Two Reports to Guide Culture Industry

Living as we are in a capitalist society, arts organizations are often called upon to justify their funding requests in comparison with the other economic needs of the community they serve. It can get to be a sticky debate when the more esoteric cerebral needs of the public face off against the financial bottom line. Two reports have recently been released that may help presenters of the arts in that endeavor.

Strictly dealing with economic realities, Industries 2005: The Congressional Report is a new study released by Americans for the Arts that demonstrates how arts-related businesses provide significant employment across the U.S. The report considers creative industries “the high-octane fuel that drives the ‘information economy’—the fastest growing segment of the nation’s economy.”

The study covers six creative industries: museums and collections; performing arts; visual arts and photography; film, radio, and TV; design and publishing; arts schools and services. In summary, the report shows that arts-centric organizations represent 4.4 percent of all businesses and 2.2 percent of all jobs in the country. More than 578,000 arts-related businesses employ 2.965 million people and more than half of the Congressional districts have at least 5,200 arts-centric employees. Individual reports break down the statistics by Congressional district. Music is singled out under the performing arts category.

On the radio side, the news with regard to the nations public radio station has been a bit dark of late as station continue to announce a decrease in musical programming to make way for more popular talk-radio shows. American Public Media’s Classical Music Initiative has released Classical Radio 101: A Primer for Performing Arts Partnerships.

The report is a guide to today’s classical music radio universe and a primer on how radio is made. The paper includes ideas and tips for partnering with local public radio stations and national distributors, plus information on funding resources, rights and clearances, web initiatives, audience research, and more. To download a copy, visit www.classicalmusicinitiative.org.