Exclusive: The classical future as seen from the Borda

It was not entirely the one the International Artists Managers Association wanted to hear, but then she’s got the Dude and they haven’t. So she speaks and they listen.

And what she says is that there is a new landscape out there for classical concerts and a hundred new ways to reach it. But you don’t need my summary.

Here is her speech.

 

21^st
IAMA International Conference, London April 2011

 

April
13, MEDIA DAY: Artists and Media in a Changing Landscape: Keynote speech from

Deborah Borda, President and Chief Executive Office, LA
Phil:

 

 

 

MANY VOICES TO MANY EARS

 

Good morning. It is a pleasure to join you today. My
assignment this morning is to start us thinking about “artists and media in a
changing landscape”. I just flew in from California so it might be appropriate
to start with an overview from say 30,000 feet up to survey a constantly
shifting global phenomenon. Later on it might be stimulating to take a look at
some specific strategies we have used at the Los Angeles Philharmonic to gain
traction in this rapidly changing environment. After all, I come from a country
where my President, Barack Obama, tweets. And I can’t help noticing that Queen
Elizabeth now has a Facebook page.

 

No matter what segment of our industry you come from, I
hope that from the grand heights of policy to the very concrete there will be
something of use for you today — even if only to admit to a common emotion. May
we agree this is a rather scary time? Auden and Bernstein had their AGE OF
ANXIETY and now we have one of our very own. Remember “normal”? My supposition
is that that is a place to which we will never return. So we can either be
anxious or we can begin to think in adaptive, creative, and flexible ways.

 

We are in the midst of a far-reaching technological
revolution — one that is by turns either strangely underestimated or overblown.
The fallout from that change is redefining society — and the music profession,
which is having to redefine itself, is a microcosm of the larger world. The
problem is that we aren’t quite sure how best to adapt to this new world, and
to inhabit it vibrantly.

 

I realize that this is a music industry conference, so
please bear with me as I make a little detour into world politics. Only weeks
ago, we witnessed a stunning and swift populist revolution in Egypt. In a
highly repressive atmosphere, it was organized and implemented through social
media. In the “old days,” you fomented a revolution by sending in your troops
to take over a radio or TV station, rendering one voice to many ears. With the
advent of social media, this is no longer necessary. It is now many voices to
many ears. The internet connects hundreds of millions of people, and there is
no single controlling organization. As the author and social commentator
Malcolm Gladwell recently observed, “…hierarchies are sent askew and monopolies
are broken.”

 

Here’s a stunning fact: 1 in 13 people in the entire world
are now on Facebook, according to the source Online Schools. The individual can
broadcast to many, becoming the distributor and the broadcaster, via social
media and YouTube. This, along with changing distribution technologies, means
we are in a media landscape that offers the consumer almost limitless options
for information and content. It’s up to all of us to try to figure out how to
use new media successfully. Adaptability, as Darwin realized, is the key. We
must understand the importance of adapting to the changing landscape, and do it
with the greatest possible flexibility, because everything may change again by
the end of this year, or even the end of this speech.

 

Consumers no longer obtain information from a single
source, and they formulate their opinions via a tapestry of sources. Little
more than a decade ago, three major television networks ruled the airwaves in
the United States. Americans formed their worldview through them. Now even a
modest cable package offers 400 stations. A nation of viewers which defined
itself and the world by watching three channels is now flooded with
alternatives. Newspaper executives are frantically trying to capture audience
and dollars in an age when it is easier and often free to go online. The number
of paper books I have purchased in the past two years has diminished by 90%
because I have my trusty Kindle. And I am a hard-core reader who loves the feel
and look of an old-fashioned print book. Our descendants will laugh their
holographic heads off when they hear about us having driven back and forth to
video stores.

 

The rate of change in the world and our industry is
dizzying. Access to more information, more easily, is surely positive — but
there is a flip side: with it comes more “noise,” more competition for the
attention of our music lover, the consumer, our patron. Today’s consumer is
always connected, with many windows open on several devices. Our challenge is
to use new media to attract and hold these consumers, to “friend” them. The
trouble is many of the people who need to exploit new technology too often
stand in its way. Given the impact of Napster at the end of the 20^th
century, why did we not all immediately understand the change in consumer
buying patterns and the importance of iTunes when it arrived in 2003? We missed
the boat, and we can’t do that again.

 

 

This leads me back to our art, our passion — the world of
music. There has truly been a “paradigm shift” in the landscape, both
technologically and in changing audience expectations. Let’s quick-scan a list
of a real-time progression of change.

 

The ’90s saw a boom in product demand as the world
transferred their musical archive to CDs. We have now made another Olympian
leap — to digital distribution. Immediate access and availability of product is
now both a reality and an expectation. Audiences can download a full album
within seconds of release, or sign on to YouTube to see video captured by fans
at a concert, or a TV show they may have missed. The fact that more than 2
billion videos are viewed daily on YouTube is a testament to current audience
appetite for content, and especially audio-visual content, which at one time
was much more expensive for the average individual to produce.

 

With access to so much content, a lot of it free, audiences
on average are less apt to pay as much as they once did for recordings. Sales
for a successful album have been readjusted in the last decade. When I was
Managing Director of the New York Philharmonic in the early ’90s, we counted on
close to one million dollars a year in recording royalties flowing to our
coffers. While I can’t reveal another orchestra’s secrets, the amount today is
a fraction of that and this holds true across the board for American
orchestras.

 

The same rise in social media which led to political
dethroning, has meant that our audience can provide us with immediate feedback.
Not long ago, we expected to get a few letters a couple of days after a
controversial program. Now, within minutes it’s on our Facebook page. This is a
mighty tool and our single most direct connection to our audience. The real
time interchange with audiences is so valuable that high-level marketing
professionals speculate that social media, properly used, may supplant current
audience research methods.

 

Audience expectation is a two-headed monster which demands
care and feeding — but a monster properly harnessed can be a very good friend.
Audiences now demand instant gratification. They want access to artists, top
notch artistic product; they have higher expectations and want it cheaper, free,
and with fewer barriers to gaining access. “Why can’t I get exactly the seat I
see on this chart for the concert?” or “Why can’t I have a freshly burned CD of
this concert as I walk out the door?” However, what sounds like doom and gloom
in terms of growing expectations is, in fact, positive, because never before
have we been able to get closer to our audience. So, let’s see how we can do
it.

 

I speak to you today through a rather specific lens — my
role as the executive leader of an American orchestra which in the past decade
has become the single largest symphonic institution in the US and second only
to the Metropolitan Opera in budget size. We have tried to re-imagine and
redesign ourselves as a broad-spectrum producer of music, media, and
educational initiatives. We guide our decision-making by our commitment to two
deeply held values — innovation and excellence. That may sound a bit
simplistic, but we have found that rigorous dedication to these principles has
resulted in vibrant and varied artistic production as well as fiscal stability.
That said, we have found the changing landscape of media very challenging to
navigate.

 

Might new media and the internet allow us to establish a
globalized brand, an opportunity to spread our mission and differentiate
ourselves in a crowded landscape? An opportunity to become a trusted partner,
curator, in providing the very best in musical content and experiences for our
consumers? We think so. Here are some concrete ways (which in real time may no
longer sound particularly innovative to you) in which the LA Phil has embraced
the changing media landscape.

 

When we began distributing concerts on iTunes in 2005, it
was a radical departure from commitment to physical product. As one of the
first orchestras to welcome digital distribution, we had to make fundamental
changes in approach and concept. First, a new financial arrangement with
orchestra members was necessary, one that treated new media differently from
traditional media. Basically, this meant not paying the musicians upfront but
using a profit-sharing model. Next, a much quicker turnaround of recordings for
release was critical. For us, the numbers might not have been as strong but we
decided that the promotional impact would be of high value because it was
crucial to our brand that we be “in the space”. It was and is particularly
important that the releases be representative of the organization’s and music
director’s artistic vision, including our commitment to new music, to better
define our brand.

 

One very successful way we have deepened the relationship
with our audience is with mobile apps — three in particular. With BRAVO GUSTAVO
— an engaging game with the phone as a baton — you can conduct excerpts from a
Mahler Symphony with Gustavo. Our LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl apps let you get
anything from tickets, program, and artists information, to a map of our
orchestra layout and individual musician photos, as well as a wealth of other
information. These apps are free, and enhance the patron experience. All three
have had more than 100,000 downloads.

 

The key benefit of this tool is that it opens up a two-way
conversation with consumers and increases our presence in the lives of our
audience so that we can stay relevant and “top of mind”. It is one of many
channels through which we communicate to our audience. The LA Phil’s Facebook
pages have a combined following of approximately 45,000 followers. We are also able
to speak to our digital family via Twitter, about virtually anything,
distribute exclusive content, and run promotions.

 

As we planned the introduction of our new Music Director
Gustavo Dudamel we wanted to send a strong message to a broad audience. This
message had to do with community, education, and music for all, and it was
critical that we leverage new media to deliver it. Dudamel’s first concert as
our Music Director was called “Bienvenido Gustavo,” a free 8-hour extravaganza
at the Hollywood Bowl that featured jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock, star
rock artists like Flea, and YOLA, our El Sistema-inspired youth orchestra, led
by Gustavo. The evening culminated in a performance of the Beethoven 9 with the
LA Phil and a mega community chorus. We streamed all 8 hours. Every artist on
the stage accepted no media compensation — a major change from the past. We
employed media to send a strong message — not for monetary gain. In turn, this
allowed us, and everyone involved in the day, a unique opportunity to connect
in LA and around the world with 40,000 viewers tuning in.

 

When the Metropolitan Opera launched their live HD
transmissions, many considered it a publicity stunt, a one-year wonder.
Surprise! It’s a hit. Soon after, the Berlin Philharmonic began HD transmissions
which are available online in the orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall. At the LA
Phil, we saw a unique opportunity to further establish our brand by utilizing
the singular assets of Gustavo Dudamel, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and our
orchestra. Here was a platform to bring music to more people in a live (key
word) and engaging way. These broadcasts let audiences see Gustavo and the
orchestra in new ways — literally being in Gustavo’s
dressing room just before the concert, in live interviews backstage, in
rehearsal clips and insightful pre-taped interviews — all of which allows each
viewer to be a fly on the wall as everyone prepares for the concert (and
recovers after). We are now playing in more than 500 theaters in the US and
Canada and our audience share has grown after just two concerts. This is an
investment in brand building and also keeps the band right on their
mettle.

 

Now a few summary thoughts as we kick off these meetings.
We are staring head on at a singular opportunity. Yes, it is about audience
access, changing expectations, and the allocation of resources to keep up. What
will be required to stay on top of the multi-channel 21st-century conversation
we may now hold with our audiences?

 

More importantly, it is about agility and action to stay
relevant. We require a long-term view, which is not so different from the past,
but access, tools, and revenue streams have surely changed. Finally, let’s return
to that 30,000-foot view where we began this morning to acknowledge something
else. Creating impact in this new media landscape is about alignment of
institutional values. It is dangerous to adapt values to a new technology or
system of delivery; this is how organizations or individual artists could lose
sight of their mission, identity, and central purpose. It is about the concept
that we are building brands, not only producing recordings as an end unto
themselves. In the end, innovation and excellence must be our guides.

 

In closing, I would simply like to observe that since I
began this talk, 34 million videos have been watched on You Tube. It is a time
of many voices to many ears. Thank you very much.