News is everywhere on the Internet and throughout the EC. Reliability is always a question so "reader beware." The Entertainment News portal also includes the online versions of major entertainment publications.
NOTE: Almost all the sites in this portal contain pop-ups. My sincerest apologies for those who should know better.
[Inside]
ABC News.com - Entertainment
Addicted To Noise
AP - Associated Press - Entertainment and LifeStyle
BMG - Entertainment News
Billboard
Bloomberg
BoxOffice Online
Broadcasting & Cable
Calendar Live (LA Times)
Cambridge University - Entertainment Economics
CMJ
CNET
CNN
Dotmusic
Downbeat
E! Online
Film Music Magazine
Filmland News
Fox News
Hollywood Reporter
Independent Online
Industry Click - Entertainment Technology (Includes Electronic Musician, MIX, and other publications)
Mi2n - Music Industry News Network
Music Newswire (SonicNet)
Millimeter
MSNBC
MSNBC - Video News
MTV - News
MusicBIZ
Music Dish
MusicJournalist.com
Musicstation (Global Music Information Network)
NYRock.com
R&R (The Radio and Record Industries Information Leader)
Red Herring
Rolling Stone
Show Biz Data (Entertainment Search Engine)
Songlink International - Newslink
SonicNet
(The) Standard
Variety
Webnoize (Digital Entertainment Intelligence)
Wired
World Entertainment News Network
Zap2It!
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Entertainment Online
Entertainment Online features entertainment that was created for the Internet. Not all of these sites have music, or the music might be buried with the sub-pages. Sound effects are used frequently.
The purpose of this is to point the way towards new forms of entertainment, entertainment created for and born from the Internet as a new media. At the turn of the millennium, the technologies allowing new forms of entertainment include VRML, Shockwave and Flash animation, interfaces and games, animated gif files, Java-based applications, Java Applets, sonified websites (sound effects added to navigation buttons, page turns, etc.) and streaming audio and video.
Terrestrial TV and radio shows, music videos, CDs and mp3's streamed online do not count since they were created in the analog domain and are not new forms of entertainment. But the technologies underlying the conversion, compression and distribution enabling the streaming of film and audio are new.
The underlying technologies allowing for the streaming of traditional entertainment combined with the technologies that allow for the design of online entertainment will converge at an ever expanding rate generating new forms of audio and visual experiences.
Virtual reality and artificial intelligence are still very much in their infancy but iGlasses are already available for sale and chorus lines of singing/dancing robots are, well, in rehearsal already.
Sound and video cards are becoming increasingly sophisticated and the game world is already known for driving the chip world to new heights--or should I say--to smaller sizes packed with more processing power. The convergence of digital TV with greater computer monitors will yield entirely new viewing experiences and holographic projections just might eliminate the need for hardware screens altogether.
Music is already streamed at CD quality level and the downloading of DVD films are being held at the bandwidth gate with the race ready to start as soon as broadband connections become commonplace. MP3 was originally designed for video but was found to be an excellent compression format for audio as well. MP4 is in development as well as other file and compression formats but wireless technologies must open the bandwidth floodgates so wide there may be no need for smaller file size.
SEE Games for more online entertainment and uses for music. The History portal includes online museums as well and the Film portal is especially heavy in the use of new online entertainment technologies.
Webcams are not included...yet. Webcams are becoming prevalent on the Internet but are not yet considered new entertainment forms--at least not in the sense of using music and/or underscoring and packaged as a sellable item. But Webcams lead the way in the online streaming of many different kinds of live audio/video streaming. Live concerts and live club performances are becoming regularly featured items.
Special Mention: Macromedia Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Shockwave are becoming the dominant forms of online entertainment. Shockwave is listed in both Games and Entertainment Online because it offers more entertainment than just games (many of these sites do the same, for that matter). Flash applications are found everywhere and it is becoming a rare site that does not include Flash or at least some form of Java implementation.
Blaxxun Interactive (See Cybertown)
CinemaPop
Clubcam.com
Cybertown (designed in association with Blaxxun Interactive and other partners)
Digital Club Network
Distant Corners
Disney's Digital Showcase
DotComix
Intertainer
INTV (Interactive Television)
Killfrog.com
Mamamedia
Microsoft Agent Theater
PulpPhantom
Solar System Simulator
Sydney Opera House
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Entertainment Technology
"Entertainment Technology" explores behind-the-scenes in areas like lighting, sound, stage construction and logistics. Audiences are seldom aware of the grief a guitar tech endures on a KISS or N'Sync or Madonna tour. In film, "grips" move dollies, camera techs load film, and pyrotech experts blow things up. Construction crews, truck drivers, painters, riggers, backlot, security and private plane pilots are equally less known.
Academy of Entertainment and Technology
BackstageJobs.com
Enlightenment
Entertainment Design
Entertainment Technology Associates
Entertainment Technology
ESTA
EtNow.com
Guitar Techs (Articles)
Guitar Tech (Discussions)
I.A.T.S.E.
InTheCredits
Life as a Stagehand
Lighting Dimensions
Playbill - Jobs
Wide Angle Closeup
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Film
From the days of the first phonograph and movie projector to MTV to streaming video online, music and film has always been...the perfect symbiosis. And long gone are the days where a piano player would play live during the showing of a film because filmmakers hadn't quite yet figured out how to sync a recorded track in terms of frames per second.
The first motion picture with sound was The Jazz Singer, circa 1927. However, from Edison's phonograph to the Lumiere Brothers cinematograph, historians will argue origination points.
Some of the world's greatest songs were and still are written by film composers. And few songwriters--regardless of genre--do not watch with anticipation to see who wins the "Best Song" category during the Academy Awards. In 1997 Celine Dion was catapulted into superstar status with James Horner's "My Heart Will Go On," from the film Titanic. In 2000, Best Song went to Phil Collins "You'll Be in My Heart" from the animated film, Tarzan (score written by Mark Mancina). In 2002, after 18 nominations, Randy Newman wins with "If I Didn't Have You" from the film, Monsters, Inc.
The online Short Film genre has yet to prove itself a viable revenue generator. Still in its infancy, short films are a seedbed for untold things to come. Digital video cameras are increasingly becoming common Christmas gifts and with affordable editing software and a Pentium IV computer, the new millennium's filmmakers are but a click away. Well, with film budget's reaching 130 million (Pearl Harbor), maybe it's not THAT easy.
Consumer access to audio/video streaming online has not kept pace with advancing technologies. Regular telephone modems are far too slow to handle the file size of full length DVD's, VRML tours and explosive Flash animations. This will change and the change will be dramatic.
We can't seem to figure out if we want to watch TV on our computers, download film rentals and then view on our TVs, send DVDs via wireless to our PDA's and laptops...it's very confusing. But once the hi-tech hurricane settles down, the film world will have a new landscape. Music has already plowed through the new channels of delivery and showed compression in the form of mp3 was one solution for online audio (ironically, the mp3 compression format was originally design for film/video by the Motion Picture Experts Group).
But the battle of smaller filesize versus bigger pipes is but a barroom brawl. Once wireless is as commonplace as current telephone and cable Internet connections, then data streams will flow as free as the air (is this overly optimistic or what?).
Rest assured, this convergence big bang of wireless, digital audio/video and portability will yield many new forms of entertainment. Movie theaters will be replaced by customizable holographic projections available through laptops. Our next filmstars could be digital avatars. All we need now are portable microwaves...for popcorn, of course!
Artistically, some songs are movies and some movies are songs. In either case, they tell a story. Of course, not all songs tell stories, but when they do, they can be as riveting as a full-length feature film. If not a story, then often times poignant character sketches, like "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," Springsteen's "Nebraska," Sade's "Smooth Operator," and of course, "Tommy" by the Who.
Hundreds of songs have been written about Jesus and other religous characters. Criminals, wimps, bullies, ghosts, coal miners, truck drivers, cartoon characters--all have starred in many a ballad. Almost all movies focus on a single character or pair of characters. Even sweeping epics like Braveheart and classics like Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia follow the motivations and conflicts of a single character or love duo.
Films can also be searched by genre (historic, adventure, sci-fi, comedy, romantic, etc.), by actor/actress, or function like f/x, soundtracks, box office, rentals and much more. Film sites are often times more than just online advertisements, offering background info on the making of the film, actor/actress bio's, stills, trailers and news articles. They are also works of art.
SEE: Technology - Production Music for movie sounds and soundtrack sources.
Academy of Motions Picture Arts and Sciences-Special Collections
Alfred Hitchcock
All Movie Guide
AMC Theaters
AMCTV
Anatomy of a Monster (PBS looks at the business of movies)
Animation World Magazine (Songs in Animated Features)
Apple Quicktime Movie Trailers
Artisan Entertainment
Atom Films
Avant-Garde Films
Baseline.Hollywood.com
BMW Films
Buena Vista Online Entertainment
Castnet
Cinema Sites
Cinemarquee
Cinematographer
Dark Horizons
Digital Hollywood
Digital Post Production
Directors Network
Docuweb (Documentary Films)
Ebert and Roeper (formally Siskell and Ebert)
Editors Net
Epics
European Center for Film Culture
Film Biz
FilmIndustry.com
Filmmaking.net
Hollywood 2.0 (Wired feature article)
Hollydex
Hollywood.com
Hollywood Creative Directory
Hollywood Network
Hollywood Studio Tour
iF Magazine
iFilm
imdb (Internet Movie Database)
In Hollywood
Indiewire
Industry Central
The Jazz Singer
Killer Movies
Kubrick (film guide for Stanley Kubrick)
LA Actors Online - Studio Lot Maps
The Link
Los Angeles Motion Pictures
Lucas Entertainment
Martin Scorsese Films
Max Film Pros
Media Central
Megahit Movies
MGM
Media Resources Center - University of California, Berkley
Miramax Cafe
Moviefone
MovieFreak
MovieLine
Moviepitch
Movie Centre
Music, Money, Success and the Movies (ASCAP article)
Mr. Showbiz
PBS (The Monster that ate Hollywood - PBS looks at the business of movies)
Parmount
Producers Source - Los Angeles
New Line Cinema
Res (The future of filmmaking)
Rotten Tomatoes
SciFi.com
SciFlicks.com
ShowBizJobs.com
Sony Pictures
Surfview Entertainment
Sydney Film Festival
Theater Services Guide
TheMovieGuys
Turner Classics
UCLA Film and Music Archive (University of California, Los Angeles)
United Artists Theaters
Universal Studios
Warner Brothers
World Film Festival
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Film Music and Composers
Many of the Film Composers listed here are giants and legends in the music and film industries (there are listings for indie composers). The sheer output of these music behemoths is utterly astounding. It's enough to write 70-100 songs yet alone 70-100 film scores (that translates into 70-100 hours of music)! For as talented and prolific as many of these composers are they often go unrecognized by the public at large. Many of these composers have written numerous hit songs and some of these songs are the most popular songs of all time (SEE Film Portal).
Film composers and pop/song writers seem to live in two entirely different worlds. But this is illusion as pop songs are seamlessly integrated within film scores and many scores are written entirely in the pop/rock vein. Music video directors are now gradually making their way into full length feature production. Some of the links between film composers and their pop/rock colleagues are well known, like Michael Kamen with Metallica or James Horner and Celine Dion.
The composers are alphabetized by first names. Not all sites are official sites.
Alan Silvestri
Bernard Herrmann Society
Bernard Herrmann
Cinematrax
Cinematrax Guide to Film and TV Music Terms
The Elfman Zone - Danny Elfman
Elmer Bernstein
Encore: The Ultimate Mark Snow Site
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Ennio Morricone
Equipment Emporium - Sountrack: A Basic Intro
Film Music Directory
Film Music Magazine
Film Music Society
Film Music World
Film Score Monthly
Filmtracks
Francis Lai
Google Directory - Film Composers
Hans Zimmer
Hollywood.com - Movie Tunes
Hollywood composers
Inde Film Composers
Intrada
James Horner
James Newton Howard (Keyboard Magazine)
James Newton Howard (IMC)
Jerry Goldsmith
John Williams (Unofficial site)
John Williams Web Pages
Media Ventures (Hans Zimmer)
Max Steiner
Michel Legrand
MovieMovie.com
Movie Sounds Page
Movie Sountrack Page
Music for your Film
Music Report
Musiccine
Scorebaby
SoundtrackNet
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Film Production
Castle Rock
Dimension
Dreamworks
Fine Line
Fox
Independent Feature Project
Lions Gate
Lucas Arts
MGM
Miramax
New Line Cinema
Paramount
Pixar
United International Pictures
Universal
Universal Studios Showcase
USA (October Films)
Warner
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Film Trade
The Film Trade portal reveals the regulatory power and scope of the film world. This is a small list of the major associations, organizations, guilds and unions currently engaged in promotion, contract negotiation, employment, archiving, award ceremonies and all other phases of industry management.
The Film Trade and the Music Trade are soulmates. In some respects they might even be Perfect Twins. When the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America get together to set technology standards and devise encryption securities for global distribution, the two industries become allies on the frontlines in the battle against piracy.
But the relationship between music and film is not always a Hollywood love affair or a tender love song. Royalty splits, usage fees and artistic decisions are not always fair. And the marriage of art and business has never been easy.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)
AFTRA
aivf (The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers)
American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.)
American Film Institute
American Screenwriters Association
Association of Independent Commercial Producers
Castnet - Industry Links
Cinematographer
Directors Guild of America
Entertainment Industry Development Corp - LA Office
Film Music Society
Guild of Canadian Film Composers
Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Editors Guild
Producers Guild of America
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
SMPTE - Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
Society of Composers and Lyricists
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Jerry Flattum is a songwriter (BMI), screenwriter, freelance writer, book writer and singer/keyboardist/arranger. Jerry has written Bridge On Fire: A Holistic Journey in Song Creation. Bridge On Fire is a comprehensive manual on songwriting from the technical, social, cultural and entertainment industry perspectives. The book will be published by Publish America in 2005 and available through major and other retail outlets. In 2002, Jerry wrote a full-length feature comedy, 7/11 Pair-O-Dice Road for Lear Entertainment (Las Vegas). Several screenplays are in-progress: The Acrobat; Watertown, South Dakota; Lars; Out of Context; Amazon Moon and others. He has written the story, music and lyrics for Time Travelers in the Celestial Age, a screen/stage musical loosely based on H.G. Well’s, The Time Machine. As a freelance writer, he has covered live shows for e-Vegas.net, the Las Vegas film scene for Callback, and written several articles for Musesmuse.com, Script Magazine and others. Jerry has worked as a singer/keyboardist in several bands throughout New York, the Twin Cities, and on the road. Prior business experience includes CBS, Harry Fox Agency, Samuel French Play Publishers and other indie ventures. He has a self-designed BS in Songwriting (graduating Phi Kappa Phi) and a Masters in Liberal Studies (U of MN). Jerry is a member of the Songwriters Guild of America, the Nashville Songwriters Association, and the International Songwriters Association. He is soon to become a member of the National Writers Union and plans are to join the Authors Guild and the Writers Guild of America. He is also launching JerryFlattum.com in October 2004, featuring original songs and other works. This site will interface with SongCatalog.com, an online service designed to connect songwriters with song buyers.
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