If you're a follower of ArtsJournal blogs, you'll notice that this blog doesn't look the same as any of the others. That's because I'm in the midst of redesigning all of AJ, starting with the blogs, and using my own as a beta test. It's not just the look that's different (and that look will continue to evolve over the next few weeks, as I work on it). I'm rebuilding the backend of AJ as well. … [Read more...]
Professional sports has more money than God, and they spend more to attract and entertain fans than anyone else. So how does the NFL sell itself? Not by touting the quality of its games. They sell the contest. They sell the experience.And they have to work to keep making the experience better. How many perfectly functional stadiums were discarded in the 1990s/00's to be replaced by facilities with … [Read more...]
Is the future of live classical music recitals to turn them into a multimedia experience that is somehow more "familiar" to a generation raised on video screens. Here's a report from Lang Lang's concert in London over the weekend:He is not the first classical pianist to give a solo Albert Hall recital but few of his predecessors brought along in-your-face amplification and multiple screens … [Read more...]
How do you make a living as an artist? In the old mass-culture model you needed a distribution and marketing engine that could fire up on your behalf to reach as many people as possible. Sell a million albums and if your take after the record company, agents and managers get their share is a buck or two, you're doing pretty well. In the new economy, how many fans do you need to make a living? If … [Read more...]
The NYT's Charles Isherwood writes about what he calls the "odd-man-out" syndrome: This can roughly be described as the experience of attending an event at which much of the audience appears to be having a rollicking good time, while you sit in stony silence, either bored to stupefaction or itchy with irritation, miserably replaying the confluence of life circumstances that have brought you here. … [Read more...]
Nick Carr has a great post about the course of technology development. Progress doesn't always go the way we think it ought to (even if we're right).Progress may, for a time, intersect with one's own personal ideology, and during that period one will become a gung-ho technological progressivist. But that's just coincidence. In the end, progress doesn't care about ideology. Those who think of … [Read more...]
Our culture is undergoing profound changes. Our expectations for what culture can (or should) do for us are changing. Relationships between those who make and distribute culture and those who consume it are changing. And our definitions of what artists are, how they work, and how we access them and their work are changing. So... [Read more]
an ArtsJournal blog
Recent Comments
Helen Lessick on What if an Arts Organization was a MOOC?
Late to the discussion, but just caught this post, Doug. Digital public art collections are a MOOC and Municipal funding...Katie Haydon on What if an Arts Organization was a MOOC?
Fantastic, innovative, out-of-the-box, revolutionary idea, Doug. We are in!Fine Art on How Do You Promote Arts Blogs? (A Competition And A Rationale)
"So will Spring For Music find “America’s Best Arts Blogger” from this exercise? Of course not. " -- I totally agree...Lisa Hirsch on How Do You Promote Arts Blogs? (A Competition And A Rationale)
Thanks for the thoughtful comments! I have a response of my own posted. Both Elaine Fine (Musical Assumptions) and Zerbinetta (Likely...Patrick Vaz on How Do You Promote Arts Blogs? (A Competition And A Rationale)
Thanks for the interesting explanation of the reasoning behind the contest, and thanks for linking to me. One correction, however:...Mark Gerth on The Party of Can't And Won't (So Let's Change The Conversation)
And before we get to far off into the weeds targeting "the party of can't and won't". It was in...Katrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can't And Won't (So Let's Change The Conversation)
Got 'em all done-even the candidates for office. KSAKatrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can't And Won't (So Let's Change The Conversation)
And here is my first letter: January 12, 2012 Dear Congressman Murphy, I hope all is well with you, congratulations to...Katrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can't And Won't (So Let's Change The Conversation)
Great idea- I'm going to contact my legislators and ask them what cultural institutions they have visited in the past...Margy Waller on The Party of Can't And Won't (So Let's Change The Conversation)
Starting a New Conversation to Build Broad, Shared Support for the Arts - The Ripple Effects Report Doug is right! We...