{"id":395,"date":"2010-01-18T22:29:13","date_gmt":"2010-01-18T22:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp\/?p=395"},"modified":"2010-01-18T22:29:13","modified_gmt":"2010-01-18T22:29:13","slug":"isnt_that_special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/2010\/01\/isnt_that_special\/","title":{"rendered":"Isn’t That Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi all…blogging virgin here…it is, yes, my maiden
\nvoyage.  <\/span>I am told to keep it
\nfrank, conversational, and informal. 
\n<\/span>(Having just re-read my opening sentence, it appears that I should not have
\ntoo much trouble with that directive.)<\/p>\n

Amanda, in two paragraphs, has already touched on a number
\nof my favorite topics about which to kvetch, so let me touch on a few of them
\nbefore I get to her central question of “who’s responsible for making the
\nartist special anyway!” <\/o:p><\/p>\n

How presenters and artistic directors make choices about who
\nand what ends up on a season program is as varied as the sands in the hour
\nglass.  <\/span>(Reference please.)  <\/span>I can tell you that while I believe
\nmost artistic decision makers really do feel the pressure to reward the nobler
\nvalues<\/b> of artistry, merit, a unique point of
\nview, or emblematic torch bearing, <\/span>less exalted realities<\/b> often creep into the equation as well:  <\/span>day of the week, fee, venue avails,
\npast box office performance, calendar spacing, funding interests, special
\ntie-ins…and the list goes on. 
\n<\/span>While I do like to think of myself as wed to my own unique value system
\nof the former, I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that the latter play a
\nrole in program and artist selection, as well.  <\/span>I do, however, lead with my organizational, as well as, my
\npersonal values.  <\/span>(It isn’t always
\nabout a performers specialness or lack there of…)<\/span><\/p>\n

And, yes, hooks<\/b> are
\nfine and <\/span>human interest angles<\/b>
\n(sometimes) riveting…but, never a substitute for convincing music making that
\nreveals some truth or provocation embedded within, some kind of technical
\naccomplishment, or, maybe, some hint at a shared humanity.  <\/span>(Thanks for calling the obvious out
\nAmanda!  <\/span>It often times feels lost
\nin the discussion and can’t be repeated enough.)  <\/span>Actually, the more I think about it, if one can be certain
\nthat the players will hit the accomplishment quotient, then human interest
\nhooks are actually welcome in my book. 
\n<\/span>And we shouldn’t be afraid of them or feel that they somehow cheapen the
\nartist’s integrity.  <\/span>(Please.)  <\/span>Any information sharing or story telling
\nthat aids, abets, or heightens a sense of empathy between performer and
\nlistener – whether artistic, human, spiritual – has to be a good thing.  <\/span>Right?  <\/span>Live concert performances must, after all, traffic in
\nempathy. <\/span><\/p>\n

(But I digress: 
\n<\/span>There is a wicked tendency in our business to believe that artistic
\naccomplishment accompanied with a good hook or human interest angle exists only
\nin fairytales and can never actually be embodied in one being.  <\/span>False.  <\/span>And, yes, I have made that mistake.) <\/p>\n

And, now, we turn to the central story of the artist – and
\nmanager, and journalist, and presenter and publicist – feeling overly pressured
\nto be SPECIAL beyond their artistic abilities.  <\/span>As an eco-system, we all seem, to one degree or another, to
\nbe trapped in a game of articulating our own competitive advantage (specialty)
\nin a sometimes cruel game of supply and demand.   <\/span>And it seems that this phenomenon is especially acute
\nand played out most dramatically when it comes to artists selling
\nthemselves.  <\/span>Sad to say it, but I
\ndo think that presenters are sometimes lazy…and make the whole dynamic worse by
\nreaching for the obvious quick hook (translation: choosing artists with easy
\nmedia tie-ins, angles or even fads to signal “specialness” without really
\nspending any time assessing whether the performer will have any meaningful
\nimpact on at least some segment of their audience) over the slower, more
\ndeliberate and long-term commitment of nurturing an artist, over multiple
\nvisits, which, time and again, I have seen yield a far richer sense of special
\nconnection<\/b> between performer and
\nlistener.  <\/span>(BTW, I also see an
\nequal number of presenter who are rigorous to a fault on this point…!)<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn’t just the artist and his or her manager or press
\nrep’s job to sell their clients specialness…it is equally important for the
\npresenter to articulate for his\/her community what he\/she sees as special about
\nthe artistic programming choices he\/she makes.  <\/span>That, of course, means that the decision maker must
\narticulate an opinion.  <\/span>Scary, I
\nknow.  <\/span>Living in a world of
\nambiguous and subjective pronouncements can be a bear…but go out on a limb
\npresenters, and make the case for the specialness of the artists on your
\nseason…don’t just assume that it is the artists job alone.  <\/span>And, even better, make a commitment to
\ninclude an artist on your season who doesn’t necessarily have apparent hooks or
\nready-made human interest angles to sell tickets.  <\/span>If you believe in the artist’s work, make the case yourself.  <\/span>(Hmmm…I not sure Amanda was looking for
\na call to arms…)<\/p>\n

But come on artists, and managers and press reps…help us
\npresenters out!  <\/span>In 2010, I have no
\ntime for performers who can’t find the time (or understanding) to invest in
\nsome well-designed, artistic photographic artwork, short performance video,
\nshort human-interest video (if it feels right), and, of course, some
\neasily-linked-to social media pages and websites.  <\/span>It should also be mandatory that all performers have a
\ncouple of favorite vids on YouTube. 
\n<\/span>I mean…if we’re gonna make the case for your specialness ourselves, we
\nat least need some cool tools. 
\n<\/span>(BTW, you don’t have to feel cool to look cool.)<\/p>\n

It takes a village.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"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":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"category-prdebate","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}