I was at the Chamber Music America conference this weekend, and took a turn around the exhibitor section after one of the sessions. For those of you who have never been to a conference, artist management companies set up booths, lay out artist flyers, and sell their clients to the presenters who walk by. I realize this sounds a bit like some kind of Orientalist Indiana Jones market sequence, and that's not entirely inaccurate. Watching bookers and managers really sell their artists is a pleasant reminder that, all evidence to the contrary, … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2010
Attention!
The critic side of me wonders if I'm part of the problem or the solution here--probably a little of both. But since I started off as a musician, and still try to keep at least a couple of toes in that pond, my starting point is the same as Jonathan's: classical music in performance is special in and of itself.The marketing worry, of course, is that one runs out of ways to say that. But I sometimes think that presenters and marketers underestimate the power of using institutional clout to simply assert specialness. The Boston Symphony Orchestra … [Read more...]
Wait, which side is “special” on?
I'm going to admit something while I'm laying on this pillowy expanse of interweb and not having to look in the eye any of my esteemed colleagues from all corners of the music world: I myself have argued both sides of every state-of-the-industry debate I can think of, at one time or another, and I suspect that many others have done the same. For me, the need to do this arises from how quickly I find myself zooming in and out while looking at "the picture" in front of me-- -pondering one moment the effectiveness of a single piece on a … [Read more...]
Isn’t That Special
Hi all...blogging virgin here...it is, yes, my maiden voyage. I am told to keep it frank, conversational, and informal. (Having just re-read my opening sentence, it appears that I should not have too much trouble with that directive.)Amanda, in two paragraphs, has already touched on a number of my favorite topics about which to kvetch, so let me touch on a few of them before I get to her central question of "who's responsible for making the artist special anyway!" How presenters and artistic directors make choices about who and … [Read more...]
It’s the music, stupid
First off, I'd like to thank Amanda (and ArtsJournal) for providing this forum for discussion of a question I think is really, really important, and for (inadvertently?) starting the discussion with this post. Because I'd been interested in "the special problem" for a while (and because I was involved in one of the concerts that inspired the post), I emailed Amanda in response to what she'd written. I'm sort of unspecial, myself, but I have heard some version or another of the phrase "a great performance of a great piece is not … [Read more...]
And what makes you so special?
This is an exciting week on Life's a Pitch. We're hosting a virtual panel on when and how artists, managers, journalists, presenters and publicists single out musicians for being "special" in their promotion and career-building efforts. I'll be joined by a musician, pianist Jonathan Biss; a manager, James Egelhofer at IMG Artists; a critic, Matthew Guerrieri, who blogs at Soho the Dog and writes for the Boston Globe; and a presenter, Michael Kondziolka at University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And in case you really haven't been … [Read more...]
The day the ratings didn’t die
It's 7am here in the City of Angels, and I am enjoying that famous LA sunrise. You know, that one that nips over the parking garages, picking up the glittering reds of the car brake lights and the saturated grays of the smog as it rises only to bow in servitude to the neon studio signs? I'm here because our girl Hilary is the musical guest on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien tonight, and in a couple hours I'm off to play Rock Band 2 in the green room (our schedule says it's there) and ask Rob Lowe why Sam left The West Wing.The Tonight Show … [Read more...]
Any Kit Will Do
From our friends at a management agency, may we present The Worst Possible E mail:From: JournalistSent: Friday, January 08, 2010 5:35 PMTo: Artist AssistantSubject: Press KitPlease send a press kit. Thank you.[Auto Signature]Kindly note the lack of deadline, the lack of reason for the request, and--oh wait!--the lack of artist name. Happy Monday! … [Read more...]
2009 Pitchy Nominees, even though it’s 2010
Sorry, team: I've been a bad, bad blogger. This, this and this are to blame, but if I didn't have a day (" ") job, I wouldn't have anything to blog about. Life's a Pitch would be exclusively devoted to the last season of Lost and my ill-fated attempts at hot yoga, and no one needs that. I still want you to vote for the Best of PR and Marketing/Classical Music edition in 2009! It's not too late; you loved 2009!Alright, so the nominees are... Best Publicity MoveJoyce DiDonato literally breaks a leg.Gustavo Dudamel...I don't know, gets … [Read more...]
Location x 3
Some day my fancy apartment slash home office near Lincoln Center will come. But for the time being, I'm forced to find quiet yet cool, central yet uncrowded interview locations for my clients. This is fairly easy during the day, but gets a bit more complicated around happy hour. I thought other publicists (and journalists) might have this problem, so if we start a list here, I'll ask Doug to add it as a sidebar on the blog. I'll begin:Cafe Lalo201 West 83rd StreetNew York, NY 10024(212) 496-6031http://www.cafelalo.com/ Pros: Upper West Side, … [Read more...]
Bach to Reality
Life's a Pitch devotees (hey, Aliza) may recall the 2008 Arnold Schoenberg birthday festivities, during which Hilary answered questions about that Chopsticks-easy violin concerto he wrote. I actually just ran through it this morning. Cake. On Monday, January 11, Hilary will take your questions about J.S. Bach to celebrate the release of her new album, Bach: Violin and Voice. Joining her on the album are baritone Matthias Goerne, soprano Christine Schäfer, conductor Alexander Liebreich and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, with whom our girl will … [Read more...]