The festivities have begun already. Thanks to Randy, Larry and the rest of the Schoenbergs of LA, we have (exclusive) photos from past Schoenberg family birthday parties to kick things off: Remember to visit www.youtube/hilaryhahnvideos on Schoenberg's birthday - Saturday, September 13th - to see and hear all your burning questions about the Schoenberg Violin Concerto answered by Hilary Hahn. … [Read more...]

I am all-for copying good marketing ideas: if something works in another industry or for another company, apply it to your own and see how it goes. But there's copying a concept - if a talking duck can sell insurance, why can't a talking gecko? - and then there's...stealing, which is frankly just too comical to be effective. A few things I've noticed around town in the past week:1. This suit company on 32 and Broadway, whose ads look...exactly...like iPod ads and commercials. 2. The new Verizon FIOS TV commercials with the cool ("  ") … [Read more...]

I am in Las Vegas this weekend, and thought I could collect all sorts of good ideas to report from the marketing capital of the country. Unfortunately, the take-home messages have been as expected: sell via lots of skin and sparkling lights - which I totally do already - so nothing gained there. I did notice that various smells were being pumped into the streets outside the casinos: bakery smells outside the Paris, orchid smells outside the Mirage, so on, so forth. Forget music, Carnegie Hall - pump croissant scent onto 57th street and the … [Read more...]

In celebration of Arnold Schoenberg's birthday on Saturday, September 13th, and with the help of the estimable HappyCorp, we're launching a custom-designed YouTube channel for Hilary that will include new video content she will create in response to fan questions about her most recent album - the violin concertos of Schoenberg and Sibelius - as well as a collection of past performance and related videos.We're not entirely sure how this is going to work out, but she's ready to film answers to your questions, so send them our way! I even set up … [Read more...]

Sometimes, I'm ashamed of my race. I've heard tales of publicists pitching writers about an artist who the writer had literally covered the month before, publicists sending out mass e mails to any writer they can find on a publication's website (one classical journalist told me she was contacted about a local football game), and publicists asking journalists if they had ever written about the artist he/she was pitching. I mean, if you don't have your own artist's press kit in front of you, let's do some brisk Googling; let's not go ahead and … [Read more...]

I like this free tickets to the dress rehearsals of fancy things trend. And this one comes with a coupon! Who doesn't like a coupon. Wednesday, September 17th in New York City:9:45 AM: FREE Dress Rehearsal Join us as Music Director Lorin Maazel, Sir James Galway and the Philharmonic rehearse the evening's concert, a program featuring Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, Ibert's Flute Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Free general admission tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 8:00 a.m. that … [Read more...]

Not to be outdone by the The Metropolitan Opera, it seems the Carnegie Hall ticket website is down. Single tickets went on sale at 11 am this morning, so I assume the demand crashed their servers? I called "Carnegie Charge" to see what was up [What's got two thumbs and is a hard-hitting journalist? THIS GUY.], but obviously the line has been busy all morning. While I'm genuinely thrilled that the public-at-large is clamoring for tickets to Carnegie Hall, one wonders why they couldn't, what's the saying, "Make it work"?As my friend and client … [Read more...]

New York, NY - Our special, special industry has made it onto Stuff White People Like. I'm like a proud mama bear. If a white person starts talking to you about classical music, it's essential that you tread very lightly.  This is because white people are all petrified that they will be exposed as someone who has only a moderate understanding of classical music...Therefore it is essential that even if you possess a massive amount of knowledge about classical music, do not share it with a white person regardless of how much they profess to … [Read more...]

In 1937, the year often considered the worst of The Great Depression, a musical called Pins and Needles combined a series of unrelated sketches in an upbeat revue centered on labor issues.  The sketches were the brainchildren of a number of authors, but the majority were written by Harold Rome, who also composed the music for the show. Pins and Needles was produced by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) as a part of their  social education program to create a better-rounded working environment for union members; it … [Read more...]

I get excited whenever someone comments on this blog. People are engaged and want to brainstorm about marketing the arts, three cheers! One scary guy did comment on the Contact field and e-yelled at me, saying I should find a shrink and/or a husband to burden with my problems rather than airing them in a public forum, but other than that, all of the comments have been constructive and interesting, I think. [Naturally that one comment led me to a sitcom-esque fantasy sequence flash in which I see a normal shrink every week and say things … [Read more...]

In what seems to be the theme of the week here on Life's a Pitch, I'd like to give my own glowing review of Vivien Schweitzer's review of the Emerson String Quartet. I actually worked on the ESQ concert at Joe's Pub, so throw that layer on the fire, too. First, word up to The New York Times for approving the double review of a concert at Joe's Pub and a concert at Lincoln Center the following evening. What better opportunity to explore the similarities and differences in both the concert-going and performance experiences than reviewing two … [Read more...]

I think an important moment in the industry happened at my "day" job today: we got rid of the New Media section of a marketing report, and instead moved topics like e-cards, banner ads and blogs into the community outreach, advertising and press sections. I got kind of emotional about the whole thing. It was embarrassing. Now if someone would just remove the "adventurous" label from contemporary music programming... … [Read more...]

I'm generally very pleased to be alive in 2008. For example, just this morning I got an interview request from Time Out Beijing. Who knew. It appears to be a monthly publication rather than a weekly publication, but other than that, quite similar to Time Outs in other nations. Speaking of nations, this month has an article about GaydarNation coming to China; What Would Mao Zedong Do (WWMZD) about that?Another reason I enjoy 2008 is that we've reached a point where journalistic criticism has been diluted (or, as some might argue, polluted) to a … [Read more...]

Each week (usually on Fridays, but, on occasion...Mondays), I'll post an interview with someone far more knowledgeable than myself on specific marketing and publicity subjects. This week, vocal manager Matthew Horner on the changing faces (and bodies) of opera and how important (or not) marketing materials are at the onset of a singer's career. Matthew A. Horner is Vice President and Artist Manager at IMG Artists, New York. Previously, he was an Artist Manager at Columbia Artist Management (CAMI).  He does frequent classes for singers at … [Read more...]