Emerald | Arts Marketing: An International Journal | Table of Contents

Listening to live jazz: an individual or social act?

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Stephanie E. Pitts, Karen Burland) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This article seeks to understand how audience members at a live jazz event react to one another, to the listening venue, and to the performance. It considers the extent to which being an audience member is a social experience, as well as a personal and musical one, and investigates the distinctive qualities of listening to live jazz in a range of venues. Design/methodology/approach – The research draws on evidence from nearly 800 jazz listeners, surveyed at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and in The Spin jazz club, Oxford. Questionnaires, diaries and interviews were used to understand the experiences of listening for a wide range of audience members, and were analysed using NVivo. Findings – The findings illustrate how listening to live jazz has a strongly social element, whereby listeners derive pleasure from attending with others or meeting like-minded enthusiasts in the audience, and welcome opportunities for conversation and relaxation within venues that help to facilitate this. Within this social context, live listening is for some audience members an intense, sometimes draining experience; while for others it offers a source of relaxation and absorption, through the opportunity to focus on good playing and preferred repertoire. Live listening is therefore both an individual and a social act, with unpredictable risks and pleasures attached to both elements, and varying between listeners, venues and occasions. Research limitations/implications – There is potential for this research to be replicated in a wider range of jazz venues, and for these findings to be compared with audiences of other music genres, particularly pop and classical, where differences in expectations and behaviour will be evident. Practical implications – The authors demonstrate how existing audience members are a vast source of knowledge about how a live jazz gig works, and how the appeal of such events could be nurtured amongst potential new audiences. They show the value of qualitative investigations of audience experience, and of the process of research and reflection in itself can be a source of audience development and engagement. Originality/value – This paper makes a contribution to the literature on audience engagement, both through the substantial sample size and through the consideration of individual and social experiences of listening. It will have value to researchers in music psychology, arts marketing and related disciplines, as well as being a useful source of information and strategy for arts promoters.

Factors affecting visual artists’ levels of commitment to artwork distributors

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Rita Kottász, Roger Bennett) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model explaining visual artists’ levels of commitment to their primary distributors (dealers, agents, gallery owners). Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was completed by 220 British artists covering their relationships with the main external intermediaries they used most frequently. The questionnaire covered the elements of a structural equation model designed to predict commitment levels. The model included as mediating variables the strength of an artist's personal brand and the individual's control over, dependence on, and conflict with a distributor. Findings – Most of the respondents had good relationships with their distributors. The hypothesised model provided a sound fit with the data, although there was no significant connection between an artist's ability to control a distributor and the person's commitment to the distributor. Research limitations/implications – The research was undertaken in a single country and only visual artists (rather than, for instance, performing artists) were considered. Space restrictions prevented the detailed examination within the questionnaire of the participants’ relationships with different types of intermediary. Practical implications – Artists should cultivate powerful personal brands and apply ‘relationalist’ approaches when dealing with distributors. Originality/value – The study was the first to apply marketing theories of distribution to the arts domain. A new and original measure of the extent of a visual artist's personal branding activities was devised and employed as a part of the investigation.

Shopping soundtracks: evaluating the musicscape using introspective data

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Steve Oakes, Anthony Patterson, Helen Oakes) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – Despite the relatively low cultural status of department store music, it is proposed that music – the shopping soundtrack – is capable of transforming perceptions of the environment in which it is heard, and eliciting immediate emotional and behavioural responses, thus underlining the influence of music, regardless of whether it is passively heard as a background element or actively listened to as a live performance in a dedicated venue. Design/methodology/approach – This study addresses a gap in the marketing literature for introspective research evaluating the experience of music in service environments. It draws upon auto-ethnographic data through which participants ponder their own consumption experience and provide detailed, subjective accounts of events and memories. Findings – When considering the effects of music upon emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses, it highlights the importance of musicscape response moderators. Practical implications – The service environment appears more exciting and attractive and may encourage increased spending when background music is congruous with other servicescape elements. Music with positive autobiographical resonance elicits pleasurably nostalgic emotions, positive evaluations and longer stay. However, the aural incongruity of unexpected silence in music-free zones produces feelings of discomfort leading to negative store evaluation and departure. Originality/value – Qualitative data are deliberately represented using typically positivist discourse to encourage resolution of the inherent tension between interpretivist and positivist perspectives and stimulate increased methodological integration (e.g. through future studies of music combining quantitative and qualitative data).

The art machine: dynamics of a value generating mechanism for contemporary art

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Victoria L. Rodner, Elaine Thomson) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to deconstruct the validation process for contemporary art with a fresh take on the components and terminology of this process, here referred to as the art machine. Design/methodology/approach – Existing literature is analysed and key theoretical aspects combined to support the theory that an art machine exists that may process contemporary art for legitimation, sustainability and market success. Findings – Roles played by art professionals and institutions within what is pioneered in this paper as the art machine frequently overlap. Opportunities for success are maximised when and if artists, art schools, galleries, critics, auction houses, museums and collectors manage to work in unison towards the common goal of optimal symbolic and financial value for the contemporary art market. Research limitations/implications – A clear and intelligible deconstruction of the art machine's interacting components should enable interested agents in both established and emerging art markets to better operate mechanisms towards short-term marketing objectives and long-term sustainability within the highly competitive and fluid art environment. Originality/value – Existing literature recognises layered spheres of activity that may combine for success in an art market seeking increasing symbolic and financial value and sustainability. This article innovatively pictures the dynamic, interlocking mechanisms in this on-going, one-way process of turning inconspicuous raw materials into a valued end-product: this is the art machine.

“A big part of my life”: a qualitative study of the impact of theatre

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Ben Walmsley) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that theatre can have on its audiences, both immediately and over time. Design/methodology/approach – The article evaluates the existing literature on impact and critically reviews a number of benefits models. Through a textual analysis of 42 semi-structured depth interviews, the paper deconstructs the concept of impact and rearticulates it in audiences’ terms. Findings – Impact emerges as a personal construct articulated by audiences in terms of emotion, captivation, engagement, enrichment, escapism, wellbeing, world view and addiction. Impact is ultimately described as a relative concept, dependent on audience typology and perceived by audiences in holistic terms, incorporating both intrinsic value and instrumental benefits. While catharsis is confirmed as a key enabler of impact, flow emerges as both an enabler and a benefit in itself. Research limitations/implications – As this is a qualitative study with a sample of 42, the results are not representative of theatre audiences in general. Future research might test the findings of this study in a larger, quantitative survey, which might also test the relationships between the emerging variables. Practical implications – There are significant implications here for theatre-makers and venues. From a marketing perspective, more sophisticated segmentation of audience databases could uncover ‘value ambassadors’ to spread positive word of mouth about the impact theatre has on their lives. Venues and touring companies could also consider how to prepare audiences for impact more effectively and how to minimise distraction and facilitate audience interaction with artists and theatre-makers. Obvious solutions here are mood enhancing atmospherics and well trained front-of-house staff. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in its audience-focussed approach. Impact has tended to be constructed from the perspective of producers, marketers and academics, whereas this study invites audiences to describe it in their own, authentic vernacular. These authentic insights are of value to academics, producers, policy advisors, funders and marketers working in the arts, because they help shed light on why people attend the arts and the benefits they derive from them.

Editorial

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Dennis) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100