This Week: There’s a creative divide in America but it’s not where you think… Rethinking the modern concert hall in favor of the audience… Is glamour an ineffective sell for pop music?… A link between audience attendance and donations (not what you think)… Why has reading of literature declined?
Category: AUDIENCE
A Century After Agatha Christie’s First Mystery Came Out, Crime Fiction Is Booming
“Crime fiction is turning back the clock to its golden age with a host of books that pay homage to the genre’s grande dame, Agatha Christie, either intentionally or in spirit.”
The Museum Where You Can Listen To The Tour In Klingon
“Even the most expert Klingon linguists get tongue-tied, so here for your entertainment are the outtakes from Okrand’s recording of the Klingon audio tour segments.”
Digital Archives From The Hammer Museum Are Another ‘Game Changer’
“The project goes beyond just creating a bells-and-whistles exhibition website. The archive features important essays generated by the show, links to outside coverage, as well as documentation, photography and other research material.”
Can An Algorithm Predict A Bestseller?
“What we found in bestsellers was that there was a sweet spot, of a couple of topics, each taking up 30% of the book.”
Are West End Productions Choosing Smaller Theatres To Raise Ticket Prices?
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “It’s really important that theatre is accessible and that is one of the reasons we went into a rather bigger theatre on Broadway than perhaps some people would have suggested. There is a school of thought that what you do is keep the show really, really tight and then force ticket prices up,” he said. He added: “Several producers have been doing that but I am not one of them.”
“I’m Done With Going To The Theatre To Watch Movies”
“As a baby boomer, I find that my days of settling in to a short subject, cartoon and B movie with a box of popcorn and some candy are way over. I want to focus on a well-made movie in silence. Instead, I have to endure a reserved seat where I am stuck, typically around people chomping on their popcorn, fidgeting with candy wrappers, talking and checking the latest text on their cellphones.”
Comfy Chairs, Legroom, Lockers, And Glamour: A Wish List For The Revamp Of The New York Philharmonic’s Hall
Michael Cooper: “Of course they need to fix the acoustics. … But what about the little things that can make all the difference when it comes to creating a concert hall that people will fall in love with? The things that might not rise to the top of the to-do list when planning a mega-project that is expected to begin in 2019 and cost on the order of a half-billion dollars? As a frequent concertgoer, I have a few modest proposals.”
As Audience Numbers Rise, Donations To Arts Orgs Drop, Says Study
“A new study of arts and cultural nonprofit organizations from the University of Missouri suggests that there is no evidence that donors are influenced by high attendance numbers; in fact, it may be just the opposite, since higher attendance is linked to higher earned revenue.”
BBC2 Television To Change Saturday Night Schedule To Arts Programming
“The channel said from autumn it would replace the jumble of repeats normally shown at that time with programmes dedicated to arts and culture. Patrick Holland, the editor of BBC2, said arts were central to the channel’s mission. ‘I want BBC2 to be the most creative channel on TV,’ he said.”