Technology is the fastest changing element of our civilization at this particular moment in time. It is also a costly thing to exist, from a production standpoint, on (or even near) the cutting or bleeding edge of technology. It is a widely accepted fact that people in the US and across the world for that matter are interfacing with culture in different ways due to a the advent of numerous technologies. Participants in culture now have the option of finding high quality content for almost every genre online. The implications behind this hold both breathtaking potential but also a fair amount of risk. This risk is amplified by the lack of resources of an artform such as dance which has notably few resources to draw upon.
Ms. Orden’s article about the finances at the Met hints at the prosperity found through risk taking and the ability for this large organization to monetize its product through digital distribution to a larger audience. She doesn’t talk about the risk of failure however. According to the NEA’s survey of How Technology Influences Arts Participation over half (53%) of Americans engage in the arts through digital media in some way. This number in 2012 is likely higher as adoption of mobile technology is pushing content out to even more people. The NEA survey also tells us that engagement is pretty targeted and that the occurrence of the arts ‘omnivore’ in the digital world is probably as uncommon as it is in performance halls around the country. Most arts consumers in the study seem to want to focus on a specific art form rather than sample many online. Furthermore the study shows promising data that indicates that most arts consumers use digitally available art as a means of supplementing rather than replacing their live arts consumption.
So how do organizations tackle this problem? Groups are doing it already in partnership with film makers or with the help of government funding (in Canada this is particularly the case and much of the best dance video is coming out of Canada, also Europe is far ahead of the US). A great example of this effort by La La La Human Steps (Canadian): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8rmRjmVne4. Other groups looking at this, and residing in the US, include TenduTV, Jacob’s Pillow, and On The Boards TV. Of these three it can be said that TenduTV perhaps has the most successful approach to date as Jacob’s Pillow only offers excerpts with less quality videography and On The Boards TV has yet to get off the ground with functional distribution. Both Jacob's Pillow and On The Boards are losing money from their forays into online content. One could postulate that through partnership with organizations or companies that complement each of these organizations' skill sets they may find more success.
The ebbing and flowing of the attention span will always come to bite-the-arts in the derrierre if they work in a 'reactive' mode. Essentially -- they will come late to the table and their efforts will have lackluster effect.
To wit -- for those arts organizations who have yet to join the social media band wagon, "Social Media Insider" is noting a maturing of the field: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/188800/so-social-networking-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all.html#reply
Technology is the fastest changing element of our civilization at this particular moment in time. It is also a costly thing to exist, from a production standpoint, on (or even near) the cutting or bleeding edge of technology. It is a widely accepted fact that people in the US and across the world for that matter are interfacing with culture in different ways due to a the advent of numerous technologies. Participants in culture now have the option of finding high quality content for almost every genre online. The implications behind this hold both breathtaking potential but also a fair amount of risk. This risk is amplified by the lack of resources of an artform such as dance which has notably few resources to draw upon.
ReplyDeleteMs. Orden’s article about the finances at the Met hints at the prosperity found through risk taking and the ability for this large organization to monetize its product through digital distribution to a larger audience. She doesn’t talk about the risk of failure however. According to the NEA’s survey of How Technology Influences Arts Participation over half (53%) of Americans engage in the arts through digital media in some way. This number in 2012 is likely higher as adoption of mobile technology is pushing content out to even more people. The NEA survey also tells us that engagement is pretty targeted and that the occurrence of the arts ‘omnivore’ in the digital world is probably as uncommon as it is in performance halls around the country. Most arts consumers in the study seem to want to focus on a specific art form rather than sample many online. Furthermore the study shows promising data that indicates that most arts consumers use digitally available art as a means of supplementing rather than replacing their live arts consumption.
So how do organizations tackle this problem? Groups are doing it already in partnership with film makers or with the help of government funding (in Canada this is particularly the case and much of the best dance video is coming out of Canada, also Europe is far ahead of the US). A great example of this effort by La La La Human Steps (Canadian): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8rmRjmVne4. Other groups looking at this, and residing in the US, include TenduTV, Jacob’s Pillow, and On The Boards TV. Of these three it can be said that TenduTV perhaps has the most successful approach to date as Jacob’s Pillow only offers excerpts with less quality videography and On The Boards TV has yet to get off the ground with functional distribution. Both Jacob's Pillow and On The Boards are losing money from their forays into online content. One could postulate that through partnership with organizations or companies that complement each of these organizations' skill sets they may find more success.
The ebbing and flowing of the attention span will always come to bite-the-arts in the derrierre if they work in a 'reactive' mode. Essentially -- they will come late to the table and their efforts will have lackluster effect.
ReplyDeleteTo wit -- for those arts organizations who have yet to join the social media band wagon, "Social Media Insider" is noting a maturing of the field: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/188800/so-social-networking-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all.html#reply
Tells us all something, yes?