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Douglas McLennan's blog

Douglas McLennan

I’m the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which was founded in September 1999 and aggregates arts and culture news from all over the internet. The site is also home to some 60 arts bloggers. I’m a journalist and critic, and a frequent keynoter and writer about arts and culture and technology.

Prior to starting ArtsJournal I was an arts columnist and music critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I have a Master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School in New York, and for a while was a concert pianist. I have performed in Asia, Europe and North America and lived and worked in Italy and in China, where I spent a year as artist-in-residence at the Central Conservatory in Beijing.

I have written on the arts for numerous publications, including as music critic in the early days of Salon.com, and for Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the London Evening Standard and a contributor to the new edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians. I have won several awards for arts criticism and reporting, including a National Arts Journalism Program Fellowship at Columbia University and a Deems Taylor/ASCAP Award for music journalism. I was named one of 100 Outstanding Graduates of the Juilliard School for the school’s centennial. In the spring of 2011 I was on jury duty: for the Pulitzers in the category of criticism; and as press jury chairman for the Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 2011/12 I was a visiting professor at Claremont Graduate University in the MBA arts management program. I also worked on arts journalism programs at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. I was a member of the producing team for the Spring For Music orchestra festival at Carnegie Hall, and ran digital programs, audience engagement and strategy at the Ojai Music Festival.  I consult with a number of arts organizations about changes in culture and technology and audience engagement.

Here is an example of a recent keynote I did for Opera America (delivered virtually because of the lockdown)

You can contact me at mclennan@artsjournal.com
Follow me on Twitter: @AJDoug

Douglas McLennan

I’m the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which was founded in September 1999 and aggregates arts and culture news from all over the internet. The site is also home to some 60 arts bloggers. I’m a … [Read More...]

About diacritical

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]

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Recent Comments

  • Alan Harrison on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “There is no pushback that would make sense. “Cheating” is, of course, a relative term — it means different things…” Jun 29, 18:48
  • Tom Corddry on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “The emergence of new tools doesn’t make previous tools illegal to use for artistic creation, though new tools may radically…” Jun 29, 15:30
  • David E. Myers on How Should we Measure Art?: “A sophisticated approach to “measuring” incorporates all of the above, with clear delineation of how each plays a part if…” Nov 3, 16:20
  • Tom Corddry on How Should we Measure Art?: “Reading this brought to mind John Cage’s delineation of different ways to experience a Beethoven symphony–live in concert, on a…” Nov 3, 01:58
  • Abdul Rehman on A Framework for Thinking about Disruption of the Arts by AI: “This article brilliantly explores how AI is set to revolutionize everything, much like the digital revolution did. AI tools can…” Jun 8, 03:49
  • Richard Voorhaar on Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part): “I think we’ve lost several generations. My parents generation was the last that really supported, and knre something about classical…” May 15, 12:08
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Language, yes; really characterization. Investments and margins don’t become subsidies and taxes whether or not markets “are working” – I’m…” Mar 8, 07:13
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “So what you’re arguing is language? – that investments aren’t subsidies and margins aren’t taxes? Sure, when markets are working.…” Mar 7, 21:42
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Doug: You can, if you like, buy a jailbroken Android, install GrapheneOS, and sideload apps from the open-source ecosystem at…” Mar 7, 16:17
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Franklin: Thanks for the response, But a few points: My Chinese solar panel example was to make the point that…” Mar 7, 12:46

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Recent Posts

  • Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating? June 29, 2025
  • Creativity Versus Skills January 12, 2025
  • How Digital AI Twins could Transform how We Make Art January 7, 2025
  • How Should we Measure Art? November 3, 2024
  • Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part) May 13, 2024
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An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?
  • Creativity Versus Skills
  • How Digital AI Twins could Transform how We Make Art
  • How Should we Measure Art?
  • Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part)

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