Brian d’Arcy James, Broadway actor and currently starring on NBC’s “Smash,” says that acting in his high school’s musicals was an integral part of his evolution into the person he is today. Thanks to the “Make a Musical” initiative and shows like “Glee,” more and more students today decide to join the musical and performing arts as well.

Long a backwater in the film industry, faith-based films and films with overtly Christian themes are gaining in popularity. With the money rolling in, Hollywood is beginning to see the light.

The growth of the Indian-American population in the U.S. is fueling an increase in popularity of Carnatic music, a classical Indian form of music, based on melodic scales and rhythms.

Some TV junkies are opting to postpone watching their favorite shows, or recommended ones, for months at a time. One result is epic television marathons — like 53 hours of streaming in four days — that give viewers desirable instant gratification, but challenge the sustainability of the shows they love.

When Steuben, the greatest name in American glass, closed its doors this past winter, followers of this niche market saw it as a seminal moment for the industry. Perhaps the art glass market — traditionally the wealthy, and the older — already had everything they wanted. And yet, to the surprise of many, sales for these delicate art pieces are beginning to tick up.

Young fashion designers seeking to launch their own labels and break into the industry are finding that sites like LOOKK.com, UsTrendy.com and NotJustaLabel.com help them directly connect with buyers, stylists and even customers. So what does that mean for the traditional model?

In the past few years, male strippers have struggled to find work, and most have a second job in order to earn a decent living. As the demand for their talent decreases, male strippers earn less money, finding fewer tips in their G-string—and some say the quality of the dance is sacrificed.

For decades now, exhibition openings and free booze have existed symbiotically, with grog a key constituent in this high-profile arena of cultural commerce. More recently though, the unthinkable has become reality: As a pinched art market has thinned takings, some of New York’s most respectable galleries have sought to curtail this expensive orthodoxy, a decision fraught with potential pitfalls.

Polaroid stopped producing its instant film four years ago, yet its mystique endures and a small, enthusiastic and often deep-pocketed niche has created a new and sometimes expensive market for instant film.

With small digital devices capable of holding tens of thousands of songs, we are carrying virtual music libraries in our pockets and bags. But with so many songs and so little time, how much of our collections do we actually listen to?