The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has acquired the complete archives of Lou Reed .
The library and Reed's wife, musician Laurie Anderson, made the announcement Thursday, on what would have been his 75th birthday. The Lou Reed Archive features paper and electronic records, photos, and about 3,600 audio and 1,300 video recordings.
"What better place to have this than in the heart of the city he loved the best?" said Anderson.
Reed, an aspiring poet, rose to prominence after Andy Warhol encountered The Velvet Underground, the experimental rock band he formed in 1964. Warhol produced the band's first studio album and invited it to perform as part of his recurring multimedia event, The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.
After leaving The Velvet Underground in 1970, Reed enjoyed success as a solo artist, releasing nearly 30 albums and publishing several volumes of poetry and photography, according to the library.
"He paved the way for the punk and glam rock of the '70s, inspired the use of noise and experimental techniques in pop music, and later explored ambient sound and music for meditation," it said in a statement.
The library will host free displays and public programs over the next two weeks to celebrate and showcase Reed's life and work, and his collection's new home.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More