Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too.

Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too. Ideo: Is Jazz School The Next Great Innovation Incubator? We call our approach design thinking. Berklee doesn’t have a name for their mind-set yet (“jazz thinking” or “music thinking” come to mind), but the similarities between the two have led us to believe there are fundamental entrepreneurial traits in the professional creative process. How Does Crowdfunding Change the Picture for Artists? Digital platforms let people successfully and efficiently sort into narrow niches, to find a vibrant-yet-specialized community of interest. These better matches are game-changers for some, but it may not be a boon for everyone. Introducing a New Tool for Unlocking the Power of Media Grants Data. Developed by Foundation Center and available on the Media Impact Funders’ website, this new tool enables users to see, understand, and dig deep into the numbers, networks, and trends surrounding media and philanthropy. Web Site Offers First Ever-Live Stream of a Broadway Show for $10. While tickets to the New York production are going for $52 to $147, the streamed show — offering 10 camera angles — goes for a mere $9.99 on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Or you can enjoy it on big TV screens by using Apple TV and Roku set-top boxes, but only if you pick a $169.99 (year-long) or $14.99 (one month) subscription to BroadwayHD. U.S. Dept. Of Justice Deals Crushing Blow To Songwriters. Songwriting and music licensing is one of the most strongly regulated areas in entertainment, […] Streaming services, in particular, have greatly disrupted the industry and led to tremendous declines in the revenue paid to songwriters. However, songwriters’ hands are mostly bound, because the federal government’s Consent Decree mandates how songwriters can be paid.

New book for your summer reading list: The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon (photo by Lisa Niedermeyer) The title of Nina Simon’s new book, The Art of Relevance, perfectly sets up our expectations as a reader. It could have been titled The Ultimate Guide to Relevance, or 10 Steps to Being More Relevant, but Simon would never choose such titles because she understands relevance is a moving target. Framing the pursuit of relevance as an art primes us to seek insights into process. Many of you already know Nina’s work from her popular blog Museum 2.0, her best selling book The Participatory Museum or her TEDx Talk Opening Up the Museum. However, for those of you who don’t recognize the name, here is all you need to know in order to be interested in this book’s author — Nina is hungry for accountability. It is not enough to just talk about building relevance in diverse communities, she is deeply invested in what actually works and holding oneself accountable. Before reading this book my working definition of ‘relevance’ was something along the lines of ‘to be relevant you must be in tune with the current environment; you are topical and timely’. Simon replaces such milk-toast definitions of relevance with the following: Relevance is a key that unlocks meaning. It opens doors to experiences that matter to us, surprise us, and bring value into our lives. If we believe the products, services and experiences we create are relevant to a certain audience, but we aren’t unlocking new meaningful experiences for that audience, we aren’t in fact relevant to them at all. Take a moment to let that truly sink in. Many of us are likely attempting to market to, invite, and build for specific communities, but are we unlocking new information that is meaningful to the lives of those individuals? What would it look like if we did? What does it take to authentically do it well? How might the pursuit of relevance change us? What is the danger of irrelevance? The Art of Relevance is an opportunity to learn from others stories and Simon’s thoughtful framing. As I read the book I dog-eared page after page, making notes of the people in my world that I wanted to share the a-ha’s with. Here are the groupings those folks fell into, I highly recommend this book to: People designing new experiences (artists, software developers, curators). People leading efforts around equity and inclusion (arts admins, founders, board members). People advocating for the intersection of communities (disability + dance, museum + homeless, lgbt + race). People tuning into potential for scalable relevance (philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs). The Art of Relevance is an engaging, 196 page read, anchored with stories and examples ranging from small artist-led community projects to large established institutions. (It’s worth noting 2 of the projects featured are Fractured Atlas members and past honorees of our Arts Entrepreneurship Award. Kudos to Museum of Impact and The Laundromat Project!). While the e-book version offers the convenience of reading on the device of your choice, the printed version offers a bright key covered front, thoughtfully designed as a social object. What conversations might be sparked with a stranger on a plane, on a park bench, on your commute, because you are both curious about unlocking meaning?

Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Catacomb of Veils.

Arts, Technology, and Business Stories to Watch by Fractured Atlas Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too.

Arts, Technology, and Business Stories to Watch by Fractured Atlas Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here).

This May, Fractured Atlas had the opportunity to bring together the 2016 Arts Entrepreneurship Awards honorees in New York City. The event, Creative to the Core, celebrated the work of five organizations who are pushing the boundaries of conventional business practice in the arts. Representatives from each organization engaged in an insightful panel discussion about what it takes to bring innovative approaches to their arts businesses and their visions for the future of the field.

Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Such A Funny Life. Cover Photo by Gavin Whitner (https://musicoomph.com)

On Wednesday May 4th, Fractured Atlas fiscally sponsored artists hit an unprecedented milestone: collectively, they have raised over $100 million dollars since the program launched in 2002. These artists, groups, and organizations shared a belief that their work had value, and that their communities would not only welcome it, but also financially support it through fiscal sponsorship. And they were right: their patrons, fans, and institutional partners were right there with them, contributing the funds necessary to create and share their work.