This is an incredibly important question, and I think that however one answers it philosophically, the reality prevails: the benefits of generating an audience or "fanbase" for your music program are too great to be ignored.
As arts teachers in today's world, the more support there is for our programs the better. We cannot possibly have enough support. While it is unfortunate that we must constantly look for outside support to justify our programs, there is also a benefit to this: we can generate support. Not just a little, but a lot. We can generate a thriving fan community if we work hard enough. Other disciplines have no opportunities to generate community support in this way. Sure, they are reliably funded from the district, but parents and community leaders rarely turn out to show their support of the math program, no matter how good it is. With an effective music program and marketing strategy, concerts and shows can become important community events whose value is evident. And what more could we ask for than the value of our programs being evident?
- Quantity. Play as often as possible. Book the maximum amount of performances. Bands need both exposure and performance practice to become community staples, and this gives them both. There will obviously be limitations for a high school group, especially if it is large- but it isn't necessarily one specific band that you need at every event. You simply need groups of students (big or small) that represent the music program.
- Get online. And I don't mean have a website, or have a YouTube page. I mean actively cultivate the program's social media. This is how people find things these days, and you need to be easy to find. Post things the band is working on, take polls and suggestions from parents and non-music students, do social media raffles, get people following you because they want to access your page's content. Make your social media presence such that someone in California would want to follow your page simply because it's a great page to follow. Get students involved in this process, they know better than anyone what works.
- Play music that people want to hear. Cater to your audience. Surely you should make your own artistic decisions as a group as well, but always consider what the audience wants. The more you give them what they want to hear, the more they'll come back to hear it. Also, play covers! Cover pop tunes and put them on YouTube- maybe even regularly. Nobody is on YouTube searching for the name of your band, but they are searching the name of their favorite song...
- Entertain people. Music is entertainment, and I don't think there's any shame in playing that up. Make sure that concerts and shows are enjoyable places to go with plenty to do. Combine events with other performing groups and other disciplines entirely. Teach people how to dance to the music you play. Have people participate. Break down the wall between performers and audience.
These are just a few ideas, but I suppose I could boil it down to one overarching concept. If one wants to generate and sustain an audience, they need to engage with that audience as much as humanly possible. Seek every way to engage with the community, parents, and other kids. Most of all, give that audience something tangible to engage with, not just a seated performance twice a year!
Good point about #3, although it does invite the copyright police squad. I'm curious how you would melt the "serious" with the entertaining. Or--does what is entertaining change over time?
ReplyDeleteGood point about #3, although it does invite the copyright police squad. I'm curious how you would melt the "serious" with the entertaining. Or--does what is entertaining change over time?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of entertainment. It is important and doesn't mean children lose out on more altruistic music. They students remember what was fun as opposed to what the teacher finds enriching.
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic post all the way around and particularly thought-provoking for both current and pre-service music educators alike. You are absolutely right that the benefits of creating, maintaining and building an audience far outweigh the potential aggravation of the work that goes into generating "numbers". The idea of establishing a "thriving fan base" for each of our respective programs, regardless of whether they are band, orchestra, choir or jazz based, is something that every director should aspire to do. With the technology that is available in 2015, this responsibility should most certainly not fall solely on the shoulders of the director alone. Dylan mentioned the idea of an "elevator speech", where learners are taught how to create a thirty-second blurb that highlights the important components of any idea, concept or in this case performance event. I had never thought of doing something like this, but when you think of a "Public Speaking" class at the high school level, this vision is totally applicable. Pupils need to be taught how to conduct themselves in front of an audience, both musically and conversationally, with the utmost professionalism. This is a skill that future employers will certainly be evaluating and should be considered invaluable for mere existence in society. In conjunction with the aforementioned proposal, we return to the idea of teaching students how to use technology in an educational and productive manner. We should by no means assume that children or adolescents understand Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Snapchat outside the realm of mere social banter. However, I think we all know that when used effectively, these means of social networking, communicating and "connecting" can do a great deal for the aspiring artist looking to broaden his or her audience/fan-base. Learners should be enthusiastic about creating an event invitation on Facebook, which will subsequently be shot out into the nether, for all of their "friends" to see. The same goes for any technologically based discussion forum or means of advertising.
Music educators worldwide should set the goal of having their concerts, recitals, gigs, public performances and presentations become annual events that are lauded and looked forward to by members of the local community and potentially enthusiasts around the globe. I completely agree with you that students should be given as many opportunities to publicly perform as possible. The trials and tribulations that accompany any performance-based organization need to be rewarded, and what better way to do that then by giving musicians a means to showcase their sweat and toil? Music educators at all academic levels should strive to have as many ensembles as they can handle, because the more membership opportunities that exist within a music program, the greater the enrollment will be over time. Playing music that people want to hear is vital to sustaining audience interest. In my own posting for this particular blog prompt, I reference a resource entitled "Building Your Audience To Standing Room Only" by David P. Miller, conductor of the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band, which discusses the idea of programming at least two to three selections in every concert that are crowd favorites, meaning people will enthusiastically welcome this repertoire, while also becoming all that much more receptive to alternative and potentially newer material, which they are not quite as familiar with. Pop tunes are definitely key in this area, because as you perfectly allude to, people are not looking for specific artists when they go on You Tube in search of a song, and even if they are, the connection that they have to whatever the tune may be could prompt them to check out "covers", out of sheer curiosity as to what other musicians might do with this same musical vehicle. Entertainment is crucial and I think that Conrad O. Johnson and the Kashmere Stage Band epitomize what a bit of ingenuity and risk-taking can do, in terms of an ambitious, forward-thinking director adding choreography and "pyrotechnics" of a sort to an ensemble's live presentation. Interdisciplinary performance is something that is becoming ever more pervasive, both in higher education and within the annals of public school. Not only does this teach children how to collaborate, but it broadens one's "fan base" monumentally, exposing people to artistic disciplines they might not have any background in whatsoever. Breaking down the wall between performers and an audience is something that I continue to grapple with, because while I think that it is much more feasible then we realize, there isn't a concrete way of exactly how to go about doing it. This should be an overarching goal for any music educator, particularly since we know that once an audience becomes actively involved in a performance, they are that much likelier to want more, hence ensuring that they will come back in the future for another taste of the festivities. You address many important points my friend and as always I thoroughly enjoyed reading your writing. Many thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete-Matt Chasen-