I’ve recently been seeing more of what I do as a way of developing content for future transmission. In the way that, if you’re promoting a commercial art event, the number of people who hear and see it via online documentation should be seen as equally important as the people who participate in it at the time. Only, within the industry, they’re not.
This is my current theme with the Arts Industry in which I work: in a world which has an increasing number of channels for transmitting information, what is becoming increasingly important is the quality of your content. And, if it can muster it’s addled mind from ages of “bums on seats” thinking, the Arts Industry – which produces quality content just by it’s very nature, is ideally placed to contribute in this way. Why not then, see ourselves as media content producers, as well as promoters of live events?
Anyway, let me get to the real point. My “Found Sound Stories” sonic arts development event, led by artist, Janek Schaefer earlier this month was a huge success, due to a combination of the considerable skill and charm of Mr. Schaefer, the immense marketing effort of myself and my intern and the positive spirit of the participants. I made a 55 minute programme for radio from audio material generated over the weekend event and a few recorded interviews with those involved. The excellent Patrick McGinley , who produces the “Framework” show for visionary London radio station, Resonance FM (and others) will be broadcasting my programme as part of his season at 10pm on 20th December 2009. This will be followed by a podcast archive and then an alternative edit appearing on my own “Gene Pool” Podcast later in December. The dozen or so people involved in the live event will thus be joined by a global audience of several thousand.
I’ve made a short preview video edit from the weekend, which is available via YouTube
2 Comments
We definitely need to prove the size of audiences increasingly via such channels as download information and documentation etc. and not just as per the bums-on-seats approach to ‘audience’ currently taken by Arts Administrators.
It’s a difficult one, in that people in the industry increasingly have to prove the value (as in financial) of what they do to cash strapped venue managers. So, as with most social media enterprises, the new business model is yet to emerge fully formed- look at what a disaster the attempted monetising of Skype turned out to be.
So, we’re increasingly relying on services and tools that are provided on a _very_ optimistic business model, and yet are evidently successful in gaining an audience. So the audience at large is becoming dependent on an unsustainable platform, which it is unwilling to take responsibility for supporting from it’s own pocket. Venue’s should be ideally placed to solve this quandary, as they are able to use social media to attract audiences and networks through community building “free” services, while offering the unique feature of an added-reality ticketed experience. I’d love to see more venues grasping this one with both hands.