Recently, an orchestra manager told me that his orchestra was going to be "the most innovative orchestra in the world." I asked what he was doing that was so innovative, and he rattled off a list of initiatives - performing out in the community in unusual spaces, partnering with other artists and arts organizations on projects the orchestra had never considered, expanding repertoire to include … [Read more...]
Archives for 2015
The Mass Market Ain’t What It Used To Be (And What That Means For The Arts)
What does it mean to "engage with an audience"? It's a fundamental question for anyone who makes anything. Whether it's a political party trying to win votes, Coke trying to sell drinks, an entrepreneur trying to sell an idea, or a theatre trying to sell tickets. Whole industries thrive on trying to define, quantify and strategize engagement and building audience. It breaks down into three … [Read more...]
Why Is My Hotel Following Me? (Ah, It’s Big Data)
The hotel I stayed at in San Diego last month has been following me around for weeks. Seriously, it’s getting annoying - a one-night-stand that refuses to recede gracefully into memory. Everywhere I go on the web, it’s there waiting for me, promising me a “great location in the center of town” even though my stay has long passed. That hi-tech workout clothing I ordered online last week? (very … [Read more...]
Too Many Artists Or Not Enough Value?
Scott Timberg's book Culture Crash makes a case that the transformation of our culture right now is killing artists' ability to make a living making art. He cites a number of reasons, but in the end it boils down to the fact that with so much free culture/art available, people are increasingly unwilling to pay for the art they use, thus making it economically unviable for artists to make their … [Read more...]
Culture-crashing – Is The Internet Killing Our Creative Class?
Scott Timberg, an arts journalist and author of the CultureCrash blog on ArtsJournal, has a new book out called... Culture Crash. It's Scott's attempt to look at how the digital revolution has impacted artists. The tagline of the book - "The Killing of the Creative Class" - gives you an idea of what he thinks has happened. His premise is that artists are having a more and more difficult time … [Read more...]