Outdoor Arts Attract The Diverse Audience We (Say We) Want

“The findings [of a recent large-scale study] are both fascinating and exciting. One of the most important findings is that outdoor arts consistently attract an audience that is representative of the population as a whole. This is a simple statement with profound significance. In the cultural sector there’s often the ambition to be accessible for all, and there are examples of that being achieved. The outdoor arts though consistently achieve it over both time and place.”

Is Trying To Diversify A Waste Of Time In The Arts?

“The performing arts audience in the vast majority in this city and country is white, middle class. And when we look to attract a new audience and new people into our audience, we have to acknowledge that we usually end up with a white, middle-class audience… That doesn’t mean we can’t make constant efforts to say ‘Here is something on stage that will bring you a different way into this art form’. Even if they come once it’s better than not coming at all.”

The Orchestra World’s Existential Crisis

“How do we justify the continued existence of our [orchestras, newspapers, insert institution of your choice here]? How do we make these institutions relevant to an audience that is pulling away, finding other ways to get music and information? The scrutiny isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s shining a light on some unexpected baggage.”

Netflix Has Created A Whole New Media World – Can It Survive In It?

Joe Nocera: “At the moment, Netflix has a negative cash flow of almost $1 billion; it regularly needs to go to the debt market to replenish its coffers. … And for all the original shows Netflix has underwritten, it remains dependent on the very networks that fear its potential to destroy their longtime business model in the way that internet competitors undermined the newspaper and music industries. Now that so many entertainment companies see it as an existential threat, the question is whether Netflix can continue to thrive in the new TV universe that it has brought into being.”

A National Day Of Action To Make Arts An Issue In Australia’s Election

“Arts and theatre organisations, artists and industry professionals will hold a national day of action for the arts on Friday 17 June, to galvanise renewed public support of the culture industries … The day of action will springboard into two weeks of campaigning for the arts around the country … [to combat] the ‘chaos’ caused by recent funding cuts from the Turnbull and Abbott governments.”