Life's A Pitch

There's a lot of talk about what kind of audience classical music has and wants. Generally speaking, I think we want young people with disposable-enough incomes who like to go out and have a network of friends in their cities or towns. That stated, the industry expects the members of this coveted demographic to change their current routines to accommodate it. I decided to conduct a highly-scientific focus group - i.e. e mailing my sister Aliza and her three roommates - on the subject. Aliza - Marketing Coordinator, DauphinBrianne -  Group … [Read more...]

Renée Fleming was on Gawker Stalker yesterday, which leads me to think, as I often do, about classical music celebrity versus "real world" celebrity. More on that at a later date. … [Read more...]

The New York Philharmonic is running a photo contest for their Concerts in the Parks series this summer. Folks were encouraged to submit their photos and then to vote for their favorites between July 25th and July 31st. The categories are best performance shot, best family/friends shot, best kid shot, best nature shot, best picnic shot, best NYC moment shot, most original shot, and overall favorite shot. Such a great idea! And then, just when I think we're safe...Winners in each of the eight categories in the contest will be announced on … [Read more...]

At our Wordless concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on Friday night, the band Deerhoof announced to the crowd that they were giving away sheet music for the song "Fresh Born" off their upcoming album, Offend Maggie. Audience members were invited to pick up the music, create their own version of the song, and submit a link to an interactive website before the "real" version is heard by everyone next month. The sheet music is also available for download from the site. … [Read more...]

According to The New York Times, approximately 48,500 people patronized the Bon Jovi concert in Central Park on Saturday, July 12th, while 63,000 came out to see Lang Lang and the NY Philharmonic in the same park on Tuesday, July 15th.Classical music: 1New Jersey: 0 … [Read more...]

Each week, I'll post an interview with someone far more knowledgeable than myself on specific marketing and publicity subjects. This week, multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose on performing in, marketing himself in and making a living in the classical, Broadway and indie rock worlds.Violinist/Violist/Mandolinist/Guitarist Rob Moose graduated from The Manhattan School of Music in 2004 with a degree in violin performance. Since then, he has performed with The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Jay-Z, Burt Bacharach, The National, Savion Glover and Vampire … [Read more...]

The musical [title of show] opens on Broadway in about an hour. Props to show creators Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen for that, but the team should also be congratulated on the completion of their web series - The [title of the show] Show. The musical is about the creation of a musical about a musical - got that? - so putting together a web series about said musical/musical/musical going to Broadway is good marketing stuff. I read that there were five to twenty four thousand viewers per episode; not huge numbers in the grand scheme of "the … [Read more...]

Fashion magazines often have Splurge/Steal sections; that is, an item of clothing or an accessory that celebs have (splurge) next to the version of the product that the rest of us can afford (steal). September of two years ago, the Metropolitan Opera seemed to change overnight. In his blog, Through Rosen Colored Glasses, former Met board member and current chair of The Met marketing committee Ben Rosen outlines the three major initiatives undertaken by the Gelb regime: improve the product, create a major marketing effort, and add new sources of … [Read more...]

ArtsJournal's own Douglas McLennan on the past and future of, well, arts journalism, as told to Crosscut Seattle:Where are we now in arts journalism? Newspapers have been dropping critics right and left.Newspapers have not been the newspapers that I remember for quite a number of years now. The day of many competing papers and views in a city is gone. But the classic newspaper model was not built on a mass-media vehicle. It was a collection niches. People don't buy a newspaper because of its coverage of city hall. They buy it for the … [Read more...]

Check out this killer double-bill!From a commenter on Brooklyn Vegan, "does that mean Shostakovich isn't really playing miller theater either?" … [Read more...]

Classical labels, take note! This is about the fourth time this week I've heard about albums being issued (and re-issued) on vinyl, which further proves my theory that the way to make something cool is to go back and do it the way it was originally done. Example: chamber music in chambers, not on big stages. The press kit version of Hilary's Schoenberg/Sibelius album actually made it look like the CD was a vinyl (it was square and thick), and two out of the five trendy music site writers I sent it to told me they got really excited when they … [Read more...]

I love political campaign e mails. There's such a sense of urgency and drama. I got one this morning that said, "Own a piece of this movement by making a donation of $25 today." Own a piece of this movement. Boom. Yes. I even like how they're addressed - there's no "Dear Potential Subscriber" or "Dear Patron" or even "Dear Amanda E Ameer"; it's all "Amanda --". I'm like yes, what's up, how can I help you? Also, I appreciate them suggesting $25, a specific, manageable amount that I don't really have to think about. Where is the sense of urgency … [Read more...]

I was reading my August 2008 issue of Vanity Fair on July 9, and was surprised by this news in Gail Sheehy's Hillary Clinton campaign post-mortem:Clinton's people had no idea how excited a whole new cohort of voters would become by a youthful figure who tapped into their vital hunger for change from the ground up. Obama started cultivating these new voters at low-cost events. The turnout amazed even his own team. What began as I.M.'s and campus meet-ups developed into a genuine social movement. Such was the hubris of Hillary's team that they … [Read more...]

Every Friday, I'll post an interview with someone far more knowledgeable than myself on specific marketing and publicity subjects. This week, web producer Alex Sturtevant on The Elusive Yet Omnipresent Banner Ad. Alex Sturtevant is a Producer at NYC-based agency thehappycorp global. He is the lead for many digital projects for clients such as Cadbury-Schweppes, Miraval Resorts, Idealist.org, and Brooklyn Brewery. Alex also managed the creative for the 87th Annual Art Directors Club Awards Gala, and has previously worked for clients including … [Read more...]