Marketing will Kill the Arts!

Really?

Marketing is nothing more then a philosophy of doing business.

A Marketing organization believes that the knowing and understanding the customer, better then they know themselves, will lead to profitable growth.

Perhaps it was best put by Fats Waller, the great jazz pianist, " Find out what they want, and how they want it, and let 'em have it just that way."

This puts fear in the hearts of some.  Will this not lead to nothing but a christmas seasons of Messiahs, Spring Broadway Singalongs and the occasional Faure Requiem programmed in the middle?

If so Chanticleer would cease crowing, Seraphic Fire would be peddling matches and Craig Hella Johnsons's Conspirare would be blowing in the wind. And they are not. They are all vibrant successful inspiring practitioners of the choral arts.

Aiming for the lowest common denominator is not Marketing, it is "Selling". It is doing what everyone else does in the hopes that you will make a quick buck. There is nothing wrong with that if your market truly only wants blue jeans, white toyotas and vanilla ice cream.

But if you really understand the Choral Audience, research  and the examples above suggest a different view. There are many types of people in the choral arts world. Who lives in your community? what else do they support?  Where do they eat? What do they celebrate? Who do they care about? As the wise musician listens before he sings, the wise marketer listens to the consumer before they create,

so there is today's question Choral Nation

When was the last time you had a  real heart to heart with your audience?