Street Art
Taylor Swift’s new song, “Welcome to New York,” has not just earned her millions, it’s gotten her the title of New York City’s “global welcome ambassador.” Swift, who grew up in Wyomissing, PA, is as much a New Yorker as, well, anyone else not from New York. So it’s completely foreseeable that her new position as the face of NYC has led to responses like that of Kara Mullins and Osvaldo Jimenez. The couple commissioned local graffiti artist Chico (full name: Antonio Garcia) to paint a “memorial” for Swift on the gate outside their store, La Petite Mort, which sells vintage clothing. In a jointly written Instagram post, they describe how Swift has “killed off yet another piece of that broken New York spirit.” They talk about how Swift’s vision of NYC is that of a “modern 19 million dollar condo owner who drinks lattes” while real NYC artists are being priced out of the city. Chico, one such New York artist, painted the mural at Le Petite Mort before packing his bags and moving down to Florida in search of cheaper living.
Cinema
Twice in the last few months, American supremacy in the global film market has been threatened. This September, a Chinese-language fantasy film called “The Monkey King” reached the No. 21 spot in the worldwide box office rankings, selling about $186.1 million in tickets. A few weeks later, a Chinese comedy, “Breakup Buddies,” hit the No. 22 ranking, with $143.1 million in sales. At the American Film Market on Nov. 5, approximately 8,000 film buyers, sellers and producers will come together to collectively fret about changes in an industry that is still largely dominated by American studios. However, Rentrak’s box-office tracking service still indicates that the top 20 performers at the world box office (for the last five straight years) have been American-made, almost without exception.
Music
Rumors circulated this week that Beyoncé was set to release a new album. While that’s not exactly the case, Bey’s devoted listeners will still be getting a new Beyoncé release … and More. “More,” a six-song CD, will be released as part of the “Beyonce Platinum Edition Box Set,” a two-CD, two-DVD release deluxe version of her latest album “Beyoncé.” “More” promises tracks including “7/11” and “Ring Off,” as well as remixes from Nicki Minaj, Jay Z, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Mr. Vegas. The new package also contains a live DVD from her latest tour. The planned release date of Beyoncé’s new material is Nov. 24, although it wouldn’t be beyond Beyoncé to surprise her listeners. The out-of-nowhere release of her last album was such a landmark in stealth marketing that it was examined in a case study by the Harvard Business School.
