Upcoming Stress Tests For Musician Governance

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” is one of those quotes that comes as a razor-sharp double-edged sword. It’s been crossing my mind as of late with regard to some of the larger challenges orchestra musicians are likely to face in Covid era negotiations. First off, there are going to be no shortage of legitimate reasons why budgets will be stressed but history is full of examples where executive …

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Embracing Innovation Over Hibernation

There’s a fabulous piece making the rounds written by Seth Pinsky that was originally published in the 6/13/2020 edition of cnn.com. Pinsky, the former head of New York’s Economic Development Corporation under Mayor Bloomberg and the CEO of the 92nd Street Y, provides the cultural sector with exactly the right advice at exactly the right time. Now that we’re starting to see the very beginnings of cancellations from larger budget orchestras …

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Don’t Be A Domino

In case you haven’t heard the news, the New York Philharmonic announced the cancellation of all performances through January 5, 2021. Is that discouraging news? Yes, but there’s no reason for it to be the first domino to tip. Undoubtedly, the New York Philharmonic’s leadership team spent a great deal of time analyzing options before arriving at a decision. Every other orchestra will be well-served to follow a similar process. More …

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How To Be “That Guy” In Arts Administration

The past several days (months?) have been a trying time but that doesn’t mean things are beyond our control or ability to influence. To that end, efforts like #BlackoutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused have garnered a great deal of participation among performing arts organizations. At the same time, it’s good to be honest and to that end, ArtsAdminSay posted a tweet that cuts deep ✅ Change social media profile pic to a b/w …

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The Murder Hornets Of Copyright Infringement Bots

Apparently, things were way too easy for everyone figuring out the world of live classical music online content delivery. #sarcasm So, to help keep things spicy, copyright infringement algorithms (bots) decided to use the authority on behalf of their owners to shut down your live stream and/or archived content. The 5/21/2020 edition of the Washington Post published an eye-opening article written by Michael Andor Brodeur on this topic and here’s the …

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