Looking for a little #MondayMotivation? We’re pulling out past stories that are still just as relevant today. Here’s a pearl from Jim: Ticket Buyers Don’t Care About Your Costs. That sounds a little harsh, but it’s essentially true. When it comes time to evaluate what they are willing to pay to see your show, ticket buyers do not care what you are spending to create that show. Cost is your problem. Price is theirs. This is a confusing subject for people, and my goal here …

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Looking for a little #WednesdayWisdom? We’re pulling out past stories that are still just as relevant today. Here’s a pearl from Jim: Superpowers, Part Three. Editor’s Note: For this series, Jim writes about our superpowers — the ones that we in the live entertainment business have — and their corresponding forms of kryptonite-like weaknesses. In the live entertainment business, we have superpowers. I’ve now explained two of them (in my posts, part one and part two). Sadly, as Superman knows, sometimes …

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Editor’s Note: For this series, Jim writes about our superpowers — the ones that we in the live entertainment business have — and their corresponding forms of kryptonite-like weaknesses. In the live entertainment business, we have superpowers. I’ve now explained two of them (in my posts, part one and part two). Sadly, as Superman knows, sometimes those superpowers come with superweaknesses. Today, we’ll cover the third and final (for now) pair of superpowers/superweaknesses. I saved this one for last! The …

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Live entertainment and arts organizations sometimes do “pay-what-you-want” performances, where ticket buyers can decide how much (if anything) they want to pay to see a show. As a marketer and someone who knows a lot about the industry, I’ve never been a big fan of this tactic. Most of the time, it’s either a cop-out on the question of actually figuring out pricing to achieve the organization’s goals, or it’s a half-assed attempt to create “accessibility,” which can be better …

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When people inside an organization either can’t or won’t confront the reality of their business model, bad things tend to happen. Symphonies and orchestras are having an increasingly hard time balancing their P&Ls. Here are two unfortunate but typical recent stories detailing these challengs, about the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. It’s because people don’t care about those genres anymore, while costs just keep going up, right? And with little to no government involvement and a donor …

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Each week we gather up a few stories worth a read (or second read). And now, in case you missed them … • Crowdfunding works. That’s what the data reports for campaigns for theater and dance projects in the UK in the first part of this year. • British singer Sarah Brightman (Phantom of the Opera) wants to be the first to sing in space – and she’s willing to pay for it: $52 million. But she’s got some competition: …

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