Changing the (Orchestra) Model

It's becoming quite obvious to me that Minnesota Orchestra management does not see individual musicians as having unique value. Instead, it regards musicians as interchangeable parts. Why bother paying Pinchas Zukerman top dollar when any young violinist fresh out of music school can play the same notes?

What the MO management really is trying to do is to change the model for the entire orchestra, from a world-class artistic ensemble to a (perhaps) more profitable pops orchestra. The ultimate goal in these contraction "negotiations" is to force out the higher-paid cogs in the machine and replace them with lower-paid, less experienced musicians. Reduce the payroll, reduce the reliance on well-known, higher-paid individuals, and you make more money -- especially if the new guys spend most of their time playing pop concerts instead of more challenging classical pieces.

This is a drastic re-imagining of one of the world's top orchestras, and it's being done with zero transparency and zero input from the community to which the orchestra serves. If management succeeds, they may end up killing this highly regarded artistic organization and replacing it with a less-regarded, more generic pop ensemble of undistinguished players.

Digital Music in Windows 8

I've been using and writing about Windows 8 for some time now, for my two books Absolute Beginner's Guide to Computer Basics, Windows 8 Edition, and Easy Computer Basics, Windows 8 Edition. I just now got around to upgrading my aging Niveus media center PC to Windows 8, however, so I can now speak to the Windows 8 experience for digital music in the living room. 

First, about the upgrade. My Niveus Denali HTPC is getting a little long in the tooth. I'm pretty sure it dates back to 2005 or so, but in 2008, following a massive system failure, the good folks at Niveus put in a new motherboard and other internals, free of charge. So let's call it a 2008 model, still four years old, still running Windows Vista.

The upgrade went relatively smoothly. The only big issue was that, post-upgrade, Windows couldn't find my sound card or install proper drivers. Fortunately Brian Paper at Niveus helped me out by identifying the proper sound card and a link to the drivers; got the drivers installed and everything worked good as new. Better than new, actually, as Windows 8 is much, much zippier on older machines than Windows Vista was. Feels kind of like a new system.

(Kudos to Brian and the guys at Niveus for their continued assistance and support -- which they really don't need to do, as Niveus quit making PCs about two years ago. Now they focus on providing digital media solutions for various consumer and commercial markets; no more of those uber expensive, ultra quiet, high-end HTPCs, which I miss.)

Anyway, one of the questions I had was whether the default Win8 Music app (recently renamed to Xbox Music) would suffice for living room use. Quick answer? Nope. I thought the big-tiled interface would work well as a ten-foot interface, but that's not the case; navigation gets in the way. I can use my Logitech remote control to move left or right (or up or down) through the individual tiles, but not from one tile group to another on the Music screen. And, since Microsoft insists on starting Music on the Now Playing section, leading to the All Music section (the focus is on purchasing music, not playing your own), it's difficult if not impossible to move backwards to the My Music section to access my own digital music collection. Even when you get into the My Music section, the album display is much, much too small for living room use. Let's face it; Win8 is designed primarily for up-close tablet use, is somewhat usable on a standard desktop or notebook PC, but doesn't cut it as a living room media center interface.

Which means it's back to Windows Media Center. If you're into digital media at all, you probably know that Microsoft has ceased future development of WMC and even removed it from the base version of Windows 8. But MS still makes WMC available as an add-on for Win8 users, and it's actually free until the end of the year. (Go here to learn how to download WMC for Win8.)

So after I upgraded to Win8 I downloaded my free version of Windows Media Center. It's essentially the same WMC that was in Windows 7, which is a small improvement over the one I was using in Windows Vista. There were a handful of useful changes that I noted, including the following:

• New Now Playing screen, with small thumbnails of album covers in the background. I kind of like it, but my wife thinks it's too busy.
• New Now Playing controls after you make a selection. Smaller text, but more options. I give it a wash.
• New "play pictures" option from the Now Playing screen, launches a completely different photo slideshow than the standard slideshow in the Photos section. Looks like it grabs all photos at random from the My Photos folder, as opposed to any selected subfolder. I like it.
• New ability to play all albums/tracks released in a given year. I really like this.
• Appears to have fixed the old Vista bug that downgraded all album artwork to 300 x 300 pixels.

And just a slightly snazzier interface throughout, with hipper fonts. Always nice to put a fresh coat of paint on the old house.

By the way, the potential issue of not being able to boot directly into WMC is an issue, but not a major one. Windows 8 always, always, always boots into the hated Start screen; you can't boot to the Desktop or to Media Center. But one push of the "green button" on the remote control launches WMC and displays it front and center. Turns out not to be a big deal, and I have to deal with the Win8 Start screen not much at all.

The big news, however, is how much faster the entire system runs under Windows 8. No more interminable pauses before playing music after a restart. Much, much faster booting. More responsive menus. Fewer little playback quirks. Just runs better. Well worth the $39 upgrade price.

I'll talk more about the Xbox Music app in a future post. At this juncture I'm not overwhelmingly impressed, but we'll see.

Those Darned Canadians!

Take a read of this article about the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, which played this past season at a slight deficit and is ready to renegotiate musicians' contracts without asking for a cut in payroll. The approach of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra management is in direct contrast to that of the Minnesota Symphony and many other American orchestras. Those darned Canadians want to produce the best possible music they can, and know that that will attract audiences (and donations). What a concept!

I think most American businesses can learn something from Toronto's CEO: "I’m trying to increase the compensation to musicians so that we can attract the best and reward them for great performances." That's right. Pay more to get the best employees, and good things will happen. As an old boss of mine used to say, you can't save your way to prosperity. You have to spend a little get the best people, and the best people will deliver the best results. Period.

More Orchestra Troubles

It's happening again, this time across the river in St. Paul. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, asked to take a 33% pay cut (and cut number of musicians and performing weeks) has been locked out by management. A very sad time for the state of music in the state of Minnesota, and across the nation. Read more here.

How to Kill an Orchestra

More details are coming to light about management's offer to the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra. Read more details here, from Robert Levine at the Polyphonic.org. It's sickening.

Levine reports that the musicians' yearly base salary is set to decrease from $111,566 to $77,896. Do the math; that's a 30% pay cut. (Some musicians earn more, based on titled chairs and seniority and such, but this what the typical musician takes home.) Again, I ask -- how would you react to your employer asking you to take a 30% cut in pay? Could you pay your bills if you were taking home a third less than you are now?

It gets even worse for extras and subs. (Extras are just that, extra musicians necessary to perform certain pieces; subs are substitutes for regular player who are on vacation, out sick, or otherwise absent for a given performance.) Currently, extras and subs earn the same pay as do the regular players. Under management's proposal, subs and extras not only have to suffer the same 30% pay cut as do regular players, but an addition 25% pay cut beyond that. That reduces their paycheck from the current $2,144 per week to $1,123 per week. That's cutting their pay almost in half.

(BTW, if you think extras and subs should be paid less than regular players, you don't know how this whole orchestra thing works. Extras and subs do the same work as regular players while they're there, but with an added degree of difficulty, especially for subs. A sub might get a call in the morning to report for rehearsals that afternoon, and then have to sightread music they've never seen or played before. I have a lot of respect for these non-regular players, and know that they're worth every penny they're paid. Read this blog post by sub violinist Jill Olson Moser to gain a fuller appreciation of this particular role.)

There's more to it than just the money, but geez, this is horrific. It's especially appalling when you realize that management is asking musicians to take this kind of pay cut at the same time the Orchestra is doing a $50 million renovation to Orchestra Hall. I'd rather stick with the current lobby and such than lose any of the talented musicians who play the music we love. It's a real slap in the face.

Also a slap in the face is the salary of Michael Henson, the Orchestra's President and CEO. Henson's current salary is $404,000 (up from $390,000 three years ago), and near as I can tell he's not taking any pay cut. (In case you're wondering, his salary is 1.5 times the average for that position in similarly sized non-profit organizations.) How can Henson justify his outrageous salary while asking the musicians who create the music to cut theirs by 30%?

Some observers are speculating that his is all a grand ruse by Henson and the rest of management to simply cancel the entire season that the Orchestra is playing outside of the under-renovation Orchestra Hall. The replacement venue is the Convention Center, which is less than ideal -- and, for all I know, might be more expensive than their normal environs. Heck, it's also possible that subscriptions and ticket sales are down for this out-of-Hall season. Rather than suffer lost revenues for this season, why not lock the musicians out and call the entire season a loss? I don't know if this is really the case, but it's certainly plausible.

This situation is unacceptable. If finances are really this bad, then cancel the expensive renovations, slash the CEO's exorbitant salary, and do whatever else is necessary to keep paying the musicians what they're worth. Since none of these other measures are even under consideration, this looks to be exactly what it is -- a frontal attack on some of the most talented musicians in this country.

If management gets their way, many of these players will simply leave for more acceptable positions elsewhere. Is that what we as an arts-loving community want? I don't think so.

I'm not sure what we can do for the musicians right now except voice our support for them and our discontent with Michael Hanson and Orchestra management. If this ends up as badly as it could, the Orchestra will lose a lot of community support -- and ticket sales. Do you really want to give your hard-earned entertainment dollars to the insensitive management creeps who want to punish the fine musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra? I certainly don't, and I won't.

It's that simple. Push through these draconian pay cuts and they'll kill the Minnesota Orchestra as we know it. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

ISO Settles

It looks like the Indianapolis Symphonic Orchestra musicians have settled with management, but at a horrific cost. (Read the details here.) First, there's a 32% pay cut, with the average salary decreasing from $78,000 to $53,000. (There are yearly increases baked into the five-year contract that bring that back up to $70,000 in year five, but still -- how would you like your paycheck cut by a third? And $53,000 is a pretty lousy salary for world-class musicians, don't you think?) Second, the ISO is no longer one of the country's 18 full-year orchestras; the season is now going to be 38 to 42 weeks.

Frankly, these terms place the ISO more in the mode of a community orchestra than a professional one. That's a shame; the orchestra could have been (and was) a whole lot more. Let's hope that orchestral musicians elsewhere (such as in the Twin Cities) don't have to sacrifice so much.

You know, this never would have happened to a professional sports team.

Bye Bye Sqeezebox

CNET reports that Logitech has discontinued the Squeezebox line of products. That's too bad; the Squeezebox was a nice option for digital music lovers. It's also a bummer if you're a current Squeezebox owner, as there's no indication how or how long Logitech will be supporting you. I think it's another case where everyone's focusing on video and ignoring the audio-only options. C'est la vie.

In related news, Logitech's new UE Smart Radio looks to take the place of the old Squeezebox Radio. You can use it to stream audio from a variety of music services (including Spotify and Pandora), as well as all the digital music you've stored on your personal computer. It runs $179.99, and operates off wall power or (for six hours) its own internal batteries. You control it with an iOS or Android app on your smartphone.  Not a bad deal if you need an all-in-one music player for one of the rooms in your house.