{"id":563,"date":"2011-10-19T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=563"},"modified":"2011-10-19T11:00:59","modified_gmt":"2011-10-19T15:00:59","slug":"jazz-audience-initiative-study-posted-webinar-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/10\/jazz-audience-initiative-study-posted-webinar-set.html","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Audience Initiative study posted, webinar set"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Jazz Audience Initiative, a 21-month research project of Columbus, Ohio&#8217;s Jazz Arts Group, has posted its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jazzartsgroup.org\/jai\/jazz-audience-initiative-update\/\">final reports<\/a> and scheduled a webinar for October 21 (free registration <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.gotomeeting.com\/register\/385445662 \">available<\/a>) to discuss them. Among the main points:<\/p>\n<ul><div id=\"attachment_564\" style=\"width: 297px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Byron-Stripling.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Byron-Stripling.jpeg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Byron Stripling leads the Columbus Jazz Arts Group Orchestra; what can draw new audiences to listen?\" width=\"287\" height=\"176\" class=\"size-full wp-image-564\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Byron Stripling leads the Columbus Jazz Arts Group Orchestra; what can draw new audiences to listen?<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<li>Musical tastes are socially transmitted.<\/li>\n<li>Jazz has relatively diverse audiences.<\/li>\n<li>People pay to hear specific artists.<\/li>\n<li>Local programming shapes local preferences.<\/li>\n<li>Young listeners are eclectic.<\/li>\n<li>Many paths lead to jazz.<\/li>\n<li>Jazz listeners like informal settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The JAI study, funded largely by a $200,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, intended to &#8220;learn new ways for engaging audiences, and infusing the art form with new energy.&#8221; It was run by the consulting firm WolfBrown, and tapped data collected from &#8220;research partners&#8221; Jazz at Lincoln, SFJazz, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz St. Louis, Scullers Jazz Club (Boston) and a consortium of university presenters.<\/p>\n<p>I attended a roll-out of these findings in Columbus last August, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/08\/jazz-audience-surveyed-segmented.html\">blogged about it<\/a>. Jaded as I am about studies of jazz that are born of institution&#8217;s ways of doing things when jazz is a rather unruly and anti-institutional art form, I respond to most of the study&#8217;s determinations with, &#8220;Yeah, we knew that.&#8221; No conclusion will be striking to anyone who has presented jazz with any success (which means being able to sustain such activities) over the past 40 years or so. It&#8217;s nice to have the collected data, which can be parsed in many different ways, but hard to imagine that as boiled down into an overview the major conclusions will indeed &#8220;infuse the art form with new energy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What would infuse jazz with new energy? For that matter, is energy what&#8217;s needed? Jazz (however defined) has energy aplenty now &#8212; as demonstrated by such evidence as the 175 jazz degree programs featured in the November education issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.downbeat.com\/default.asp?sect=magazine\">Down Beat<\/a>. This is not bad, compared to some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.univsource.com\/music.htm\">470 degree-bearing music programs<\/a> in the U.S. overall. Kids (or their parents) are spending thousands of dollars annually to learn jazz (assuming that jazz can be learned in school). My recent visits to the buzzing Berklee College of Music campus in Boston and Wesleyan University&#8217;s music program, as well as frequent peeps at the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program are proof positive.<\/p>\n<p>What troubles jazz is not low energy, but that its income streams are mere trickles and the costs of producing jazz, while modest relative to costs of other performing arts productions, are higher than what it brings in. A presentation at the JAI&#8217;s August convening by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chamber-music.org\/\">Chamber Music America<\/a> president Margaret Lioi noted that jazz clubs &#8212; those informal settings jazz lovers prefer &#8212; are beset by increasingly high rents. A study on how jazz musicians make their money is currently under way, thanks to the <a href=\"http:\/\/futureofmusic.org\/\">Future of Music Coalition<\/a>, and a couple samples of the detailed questionaires that I&#8217;ve seen demonstrate that musicians scuffle for a living by addressing many different sources of funds simultaneously. None of this points to a lack of energy in jazz, unless &#8220;energy&#8221; = $.<\/p>\n<p>Jazz musicians and related industries could use more money, no doubt about that, and some more respect from the broader culture, too. The bucks aren&#8217;t going to come from a consumer market that&#8217;s dominated by more popular forms, or the world of grants and philanthropy that subsidizes Western European classical music heavily, primarily through privileged institutions (there&#8217;s that word again).<\/p>\n<p>Consider the JAI&#8217;s findings for what might help to raise jazz boats. The three that stand out to me are &#8220;local programming influences local preferences,&#8221; &#8220;many roads lead to jazz&#8221; and &#8220;young audiences are eclectic.&#8221; Together, they suggest that if young people are exposed on a local level to jazz &#8212; or jazz-like musics &#8212; they&#8217;ll arrive at jazz without negative prejudice. But where are young people exposed? In high school bands? Is that why jazz education has flourished?<\/p>\n<p>The decline over a couple of decades of jazz on the radio has been a wound, but there is fine jazz radio still, with stations and programs on the web available to anyone with an uplink, and Sirius-XM for cars. Anyone &#8212; including eclectic youth &#8212; can find jazz for themselves for free by logging into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pandora.com\">Pandora<\/a> and inputting a couple names (Miles Davis is a good one to start with, since so many stylists contemporary and historic are linked through his several artistic phases; add a good singer to get vocals). Jazz festivals, especially those with low entry fees held in municipalities where diverse audiences can easily attend, expose people of every sort to jazz in marvelously informal settings.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the problems faced by jazz presenting institutions are self-inflicted. Among those are a disregard for how media to promote information of upcoming concerts and ongoing programs has changed. That issue is not taken up in the Jazz Audience Initiative study, but ought to be a focus of another project sometime, because media, as always and by definition, carries messages, and to get energy (aka buzz?) up, a presenter better figure out what media the desired audience is involved with and how that audience expects to be addressed.<\/p>\n<p>Until that happens, jazz will be heard by people who find out about it from friends, neighbors, kinfolk and schoolteachers; they&#8217;ll pay most attention to what&#8217;s immediately around them; they&#8217;ll go places where they are socially comfortable to listen, hang out and interact. That&#8217;s been the pattern since jazz was born, which the basic findings of the Jazz Audience Initiative haven&#8217;t unearthed but rather reaffirm.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\/\" target=\"blank\">howardmandel.com<\/a> <br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1102712&amp;loc=en_US\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe by Email <\/a>  |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe by  RSS<\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\" target=\"_blank\">Follow on Twitter <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/archives.html\" target=\"_blank\"> All JBJ posts <\/a> | <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jazz Audience Initiative, a 21-month research project of Columbus, Ohio&#8217;s Jazz Arts Group, has posted its final reports and scheduled a webinar for October 21 (free registration available) to discuss them. Among the main points: Musical tastes are socially transmitted. Jazz has relatively diverse audiences. People pay to hear specific artists. Local programming shapes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Byron-Stripling.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-95","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":484,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/08\/jazz-audience-surveyed-segmented.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":0},"title":"Jazz audience surveyed, segmented","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The jazz audience can be described by its parts: hip, participatory young artist\/musicians, less experienced and cost-conscious but willing social butterflies, mid-aged and older cultural omnivores\u00c2\u00a0and dull-but-desirable comfort seekers,\u00c2\u00a0according to a\u00c2\u00a0segmentation study\u00c2\u00a0sponsored by the\u00c2\u00a0Jazz Audience Initiative. Some of this has\u00c2\u00a0been\u00c2\u00a0reported by NPR's A Blog Supreme as \"Actually Useful Information About\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Slide142.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Slide142.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Slide142.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Slide142.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":734,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/01\/arts-presenters-jazzers-journalists-included-kick-of-12-in-nyc.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":1},"title":"Arts presenters &#8211; jazzers, journalists included &#8211; kick of &#8217;12 in NYC","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The New Year starts bang! with performing arts presenters, artists and the journalists who cover them convening -- \u00c2\u00a0GlobalFest\u00c2\u00a0world music and \u00c2\u00a0Winter Jazzfest\u00c2\u00a0musicians' showcases -- the\u00c2\u00a0NEA Jazz Masters\u00c2\u00a0f\u00c3\u00aate\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0and shortly thereafter the\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Chamber Music America conference,\u00c2\u00a0all in NYC. As pres of the Jazz Journalists Association, I'm happy to announce a four-session mini-conference\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/jja-pen-nib-logo2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":521,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/08\/call-for-tweets-hashtag-jazzlives-from-labor-day-jazz-fests.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":2},"title":"Call for Tweets! hashtag #jazzlives from Labor Day jazz fests","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The #jazzlives Twitter hashtag campaign broadcasts on WHO was heard live-in-person and WHERE throughout the fast-growing social mediaverse. Over Labor Day weekend, with some two dozen jazz fests and parties throughout the States and neighbors, the audience for live jazz can use hashtag as a free and easy way to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/toucan.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/08\/mr_teachout_gets_the_word.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":3},"title":"Mr. Teachout gets the word: Jazz&#8217;s Swing Era popularity past","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Biographer of H L. Mencken and (coming soon) Louis Armstrong, ArtsJournal blogger and scribe for the Wall Street Journal Terry Teachout has raised a fuss\u00c2\u00a0by pointing to the National Endowment for the Arts'\u00c2\u00a0study citing declines in jazz audiences from 2002 to 2008 (and indeed from 1982 to 2008). That this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1191,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/01\/neas-jazz-masters-live-program-gets-farther-still-farther-to-get.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":4},"title":"NEA&#8217;s Jazz Masters Live program gets farther, still farther to get","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment for the Arts is not in its essence a presenting organization. Its annual productions of ceremonies inducting new Jazz Masters, like the one at Dizzy's Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 14, \u00c2\u00a0are special projects, probably stretching the Endowment's resources of staff, finances, time and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"images","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/images.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":502,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/08\/labor-day-jazz-how-many-listening.html","url_meta":{"origin":563,"position":5},"title":"Labor Day Jazz &#038; Blues fests coast-to-coast; how many listening?","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jazz and blues festivals occur in America coast-to-coast over Labor Day weekend -- how many listeners will the music engage? Capacities vary: free multi-day fests in\u00c2\u00a0Chicago\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Detroit\u00c2\u00a0attract tens of thousands each, and the free Memphis Music & Heritage Festival;\u00c2\u00a0River Front Jazz Fest\u00c2\u00a0in Stevens Point,\u00c2\u00a0Wisconsin;\u00c2\u00a0Franklin Jazz Festival\u00c2\u00a0outside Nashville, Tennessee; \u00c2\u00a0Big Muddy Blues\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/jazzfest-crowd.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}