Orchestras and New Media

Orchestras and New Media “Smart companies will get out of the way and help the inevitable to happen sooner.” By Marc van Bree. Version 1.0

Road Map The Changing Print Environment and the New Media Revolution New Media: Tools of the Trade SWOT Analysis: Orchestras and New Media Measuring Results

The Changing Print Environment and the New Media Revolution From slow and stationary to fast and mobile

Art in print. In proportion. “At the Chicago Tribune, the daily Tempo section, which contains arts, culture, media and technology, represented only 5 percent of the papers pagination.” National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University “Reporting the Arts II”

Culture up. Resources down. “While more Americans are participating in cultural activities than at any time in our history, and although the arts have evolved to unprecedented size and complexity, the resources that metropolitan newsrooms allocate to the arts are generally flat or in retreat.” National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University “Reporting the Arts II”

Column inches declining Column inches about arts in 20 newspapers around the country 5,600 5,500 5,400 5,300 5,200 Column Inches 5,100 5,000 4,900 4,800 4,700 1998 2003 National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University “Reporting the Arts II”

Music critics: a disappearing breed Full-time classical music critic positions eliminated over the past couple of years: • Los Angeles Times • Chicago Sun-Times • Miami Herald • Minneapolis Star Tribune • Kansas City Star • Seattle Times • And more…

The lunatic suicide of the press “[…] it would be an error to attribute this dispiriting attrition to a philistine attack on the arts, or to focus too much on its meaning for cultural pursuits. The de-criticization of American journalism is a symptom of a much deeper tragedy in civic life: the lunatic suicide of the press.” Justin Davidson, critic for New York Magazine and former critic of Newsday, in an article for Musical America

It’s not just anecdotes Statistics from the 65,000 Newspaper Association 63,000 of America show a 61,000 decline in circulation 59,000 numbers since the mid 57,000 55,000 1980s; from a daily 53,000 circulation of over 63 51,000 million in 1984 to a 49,000 daily circulation of 52 47,000 45,000 million in 2006. 1981 1987 1993 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total Paid Circulation in Thousands Newspaper Association of America

The good news: the Internet Monthly unique visitor numbers for newspaper Web sites rose from 41 million in January 2004 to 69 million in May 2008. In active reach percentages, numbers rose from 27.5% to 41.7%. Newspaper Association of America

A shift in strategy

What is today’s Internet? “A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed.” The Cluetrain Manifesto

What does this mean? Terms such as new media, social media and Web 2.0 are used to describe the Internet’s move to more: • Participation (encourage contributions) • Openness (no barriers to content and feedback) • Conversation (listening, not just broadcasting) • Community (gather around a common interest) • Connectedness (content sharing) Icrossing’s What is Social Media?

What can new media mean for the arts? “[…]an invigorated conversation about the arts, a built-in audience of readers who have been betrayed by the local paper and the beginnings of a strategy for surviving the implosion of traditional news.” Justin Davidson, critic for New York Magazine and former critic of Newsday, in an article for Musical America

Brand and media proliferation Brand proliferation In the 1990s, the number of brands on grocery store shelves tripled from 15,000 to 45,000 Media proliferation 13,500 radio stations (4,400 in 1960) 17,300 magazine titles (8,400 in 1960) 82.4 TV channels per home (5.4 in 1960) …and billions of Web pages Weng Wah Wong. Social Media and Marketing: Evolution or Revolution. On Slideshare

Messages getting lost in the noise 34% 24% 13% 9% 1965 1974 1981 2000 Percent of adult evening viewers who can name a brand advertised in show just watched Weng Wah Wong. Social Media and Marketing: Evolution or Revolution. On Slideshare.

Be their steward “More than just realizing that they have lost some of the control over their audience they once enjoyed, organizations must embrace the relationships they have with their customers and work twice as hard to make sure the information customers are using to form their opinions comes from the organization. Customers want help, they want to be led—and organizations can, and should, fill that need. You must be their steward.” Brian Reich and Dan Solomon. Media Rules!

New media: Tools of the trade

New vs. old Old Internet New Internet You look for content Content is delivered to you

Syndication and RSS Web or RSS feeds are the standard method of distributing dynamic content to subscribers. Dynamic content can include: blog posts, newspaper or magazine articles, news releases, audio files and videos. Whenever you see the image to your right, you know you can subscribe to the content.

Syndication and RSS Create your own newspaper Use a service such as Bloglines or Google Reader to pull together a collection of Web feeds, which is known as aggregation, and customize your own news experience.

Tagging and folksonomy Tagging is the core social element of many Web 2.0 services. Tags, or key words, can make content searchable and findable. Tags can make content social. The buzzword for this phenomenon is “folksonomy,” which translates to “user generated classification.” Users tag and categorize data and create new ways to find information.

Tagging and folksonomy Tagging in action The editors of Chicagoist.com use a special “chicagoist” tag in Flickr, an image hosting service, so that their readers can share and mark photos that might be interesting for Chicagoist’s readers and blog posts.

Blogging A blog, short for weblog, is a Web site with regular entries on any topic imaginable, an online journal. Important questions for organizations are “how does our organization connect with bloggers?” and “why should our organization blog?”

Blogging: key elements Openness no barriers to content, news and information Participation and Conversation blogs are a two-way street with feedback and discussions Community and Connectedness linking, tagging and sharing with a community of similar interests

Connecting with blogs Consider this: how did your organization connect with your hometown newspaper and local journalists? Read (know who is writing and what they are writing) Participate (comment first, pitch later) Build relationships (provide the same level of service you would provide a journalist) Adapt materials (if you think journalists are weary of press releases… personalize your pitch and remember you are working with a multi-media outlet) Drew McManus. How to Connect With New Media. On Adaptistration.

Why Blog? Keeping up with the Joneses is not the right answer; there should be a strategic objective for starting a blog. If you’re not sure why, perhaps you shouldn’t be starting a blog. Culture (does your organization have particular cultural traits worth revealing?) Transparency (transparency is crucial to establishing credibility and trust) Time (it takes a lot of time to set up, research, write and engage) Dialogue (ability and willingness to engage with the community) Writing Style and Personalization (bring a human side to a blog)

Institutional blogs Institutional Info Blog (blogs that distribute news about the organization) Community Content Blog (blogs that take the content and offerings of the organization and try to open it up to community input) Specialized Content Blog (blogs that are typically linked to a special event or festival) Personal Voice Blog (blogs in which individuals or a small panel of staff offer personal commentary about their organization). http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/

Digital storytelling Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of blogs, content communities and other social media services is the opportunity to tell a digital story and give others the opportunity to tell your organization’s story.

Content to be shared and syndicated When you tell your story or want others to tell it for you: “Create content that is designed to be syndicated, to be absorbed by other venues and promoted widely. Don’t just deliver prepackaged stuff. Offer information to people that can be reproduced and redelivered, raw materials that can be molded to match almost any situation.” Brian Reich and Dan Solomon. Media Rules!

New media tools: youtube Social content communities Videos on YouTube, images on Flickr, they can all tell a story. “Tag and title your videos with relevant keywords—that’s how users will find your content as they navigate YouTube.” Make content social: sharing, user ratings and information filtering presents media that are of likely interest to other users; feedback and discussions opens up conversation. http://www.youtube.com/t/ngo_tips

New media tools: del.icio.us Social bookmarking Follow stories online and keep track of conversations on the Web. And share alike. Users store, organize, search and manage bookmarks of Web pages. Each bookmark is accompanied by a tag or several tags, making your content searchable and findable.

New media tools: twitter Micro-blogging Sound bite stories: Twitter allows the user to post short (up to 140 characters) messages for the public to see in a process called micro-blogging. Twitter’s uses are multiple: networking, sharing information but also conversation monitoring (even if you’re not ready to jump in the conversation yourself, you can monitor what is being said about your organization)

New media tools: yelp Social city guide People’s stories: online city guides now combine yellow pages, city guides and social networks with user-generated content. Users can find, review and talk about places, restaurants, doctors and anything local.

New media tools: wikipedia Social encyclopedia Allows users (not employees!) to freely contribute to or edit content, operating on the philosophy that the more users participate, the better the content. The collective intelligence empowers the community. A credible story.

New media tools: last.fm Social music Ultimately, for orchestras, music is the story. Through recommendations, users are presented information items (movies, music, books, news, images, Web pages) that are likely of interest to them. A recommender system compares the user’s profile to some reference characteristics. These characteristics may come from user input or the user’s social environment.

New media tools: social networks Image: http://www.esv.org/assets/blog/2007.01.nt.social.network.big.png

Social networks Social network services are the embodiment of Web 2.0; more than any other service they encourage participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness on the Internet. Just as telephone, fax and e-mail changed the way we communicate; social networking has revolutionized our conversations and social interactions.

Social networks: key elements Openness and Community A public profile serves as a base from which the users build a network of friends and contacts.

Social networks: key elements Connectedness and community Relationships and connections are no longer hidden; you know who your friends’ friends are. Opening up professional (LinkedIn) and personal (Facebook) opportunities.

Social networks: key elements Participation and conversation An MTV/Nickelodeon study found that “despite the remarkable advances in communication technology, kid and youth culture looks surprisingly familiar, with almost all young people using technology to enhance rather than replace face-to-face interaction.” http://sev.prnewswire.com/multimedia-online- internet/20070724/NYTU10924072007-1.html

Social networks: key elements Openness and connectedness Openness without barriers to content (photos, streaming audio etc.) and conversation (comments and discussion). And connectedness through sharing content and links with your community.

Social networks: key approach Online relationships Add value to a complement user’s time offline and life relationships Why social networks? Provide content to be shared and Social networks enhance a user’s syndicated life by being accommodating through constant connectivity, on- demand content and expanding social capital.

SWOT analysis: Orchestras and New Media A good start in sizing up an organization’s situation and crafting a strategy is the SWOT analysis, which appraises a company’s resource strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats.

SWOT analysis: strengths Materials and media • Vast amount of interesting (archival) content to share with its constituents; many materials are easily accessible or adaptable to the new media environment; • Expertise in producing media and content (audio, program notes, knowledgeable employees and intellectual capital in regards to content); • Facilities and human assets to create content (recording studios, high profile guest artists); • Strong global distribution capabilities. Engaged and involved audience • Orchestra audiences are involved and engaged with the product; pride, participation and community are important factors in audience experiences; • Strong, involved market; classical music has an enormously strong and engaged community. Established infrastructure, sites and places • A powerful brand name within the community, country or world; • Extensive and established Web sites; • Established as an authoritative and credible organization; • Classical music is established on the Internet with several communities;

SWOT analysis: weaknesses Financial resources • Budgets are stretched beyond facility; a weak balance sheet; • Short on financial resources to grow the business and pursue promising initiatives. Human resources • New media is unchartered territory for many organizations; no intellectual capital or knowledgeable employees to make effective use of new media; • Non-profit job descriptions are stretched and wide-ranging; very few to no orchestras have employed a new media person. Questions as to who is responsible for new media and how much time is devoted to new media. Contracts and Copyright • Musician contracts and copyright laws prevent full and open use of materials and media

SWOT analysis: opportunities Openings to exploit emerging new technologies • New media can significantly extend the life a performance, reaching more patrons and increasing customer service; • Online relationships work best when there is an established offline relationship. Online relationships will complement and add value to an offline relationship. Expanding into new geographic markets and serving additional market segments • The Internet is not bound by geography; patrons and fans from all over the world can enjoy a geographically confined orchestra outside of limited tours and recordings; • Changes in social patterns online; 64% of teens are online content creators, therein lies a great opportunity to connect with a new market segment. Openings to win market share from rivals • Through a wide geographic coverage and strong global distribution capabilities, orchestras can capture market share from rivals that are not represented in new media. Entering into alliances or joint ventures to expand the organization’s market coverage • Collaboration with other arts organizations, community organizations or orchestras.

SWOT analysis: threats Cluttered environment • Breaking through the noise; with so many different niche markets and different media, it is hard to break through the clutter and determine the most effective channels; Ever changing landscape • Key rivals introduce innovative new products; • Changes in technology and markets. Demographic structure • Difference in demographic makeup between orchestra audience and new media users limits demand.

SWOT analysis: what’s next? Use company strengths and capabilities as cornerstones for strategy Use available materials and media, engaged audience and established sites Pursue those market opportunities best suited to company strengths and capabilities Maintain strong relationships with patrons, extend the life of a performance and open the door to other geographic markets Correct weaknesses and deficiencies that impair pursuit of important market opportunities or heighten vulnerability to external threats Set a budget for new media, hire or train staff, review contracts and copyrights and keep track of changes in technology and markets (and don’t put your eggs in one basket) Thompson, Arthur, John Gamble and A.J. Strickland. Strategy: Core Concepts, Analytical Tools, Readings

Measuring results: Return on Investment

Measuring results “In social media and the blogosphere, being able to measure, track and compare the results is a requirement for determining next steps and strategy.” First, an organization needs to find out what it is trying to accomplish. Are you spreading a message, building a community, raising awareness, forging relationships? From there, find out what to measure. Earlier, we established some key elements of social media: community, conversation, participation and connectedness. And of course content; content drives the community. Now, how can we translate these concepts into measurable attributes? Dow Jones. Tracking the Influence of Conversations.

Measuring results: triad of measurement Interest What and how much is the interest in your organization Attitude What attitudes do people hold about your organization Action What actions, that matter from a business perspective, do people take as a result of your campaign Kami Huyse. The Triad of Measurement.

Measuring results: interest Activity (how many people did you reach) Page views Unique site visitors And many more metrics Community (who is your community) Demographics (age, location, income etc.); Psychographics (lifestyle, behavior, values etc.)

Measuring results: interest Activity Unique page views over 2-month period (May 1-July 1)

Measuring results: interest Community Facebook fan demographics CSO Fans on Facebook • Over 50% of our fans are younger than 24 • Over 85% of the fans are younger than 34

Measuring results: attitudes Conversation (what is the community talking about) Conversation Index (ratio between blog posts and comments-plus-trackbacks); Influential Ideas (memes; how long does a message remain in the arena of public opinion and interaction) Connectedness (what is your relationship with the community) Relationships and Connections (influence within a specific community) Content (what is the focus of the community or conversation) Relevance (how relevant to my company is a particular blog post); Tone (what is the sentiment associated with the response, positive, negative or neutral)

Measuring results: attitudes Conversation blog postings on “Chicago Symphony” from April 11-July 9

Measuring results: attitudes Conversation and Content Keeping track of the conversation on del.icio.us., where you can learn about tone and relevance of specific conversations, blog posts and Web pages. Here you see conversations about San Francisco Symphony’s “Blogger Night”

Measuring results: action Participation (what is the community doing; what are its actions) Engagement (the recipient responds to a message; a comment or feedback; initiating a conversation) Sales (ticket or product sales as a direct response) Community Activation (sharing and recommending products or events; word of mouth)

Measuring results: action Engagement Posts on discussion boards, your Facebook “wall”

Measuring results: action Sales and community activation You can measure user action in various ways on Facebook. To the left, action can be both sharing the event invitation (community activation) and confirming attendance (sales)

Orchestras and New Media Wrapping up Back to The Cluetrain Manifesto: thesis number 57 pleads the case that “smart companies will get out of the way and help the inevitable to happen sooner.” Seeing the decline in traditional arts coverage, the inevitable, it seems, is an increase in participation and conversations with your community. But I leave it to each individual organization to create its own set of lists, draw its own conclusions and determine its own course of action. This brief and incomplete analysis merely serves as a guide and as a provoker of thought on orchestras and new media.

Orchestras and New Media By Marc van Bree This presentation was produced from the series “Orchestras and New Media” on my blog Dutch Perspective. Many sources have contributed to this series and presentation. If I have inadvertently left any attribution out, please do let me know. For any question, comments or feedback, please feel free to contact me at any time: dutchperspective (at) mcmvanbree.com mcmvanbree.com/dutchperspective

Orchestras and New Media Special thanks to National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University “Reporting the Arts II” Newspaper Association of America The Cluetrain Manifesto Icrossing’s What is Social Media? Justin Davidson’s Whither Withering Criticism on Musical America Drew McManus’s How to Connect With New Media on Adaptistration Weng Wah Wong’s Social Media and Marketing: Evolution or Revolution on Slideshare Brian Reich and Dan Solomon’s Media Rules! Nina Simon on Museum 2.0 Beth Kanter on Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media Kami Huyse on Communication Overtones Dow Jones’s Tracking the Influence of Conversations. Thompson, Arthur, John Gamble and A.J. Strickland Strategy: Core Concepts, Analytical Tools, Readings

http://mcmvanbree.com	40
http://kulturmanagement.wordpress.com	32
http://www.slideshare.net	4
http://wildfire.gigya.com	1
http://www.translate.ru	1

Orchestras and New Media

by Marc van Bree on Nov 19, 2008

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

5 Embeds 78

Statistics

Orchestras and New Media — Presentation Transcript