10 ideas on the future of the arts (20<40)

My recent post about possible leaders in the arts under 40 (20<40) ended up getting some traction. The idea it was based on wasn't mine, but rather comes from an upcoming book on 20 new ideas by emerging leaders in the arts who are all under 40. I've been selected to submit a chapter, and hope to do so soon. The idea of the book isn't to discuss who are the leaders, but to listen to their ideas about the future of the field.  In the spirit of openness, I submit my idea below for your feedback and advice. The chapter I am contemplating writing (and I have to do it soon) is about some key changes in the arts. Not the most cutting edge changes, mind you, but those that I think will have the most impact in the next few years. These ideas will be old-hat to anyone who thinks about these matters a lot, but I think they bring together some of the more important changes we face in the arts in general - and of course to film, particularly as that's where I work. So, tell me what you agree with, disagree with, think is more important, etc. I promise that I'll consider all responses before submitting my final chapter. So here's what I think:



 While pinning down the future has a notoriously low success rate, one can often find value not by predicting the future but by looking at key trends in the current moment and making strategic prognostications about their importance to the future. Below are the ten trends I think will impact the arts significantly in the next few years. Many of these trends are noted most often in regards to digital technology, especially through the internet, but each points to larger socio-cultural changes which hold equal importance to all the arts:

1. Disintermediation - Also known as the rise of the crowd; Digital has disintermediated culture, and this profoundly changes the top-down systems of the arts;
2. Participatory - Audiences can now easily participate actively in the art they consume, and expect to be able to do so. Organizations must address this shift in their programming and outreach and even in how they create and curate their shows;
3. Social/Community - Arts organizations must participate in and build online communities in a natural way (i.e. not just marketing). It also changes how artists can build their own fan base - crowd-sourcing production and dissemination of their work (with or without organizational assistance);
4. Multi-platform and viral - While this is an obvious trait of online content - people want content when, where and how they want it, on whatever device they prefer and they want to share it - it also affects how they interact with any cultural content. Audiences care less about the venue than what’s there and may want to hear from BAM where Grupo Corpo plays next, not just the next time they play at BAM;
5. Global, Diverse and Niche - It has become easier to connect with, share information and interact with global, more diverse audiences. Likewise, what has formerly been seen as niche audiences can more easily be connected. The demographics of the US have changed dramatically. Arts orgs have largely ignored these changes;
6. Free & Superabundant - In digital, a copy is just zeros and ones and thus copies are free. As copies become superabundant, new systems of value arise - for example, getting a new song is less valuable than seeing the performer live. The changing nature of value has profound implications for arts/cultural organizations;
7. Remix - People can now not just participate with arts in new ways, they can remix these experiences, create new art and then share it. Copyright isn’t addressing these changes, and neither are arts organizations;
8. Electracy - Greg Ulmer has proposed that we’ve shifted from orality to literacy to electracy - where all thought, processes, writing, storytelling, business practices - are based on or mediated by electronic, visual, motion media communication. This is not media literacy, but rather a paradigmatic shift which the cultural sector should not just be aware of but should be leading, as the changes will profoundly alter our world;
9. With-Profit - Consumers no longer care about the distinctions between for and nonprofit sectors (if they ever did) and the most interesting experiments may lie at the juncture of the two, which I have termed “with-profit” endeavours;
10.  Downsized and Merged - As the economy continues to bring bad news to the sector, many nonprofits will fold or merge, but the field as a whole must contend with a new notion, that digital changes business practices fundamentally. If Craigslist can downsize an entire $1 billion industry to one $100-million company (as it has done with classified advertising), what does this mean for established business practices in the arts?

What do you think are the key trends impacting film, media, the arts and culture?