Artists' attitudes to marketing: a cross‐cultural perspective

Abstract

Abstract Although the music industry is dominated by a few global players, the vast majority of musical performances are by nonprofit organisations, self‐employed musicians or small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But, while a great deal has been written about the marketing of music—distribution, branding, audience development, etc.—comparatively little is known about the attitudes of musicians themselves to marketing, despite the fact their role as both product and producer is so central to the musical experience. The research sets out to gain an understanding of this neglected topic by undertaking a cross‐cultural analysis of musicians from two different cultures: it compares the attitudes of artists in a mature, post‐industrial economy (UK) with those in a post‐communist, emerging democracy (Poland). The research finds that society, culture and the economic environment appear to shape attitudes far less than art itself. Across both cultures the research discovers at best an ambivalence towards marketing, and at worst a general antipathy towards the whole notion of art‐as‐business. The implications of these findings, if replicated across other countries, other musical genres and across the arts as a whole, could be worrying. Historically, the arts have been dominated by nonprofit organisations funded at least in part by public and private subsidies, funds which are being substantially eroded in both mature economies and in developing nations. The challenge for nonprofits and SMEs in the arts, then, is about achieving some sort of engagement with business and marketing, without losing their artistic integrity in the process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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