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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Alf Clausen, Emmy-winning composer who wrote music for ‘The Simpsons' for 27 years, dies at 84
Al Jean, an early 'Simpsons' writer who was one of the key creative figures on the show in the 1990s, said in a post on X Friday that 'Clausen was an incredibly talented man who did so much for The Simpsons.' While Danny Elfman wrote the show's theme song, Mr. Clausen joined the Fox animated series created by Matt Groening in 1990 and provided essentially all of its music until 2017, composing nearly 600 scores and conducting the 35-piece orchestra that played it in the studio. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His colleagues said his music was a key component of the show's comedy, but Mr. Clausen believed the best way to back up the gags of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa was by making the music as straight as possible. Advertisement 'This is a dream job for a composer,' Mr. Clausen told Variety, which first reported his death, in 1998. 'Matt Groening said to me very early on, 'We're not a cartoon. We're a drama where the characters are drawn. I want you to score it like a drama.' I score the emotions of the characters as opposed to specific action hits on the screen.' Advertisement Groening, in a 1996 interview, called him 'one of the unacknowledged treasures of the show.' Mr. Clausen was born in Minneapolis and raised in Jamestown, N.D. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1966 and moved to Los Angeles seeking a career in music. In the 1970s he was a musical director on several TV variety shows including 'Donny & Marie.' Mr. Clausen worked as an orchestrator for composer Lee Holdridge in his scores for 1980s films including 'Splash' and 'The Beastmaster.' It was Holdridge who first got the composing job on 'Moonlighting,' the late-80s ABC rom-com detective series starring Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd, but he handed the gig off to Mr. Clausen, who would get six Emmy nominations for his music on it. Mr. Clausen won his Emmys for 'The Simpsons' in 1997 and 1998 and also won five Annie Awards, which honor work in animation in film and television. He was fired from 'The Simpsons' in a cost-cutting move in 2017, to the outrage of his collaborators and fans. He sued over his dismissal. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Clausen leaves his wife, Sally, two other children Scott and Kyle, stepchildren Josh and Emily, and 11 grandchildren.
Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
‘My greatest dream' - Taylor Swift buys back rights to old music
'My greatest dream' - Taylor Swift buys back rights to old music Pop sensation Taylor Swift, who was locked in a feud with record executives since 2019 over ownership of her music, has bought back the rights to her entire back catalog, she said Friday. 'All of the music I've ever made ... now belongs ... to me,' she wrote on her website, after years of disputes over her first six albums, a number of which she rerecorded to create copies she owns herself. 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,' she wrote in the letter to her devoted followers. 'To my fans, you know how important this has been to me -- so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them Taylor's Version.' Those records included the award-winning 'Reputation' and 'Taylor Swift.' Swift bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital, an LA investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. The re-recording power move came in the wake of public sparring with industry mogul Scooter Braun, her one-time manager whose company had purchased her previous label and gained a majority stake in her early work. He later sold Swift's master rights to the private equity company. The situation left Swift publicly incensed: 'I just feel that artists should own their work,' she said in 2019. 'She's a vocal advocate for artists' rights,' Ralph Jaccodine, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, told AFP previously. 'She's built her own brand.' Before her public efforts to regain control of her work, Prince, George Michael, Jay-Z and Kanye West all also fought for control of their masters -- one-of-a-kind source material that dictate how songs are reproduced and sold -- but none had gone so far as to re-record them completely. The queen of pop, whose recent nearly two-year-long, $2 billion Eras tour shattered records, said that she was 'heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry.' Swift's lucrative tour which wrapped last year was a showbusiness sensation, and will have helped offset the costs of buying back her catalog. The 149 shows across the world typically clocked in at more than three hours long each. Tour tickets sold for sometimes exorbitant prices and drew in millions of fans, along with many more who didn't get in and were willing to simply sing along from the parking lot. 'Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all this to happen,' Swift said in her letter.--AFP
Observer
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Observer
'My greatest dream' - Taylor Swift buys back rights to old music
Pop sensation Taylor Swift, who was locked in a feud with record executives since 2019 over ownership of her music, has bought back the rights to her entire back catalog, she said Friday. "All of the music I've ever made ... now belongs ... to me," she wrote on her website, after years of disputes over her first six albums, a number of which she rerecorded to create copies she owns herself. "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," she wrote in the letter to her devoted followers. "To my fans, you know how important this has been to me -- so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them Taylor's Version." Those records included the award-winning "Reputation" and "Taylor Swift." Swift bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital, an LA investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. The re-recording power move came in the wake of public sparring with industry mogul Scooter Braun, her one-time manager whose company had purchased her previous label and gained a majority stake in her early work. He later sold Swift's master rights to the private equity company. - 'This fight' - The situation left Swift publicly incensed: "I just feel that artists should own their work," she said in 2019. "She's a vocal advocate for artists' rights," Ralph Jaccodine, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, told AFP previously. "She's built her own brand." Before her public efforts to regain control of her work, Prince, George Michael, Jay-Z and Kanye West all also fought for control of their masters -- one-of-a-kind source material that dictate how songs are reproduced and sold -- but none had gone so far as to re-record them completely. The queen of pop, whose recent nearly two-year-long, $2 billion Eras tour shattered records, said that she was "heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry." Swift's lucrative tour which wrapped last year was a showbusiness sensation, and will have helped offset the costs of buying back her catalog. The 149 shows across the world typically clocked in at more than three hours long each. Tour tickets sold for sometimes exorbitant prices and drew in millions of fans, along with many more who didn't get in and were willing to simply sing along from the parking lot. "Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all this to happen," Swift said in her letter. —AFP
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Taylor Swift locked in her billionaire status before buying rights to early albums for $464m
NEW YORK - Taylor Swift has gained control of all of her life's work, in what she called her 'greatest dream come true'. A growing fortune may have helped her realise that years-long goal. The American pop superstar announced on May 30 that she had acquired the rights to her first six albums, a culmination of a lengthy battle to own her entire catalogue. She did not disclose the terms, but Billboard reported that she paid around US$360 million (S$464 million). 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually to be pretty reserved about it,' she wrote. 'All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.' Swift, 35, has seen a personal windfall equal to that figure in just the past 19 months alone. Her net worth currently stands at US$1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up about US$300 million from October 2023, when she was in the middle of her blockbuster Eras Tour that made her a billionaire for the first time. While she has framed her fight to reclaim her earlier work as a deeply personal pursuit, she also now stands to profit from licensing her songs in the future. 'She's in the 1 per cent of artistes who have the leverage to work out deals her own way,' said Ralph Jaccodine, a professor of music business and management at Boston's Berklee College of Music. 'She can license them and all the money comes back to her. She can give them away. She can do whatever she wants with her copyrights.' While Swift wrote the songs on her first six albums - Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017) - her former record label Big Machine Label Group owned the actual recordings that made her famous. It sold those to American record executive Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings LLC in June 2019, as part of a larger deal. After Swift spoke out about her lack of approval of the deal, Ithaca Holdings sold those rights to American private equity firm Shamrock Capital for about US$300 million in 2020. That prompted Swift to announce that she would re-record her earlier work – the source of the now-ubiquitous 'Taylor's Version' albums – in an effort to undercut the originals' popularity and value. In a letter on her website on May 30, the singer said she now controls all of her work, including photography, album art, videos and unreleased songs. Her recordings are among the most valuable assets in the music business. 'I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artistes and fans,' she wrote. 'Every time a new artiste tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.' 'We are thrilled with this outcome and so happy for Taylor,' Shamrock posted on its Linkedin page. 'I am happy for her,' Braun said in a separate statement. At a time when many artistes don't own the masters of their work and can't fully leverage their recordings, Swift is one of the rare few who stands to gain from the ongoing popularity of her chart-topping hits. In addition to the first six albums, she owns the the master recordings of five new albums made since 2018 and four re-recorded albums. The bulk of Swift's fortune comes from the value of her catalogue, and profits from ticket sales and merchandise. Bloomberg estimated in October 2023 that the latter was worth US$370 million, and that was before she completed the Eras Tour. Touring is especially profitable for musicians since their cut of gross ticket sales is much higher than from streams or album sales, and they also receive revenue from merchandise sales. During the 21 months of the Eras Tour, Swift sold more than US$2 billion worth of tickets, and roughly 10 million people attended her shows. She also received an estimated US$130 million before taxes from the concert film she executive produced, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2024). BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
'You belong with me'
Pop sensation Taylor Swift, who was locked in a feud with record executives since 2019 over ownership of her music, has bought back the rights to her entire back catalogue, she said Friday, as per AFP. "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me," she wrote on her website, after years of disputes over her first six albums, a number of which she rerecorded to create copies she owns herself. "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," she wrote in the letter to her devoted followers. "To my fans, you know how important this has been to me – so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them 'Taylor's Version'." Those records included the award-winning Reputation and Taylor Swift. Swift bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital, an LA investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. The re-recording power move came in the wake of public sparring with industry mogul Scooter Braun, her one-time manager whose company had purchased her previous label and gained a majority stake in her early work. He later sold Swift's master rights to the private equity company. 'This fight' The situation left Swift publicly incensed: "I just feel that artists should own their work," she said in 2019. "She's a vocal advocate for artists' rights," Ralph Jaccodine, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, told AFP previously. "She's built her own brand." Before her public efforts to regain control of her work, Prince, George Michael, Jay-Z and Kanye West all also fought for control of their masters – one-of-a-kind source material that dictate how songs are reproduced and sold – but none had gone so far as to re-record them completely. The queen of pop, whose recent nearly two-year-long, $2 billion Eras tour shattered records, said that she was "heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry." Swift's lucrative tour which wrapped last year was a showbusiness sensation, and will have helped offset the costs of buying back her catalog. The 149 shows across the world typically clocked in at more than three hours long each. Tour tickets sold for sometimes exorbitant prices and drew in millions of fans, along with many more who didn't get in and were willing to simply sing along from the parking lot. "Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all this to happen," Swift said in her letter. Swifties react Fans across social media dubbed the end of the battle "Swiftie Independence Day", expressing pride and joy for their favourite artist to finally triumph in this long struggle. From quoting nostalgic lyrics to comparing Swift's new letter to the one she wrote in the beginning of the legal battle, fans on social media have been overjoyed at the news. "As an artist, this must be the best feeling. Owning what you created and having control over it must be a great feeling. You go girl, this is marvelous," a user wrote on Instagram. Some netizens, however, reflected on the bittersweet nature of Swift having to fight to earn what she had made. "She deserves to own the rights to her own work. It's wild that she had to become a billionaire and have a record-breaking world tour of intense, hard work across multiple time zones for hours, night after night, just to be able to buy the rights to her own work. I hate it here," a user fumed. A 2019 tweet from Kelly Clarkson also resurfaced on X. "Just a thought, you should go in and re-record all the songs that you don't own," Clarkson wrote to Swift back then, now having the appreciation of Swifties for thinking ahead. "I'd buy all the new versions just to prove a point." The news of Swift's purchase comes after Reputation's lead single Look What You Made Me Do featured in an episode of The Handmaid's Tale, adding fuel to Swifties' anticipation of Reputation (Taylor's Version). Now, following this new development and reports that Reputation has returned to No 1 on US iTunes, fans feel that the moment couldn't be any more poetic. "This is Reputation (Taylor's Version)," an Instagram user emphasised. "She literally worked hard to get it all back. I love this!" The pop-star addressed the matter of Reputation (Taylor's Version) in her letter. "Full transparency, I haven't even recorded a quarter of it," she admitted. "To be perfectly honest, it's the one album in these first six that I thought couldn't be improved upon by redoing it." Swift promised that she will eventually release the vault tracks for the album, adding that on the other hand, she has re-recorded her debut album. "These two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right," she said. "But if it happens, it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now."
