240 stories by "Adam Thurman"
One of the arguments I frequently hear about why the "fine arts" are dead/dying is because of the poor taste of the American people. Things would be so much better if we were not all caught …
Sometimes I get asked why I don't try to make Mission Paradox bigger. People wonder why I don't hire employees and try to expand. The short answer is that I don't want to be responsible for …
At my day job we are in the middle of one of those "critical acclaim" moments. The professional critics have signed off on the current production and it has had an immediate impact on sales.…
"How do you built a small fortune in the arts?" "You start with a large fortune." The arts are a horrible business. For profit. Non-profit. It doesn't matter. Any business where costs can sk…
During my travels I tend to run into two types of folks: 1. Gig hunters - These are primarily artists, freelancers and other creative types who are looking for short term opportunities to di…
So a guy with a relatively high profile in the little world of the arts writes an article for the Huff Post. In the article he talks about the "death" of traditional arts criticism and the g…
Last week, during a social media workshop I was conducting, a participant did something that I love. She noticed her own behavior. In this case she noticed how she checks a lot of social med…
Let's do a little housekeeping: 1. THANK YOU to the hundreds of folks that get this blog via your email or an RSS reader. Your presence is both noted and appreciated. 2. If you're in Chicago…
The musician updates her Facebook status and the paid downloads of her musics jumps up. The arts organization sends out an email and the ticket buyers step up. That's the dream of social med…
Most risks are overblown. No, that slightly provocative Facebook post you did is not going to ruin the company. No, trying that new artistic choice isn't going to blow up everything. It may …
Placing ads is easy. Convincing your box office people to become sales people is hard. Sending a tweet is easy. Convincing your organization to have more transparency in the world of social …
In 2008 I wrote this post. The gist of it was that people don't attend artistic events for the reasons people expect. For example, many people don't attend classic musical productions becaus…
I was on a Riverboat tour in New Orleans. It was a lovely day. We went down the Mississippi River. The tour guide gave historical facts to help us understand what we were seeing. I was getti…
It's ironic to say this given what I do for a living, but I think we focus way too much on the mix of artistic and business skills. Don't get me wrong, understanding how to create work, prom…
Part of the "truth" of art is that we don't know what is going to work. We have our theories. We have our really good guesses. But you never really know. Another "truth" is that the more tim…
This is from 2010, but I think it's still relevant. It's a two part audio of a presentation I did on Authentic Arts Marketing. If you're short on time, just check out Part 2. Link to the aud…
It helps if you start by acknowledging that you don't know exactly what people want. I mean sure you may know the basics, that people want to be treated with respect, that they enjoy good cu…
Price is another one of those flags you waive that indicates who you intend on serving. Art is such a complex thing so you can't really have a simple set of rules about how to price what you…
This is the Mission Paradox Blog. I'm your friendly host, Adam Thurman Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketin…
One of the hardest transitions to make is from an artists (or organization) that is used to spending very little to create and market work . . . to one that needs to spend more. Sometimes sp…
They like their flags in New Orleans. That's one of the things I observed walking down Bourbon Street. It's like most things in life. It's a street filled with choices. I lost count of the n…
When's the last time you listened to a record that was absolutely horrible? I don't mean a song that doesn't fit your particular taste. I mean a song with poor audio, misplayed instruments, …
I get this question a lot: "How can get my audience/friends to spread the word about my art?" I'll be honest, my first instinct when I'm asked this question is to dance around it. I want to …
Most people have never heard of me. They never will. That's probably true for you as well. Can you handle that? Can you handle the fact that you can have a pretty successful career and still…
Now is not the time to put your artistic skills on the shelf. You need them now more then ever. That's true whether you plan or pursing an artistic career or you want a more traditional, non…
