Subscription services and ad-financed music streaming services are in vogue. The auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers expects sales to increase from the current 70 million euros to around 125 million euros by 2017. No musical miracle. Because with flat rates, customers benefit from an almost inexhaustible reservoir of songs for little money. Chip compared nine services and took a close look at market leader Spotify, Ampya, Deezer, Google Play Music, Juke, Napster, Rdio, Simfy and Sony Music Unlimited. The result: there are hardly any differences in the offerings. However, there are clear differences in terms of cost, sound quality and user-friendliness.

Quantity and quality
According to their own information, the streaming services have access to a standard catalog of around 20 million tracks. Providers such as Juke and Deezer have far more songs in their portfolio, with 25 and 30 million respectively. However, the number of songs available is not a sign of quality. The supposed added value often turns out to be a collection of tracks by little-known artists. What's more, not all bands are really represented on Spotify and the like: Some established groups continue to defy marketing by streaming platforms.

Which format is used for transmission (usually MP3, AAC or Ogg Vorbis) is up to the customer. The experts from Chip The bit rate also determines the sound quality. Deezer, Google Play Music, Juke, Music Unlimited, Simfy and Spotify offer a maximum bit rate of 320 kbps. This basically corresponds to CD quality. This amount of data is often reduced on mobile devices, although most services allow the settings to be adjusted up to hi-fi quality.

Test, share, pay
All streaming services offer a free trial period. Users must register with an e-mail address. With Ampya, Deezer, Juke Rdio and Spotify, this is also possible via the Facebook account. Favorite hits can then be shared with other users from the friends list. Spotify has expanded this system particularly strongly: Users can see directly in the player who has listened to what and can also play these songs. After the test phase, the customer must decide on a tariff. Prices for stationary use on the PC are just under five euros per month. Simfy is the cheapest service at 4.49 euros, while Napster represents the top end at 7.95 euros. Premium tariffs of around ten euros per month include mobile use on smartphones, iPods and tablets. Only Ampya, Spotify and Deezer currently offer ad-financed, free use, but the latter for a maximum of one year. The catch: advertising intervals of varying lengths spoil undisturbed continuous enjoyment.

The entire test report with further information on user guidance and features such as the web player and apps can be found in the 09/2014 issue of Chipwhich are available in retail and Chip Kiosk is available

Reso is a network of organizations from the field of professional dance and, organized as an association, works to improve the framework conditions for dance, fights for greater recognition of the discipline in the cultural-political context and, together with the funding bodies, implements the vision of coordinated, comprehensive dance funding.

According to the Biel-based company's press release, the inclusion of TOBS can also be seen as confirmation that its still young dance division has already established a firm place for itself in the Swiss dance scene.

The next dance productions on the Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn's program are "Rising" by and with Aakash Odedra (10/11 April in Solothurn - as part of the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps) and "TraumRaum" by Anja Gysin (10/12 June in Solothurn and 16 June in Biel).

The symposium, sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation, "opens up the perspective on all situations in which people leave their homeland for political, religious and economic reasons, either physically or in the sense of internal emigration, and invites discussion of the latest findings on musical exile and emigration research".

The festival will take place in Lucerne from January 24 to 29, 2016. The Junge Philharmonie Zentralschweiz and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra will be giving a joint concert for the first time.

The festival and in particular a symphony concert on January 27 are dedicated to conductor Israel Yinon (1956-2015), who died unexpectedly at last year's festival during the performance of the "Alpine Symphony" with the Junge Philharmonie Zentralschweiz. "The theme of exile and emigration was close to the cosmopolitan and was always on his mind," says Michael Kaufmann, Director of the University of Music.

More info: www.hslu.ch/szenenwechsel

According to the initiators, the "Party Pieces" are the largest collaborative composition in the world and "a sensational example of artistic networking across all national borders". Following the world premiere in New York, the European premiere of this musical survey of contemporary compositional techniques will take place in Leipzig on January 20.

Initiated and coordinated by the Forum Zeitgenössischer Musik Leipzig [FZML], all of the participating artists have worked together to implement a strict concept developed by a four-member board of trustees. The order was determined in over 1000 coin tosses (based on the ancient Chinese oracle book "I Ching" - John Cage sends his regards).

All participants have handwritten a work of five bars (maximum one minute) for a ten-piece ensemble. The last bar in each case was sent on to the next person on the list. The work thus traveled around the world 125 times.

The 125 original manuscripts have been reproduced and published in a limited edition, handmade box that has since won several awards.

In its decision, COMCO found that Musik Hug and Krompholz agreed list prices and discounts between themselves for grand and upright pianos made by Steinway & Sons and Grotrian-Steinweg. It is true that La Bottega del Pianoforte SA also unlawfully coordinated its prices with this agreement. However, as it was the first company to report its breach of antitrust law, the sanction was waived.

For their part, the manufacturers Steinway & Sons and Grotrian-Steinweg did not specify any minimum or fixed prices, but supported the dealers' agreements by printing the agreed list prices. These two companies have undertaken in mutual agreements to refrain from such behavior in the future.

The investigation was opened on November 28, 2012 following an inquiry by the Canton of Zurich's Building Department. The possible violations of antitrust law in connection with the procurement procedure for grand and upright pianos for the Zurich University of the Arts in the former Toni dairy were not confirmed. The investigation did, however, bring to light the above-mentioned comprehensive agreement on list prices and discounts between the aforementioned dealers.

COMCO's decision can be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court.

Historically speaking, Lucerne owes its acquaintance with Pierre Boulez to his greatest friend and patron Paul Sacher, writes Lucerne Festival Director Michael Haefliger in an initial tribute. As a member of the program committee at the time, Sacher had already recommended Boulez as a conductor in the 1960s. He introduced the composer to Lucerne audiences in a talk concert in 1983, after Boulez had first performed here with the New York Philharmonic in two concerts in 1975.

Lucerne Festival, continued Haefliger, thanks Pierre Boulez "for his invaluable contribution to the further development of a festival in whose heart the commitment to tomorrow's generation of musicians and the music of our time plays and will play a decisive role".

Born in Montbrison in 1925, Pierre Boulez studied with Olivier Messiaen and René Leibowitz. With Douze Notations (1945) and two piano sonatas (1946/48), he made his first appearance as a composer; his worldwide reputation was cemented above all by the premiere of the chamber cantata Le Marteau sans Maître (1955) in Baden-Baden.

As a conductor, he was music director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1960-72) and the New York Philharmonic (1971-75). Subsequently, from 1976 to 1991, he was director of IRCAM, the research institute for contemporary music at the Centre Pompidou, which he founded, and of the Ensemble intercontemporain in Paris.

He founded the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2003. Pierre Boulez has been awarded the Siemens Music Prize, the "Praemium Imperiale", the Theodor W. Adorno Prize, the "Polar Music Prize", the "Kyoto Prize" and the Adenauer de Gaulle Prize.

According to the municipal council's message, running talent classes allows young people with a talent for sport and music to develop as positively and successfully as possible in a support-oriented environment at school and in the talent area. The classes in Chur complement the existing programs in Ilanz, St Moritz-Champfèr and Davos.

The demand for the additional music program is significantly lower than that for sports, the message continues. Last year, only a few young people attended the music section of the Scoula Sportiva St. Moritz-Champfèr or the talent school in Ilanz. In the Engadin there was one boy out of 22 young people, in Ilanz three girls out of 32 pupils.

In the current 2015/2016 school year, four pupils in St. Moritz-Champfèr, two in Ilanz and none in Davos (reopening of the talent school) have entered the music section. At present, eight of the 96 talented pupils in Graubünden are being supported in the area of music. In Chur, a larger proportion of five to eight musicians per year group is expected, not least due to the comprehensive range of courses offered by the music school.

In September 2015, work began on the city-wide cultural strategy and a participatory process was launched. The basic principles adopted by the city government create the political and content-related basis for the first Bern Cultural Forum, which will be held on January 18, 2016.

The workshop will present and discuss fields of action that can be derived from the basic principles and define corresponding objectives. The project management, supported by the group of experts and the project group, will use this to develop an action plan that will be presented for discussion at the second cultural forum in early summer 2016.

"Based on a broad concept of culture", writes the city, the municipal council is "committed to Bern as a city of culture, to the diversity of cultural players, to culture as a public interest and to partnership and dialog" with the four basic principles of the future cultural strategy.

More info: www.bern.ch/kulturstrategie
 

For the study, educational scientists Carlos dos Santos-Luiz, Lisete Mónico, Leandro S. Almeida and Daniela Coimbra examined the academic performance of a total of 110 pupils with and without music education. Other factors examined were socio-economic status, intelligence, motivation and previous school success. The groups were examined between the ages of 11 and 14 and three years later. 

This showed that those with musical training performed significantly better. This was particularly clear with regard to language lessons (Portuguese) and the natural sciences. The effect also remained stable when particular characteristics of socio-economic status, intelligence and motivation were taken into account.  

Original article: C dos Santos-Luiz, L S. M. Mónico, L S. Almeida et al, "Exploring the long-term associations between adolescents' music training and academic achievement", Musicae Scientiae, December 31, 2015, msx.sagepub.com

Following the internal revision of the fields of action, objectives and measures will be presented and negotiated at the "2nd Bern Cultural Forum" in early summer 2016. The final information event on the city-wide cultural strategy will be held in fall 2016 at the end of a further revision. This mission statement lays the foundations for the City of Bern's future cultural policy.

According to a press release issued by the city of Meiden, the following experts are members of the expert group: Monika Bandi, Rahel Bucher, Patrizia Crivelli, Dagmar Kopse, Myriam Prongué, Hans Rudolf Reust, Urs Rietmann, Christoph Ris, Fabian Schmid and Lejla Sukaj. Together, they cover topics such as cultural production (institutions and independent scene), cultural participation, inclusive culture, cultural mediation, cultural education and training, cultural heritage, creative industries, amateur culture, neighborhood culture and tourism.

According to the "Kurier" newspaper, Böhm succeeded Fritz Busch, who had been expelled by the Nazis, at the Semperoper in 1934 following Hitler's intercession. In 1938, shortly after the "Anschluss" of Austria, Böhm conducted at the Vienna Konzerthaus. He voluntarily greeted the audience with the Hitler salute and had the Horst Wessel Song played. In 1943, he became director of the State Opera at Hitler's request. After the war, the Allies imposed a performance ban on Böhm, which was only lifted in 1947.

Because of Böhm's "exceptional artistic merits", the festival directorate does not want to rename the Böhm Hall. The plaque that has now been agreed will refer to an Internet address "where Karl Böhm's personality is presented in German and English as what he was: a great artist, but a politically fatal misleader".

In 2015, the German government abandoned its stance of generally denying the dangers to the cultural sector posed by TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and presented its own paper on the dangers in October, writes the German Cultural Council.

At the end of this year, the German Bundestag also passed a comprehensive, multi-year cultural investment program. For the coming year alone (2016), around 120 million euros in additional federal cultural funding is to be made available. A total of 740 million euros in additional cultural investment is planned for the coming years.

The Cultural Council also commented on the draft "Act to improve the enforcement of authors' and performers' claims to appropriate remuneration". It considers it self-evident that authors are entitled to appropriate remuneration for their services and rights. A lump-sum payment could also be appropriate.

According to its Managing Director Olaf Zimmermann, the German Cultural Council achieved a lot in terms of cultural policy in 2015. In the discussions about TTIP and CETA, the dangers for the cultural and media sector are now also being widely discussed in public and are no longer being ignored by the German government.

The previous service agreements have proven their worth, the canton writes in a press release. The renewed performance agreements are also contracts that have been in place for several years. They are valid from 2016 to 2020, with the Kultur im Kammgarn association and the Tap Tab Musikverein from 2016 to 2018.

The unchanged annual support contributions from the canton and city of Schaffhausen together amount to CHF 132,000 for the Schaffhausen Jazz Festival, CHF 150,000 for the Kultur im Kammgarn association, CHF 84,000 for the Schauwerk, CHF 73,000 for the Theater Sgaramusch, CHF 35,000 for the Sommertheater, CHF 33,000 for the jugendclub momoll Theater and CHF 30,000 for the Tap Tab Musikverein.

The canton's contribution to the Vebikus Kunsthalle Schaffhausen association is being increased to CHF 70,000 per year. Following the departure of the Hallen für Neue Kunst, it is important to strengthen the area of contemporary art in an already established environment, writes the canton. To this end, it is necessary for the Vebikus exhibition space to reposition itself as an art gallery and expand and raise the profile of its program.

The large-format and heavy choir book with its magnificent binding can only be opened with extreme caution and is one of the most precious treasures in the Bavarian State Library. It was therefore hardly accessible to the public. However, experts at the scanning center of the Munich Digitization Centre have now scanned and processed it over a period of several weeks using highly specialized photographic technology. The images can be accessed online and used for detailed research regardless of time and place.

The choir book was commissioned by Duke Albrecht V (1528-1579) in 1559 for the treasury of the Bavarian dynasty. It contains 26 motets for four to eight voices by the Dutch composer Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565). It is a magnificent codex with rich book illumination of unparalleled quality: in addition to detailed pictorial decoration at the beginning of each motet, the manuscript contains eight full-page miniatures by the painter Hans Mielich (1516-1573).

Before the digital copy could be produced, the work was extensively restored at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration at the Bavarian State Library over the course of a year. The miniatures in the choir book showed numerous areas of the paint layer that were at risk of loss. They were consolidated under the microscope at twenty times magnification using a special aqueous solution of isinglass.

The experience gained from the restoration and digitization of the book will now benefit the top items in the ducal collection, the choir books illuminated by Hans Mielich with penitential psalms by Orlando di Lasso. The two volumes will be restored and digitized over the next one and a half years.

The magnificent choir book of Albrecht V in the Digital Collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek:
http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00103729/image_1

Film about Albrecht V's magnificent choir book:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BayStaatsbibliothek

As part of the "Wired by Music" project, Franz Resch from Heidelberg University and Thomas Hillecke, representing SRH, want to support children and young people between the ages of 13 and 17 who are suffering from a depressive episode or chronic depression and are already undergoing medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. They will receive twelve free individual music therapy sessions in the outpatient clinic on the campus of SRH University Heidelberg.

Mindful listening to their "own" music and creating individual playlists for mobile devices, which the young people can use to help themselves in various situations, are part of the therapy, according to the press release. The young people approach their emotions musically and set them to music in joint improvisations. Piano, guitar and percussion instruments are available for this purpose. Musical role-playing games or therapeutic songwriting are also possible.