The instant ‘season sampler’

In an effort to engage their loyal (and potentially loyal) audiences for an upcoming subscription push, many arts organizations have attempted a ‘season sampler’…a CD full of selections from the music or shows to come, occasionally with an audio track or two from the artistic director, talking about why it will be their ‘best season yet.’

The problem with the season sampler is the cost and effort…finding or recording the tracks, securing the rights, burning a master CD, duplicating a relatively short run, and mailing the discs out to the world can cost from $2 to $5 per unit.

Nowadays, with the proliferation of on-line audio stores and systems like Apple’s iTunes, the ‘season sampler’ can be a completely virtual experience for you and your audience, perhaps costing only a little bit of time.

Here’s an example: let’s say your performing arts center’s upcoming season features the Canadian Brass, some pianist playing the Philip Glass Etudes, and the local quasi-professional choir doing Fauré’s Requiem (okay, an odd season, but I’m making this up on the spot). All this music is already on the web in several places, ready to be sampled and even purchased by your audience. All you have to provide are the links.

Enter Apple iTunes, the audio jukebox software and integrated music store available for free download. A bunch of folks — on Macs and Windows machines — use the program as a stand-alone music player. Some have an iPod to synchronize and carry their music with them. To craft a season sampler for my iTunes-enabled audience, I just jump to the iTunes Music Store Link Maker, and my sampler is all but done (you need iTunes installed for these links to work):

Canadian Brass: Canzon XIV


Philip Glass: Etude No. 1


Fauré Requiem, Pie Jesu

If I wanted to get really fancy, I’d create an iTunes iMix for the whole season that I could blast out in an e-mail message. Interested individuals could sample a few seconds, purchase what they like, and carry around my upcoming season on their iPods, preparing for the live experience to come.

The few drawbacks of this system are that the song or piece has to be in the iTunes library already (so you may have to settle for a less-favorite rendition), and the audience member has to have iTunes installed (it’s free, but it’s still an effort for the software-impaired). But the staff time required is minimal, and the result could be an interesting addition to your web site or e-mail newsletter.

Still need an audio track from your artistic director? Hook him/her up with a telephone and an account on Audioblog, where he/she can record and post recorded commentary for about $5 a month.

Every week it seems, there are intriguing new ways to connect people with cultural content on-line. This iTunes season sampler is just one tiny example of using these technologies to promote and advance the live creative experience.