Author: Policy Consulting Associates

Publication Year: 1977

Media Type: Report

Summary:

In February 1977, the Arts and Culture Branch of the Secretary of State Department commissioned Policy Consulting Associates Ltd. to develop a program of research that would investigate the economic aspects of the performing arts in Canada. A Consultative Committee, comprising a small group knowledgeable in the arts, from government, academic and performing arts communities, was convened to advise in the development of the study program and recommendations for specific research projects. The substance of this report thus comprises a list of possible research projects and the reasons for focussing on these particular areas of study.

Abstract:

In February 1977, the Arts and Culture Branch of the Secretary of State Department commissioned Policy Consulting Associates Ltd. to develop a program of research that would investigate the economic aspects of the performing arts in Canada. A Consultative Committee, comprising a small group knowledgeable in the arts, from government, academic and performing arts communities, was convened to advise in the development of the study program and recommendations for specific research projects. The substance of this report thus comprises a list of possible research projects and the reasons for focussing on these particular areas of study.

To initiate the investigation into the economic workings of the performing arts the consultants conducted a series of interviews with persons directly involved with the performing arts either as participants, administrators, or funding officials. Two main questions were used, with minor variations, to generate discussion, What do you consider to be the major economic issues facing the performing arts in Canada? and If you were able to make a few changes that would benefit the performing arts in Canada economically, what would they be?

Those interviewed revealed a whole range of economic concerns, from retirement plans for artists to the need to make more money available for experimental ideas to the difficulty of hiring good administrators. The problems are clear: artists lack income security; grants are not keeping up with inflation; touring costs are skyrocketing; but the solutions are less obvious. It was suggested for example, in music, that more orchestras just below top grade were needed to which young musicians could graduate, that the Canadian recording industry should make more Canadian discs available - this would increase musicians' income and enlarge their public, that companies should investigate the possibility of earning more revenue from non-box office activities (bar income, sale of programs, pamphlets, etc), and that tariffs affecting musical instruments should be altered. As to what research studies should be undertaken, numerous ideas were also offered: investigate the effect of raising ticket prices on box office income, examine the impact of unions on costs, review the role of boards of directors and their relationship to artistic directors.

Another phase of the early stages of investigation involved a correspondence campaign. On the advice of the Consultative Committee a letter was sent out in both French and English to more than thirty people in the performing arts community soliciting their views on the major economic issues confronting the arts. Many of the same kinds of problems as those identified in the interviews were described. A review of the literature available on the economics of the performing arts was also conducted. Letters were sent to a number of research organizations in other countries to enquire about their activities and to secure information on completed studies. Bibliographies on the performing arts were collected and consolidated.

This paper is the result of the work just described. It develops a conceptual framework and a set of specific research proposals regarding the economics of the performing arts. It is intended to be used as a discussion paper in subsequent consultations which will be conducted by or on behalf of the Secretary of State Department to review the proposed research program. It is hoped that this study program may also serve as a framework within which the research activities of other groups and agencies, such as Statistics Canada, the Canada Council, provincial arts councils and universities, etc., may be coordinated or related.

In the next chapter of the report, the general aims a research program into the performing arts should serve are first examined. The problem of building a conceptual framework and ultimately an economic model in which to organize information about the performing arts is discussed in Chapter III. Chapter IV builds on the conceptual framework utilizing a research matrix to illustrate the large number of research projects which might conceivably be undertaken in connection with the economics of the performing arts. Chapter V describes the 14 key studies of the proposed program which, in the consultants' view, seem to cover the most central research requirements.

It is recognized that this priority list may well be modified through the consultations mentioned above. Indeed, the central purpose of this report is not to offer dogmatic views about research priorities - this is an issue upon which many people may quite legitimately have very different ideas. Rather, its purpose is to provide a framework for informed discussion about the range of possibilities. While a complete analysis of the economic workings of the performing arts may never be fully achieved, it is our hope that the research program which emerges from this paper and the subsequent consultations will bring us closer to an understanding of the central problems and relationships. The report is complemented by several appendices, the most important of which is a detailed, select bibliography organized according to the main areas of research proposed in this paper. (p. 1-3)

CONTENTS
1. Introduction.

2. Rationale for a research program:

Why studies need to be conducted.
Objectives for a research program.

3. The conceptual framework:

An economic model of the performing arts.
Applying the model.

4. Areas of research concern:

Using the Matrix.
1. The performing arts industry. 
2. The performing arts industry and the economy.
3. The performing arts and the environment.

5. Recommended research program:

Selection criteria.
Recommended research studies.
Implementation responsibilities.

Appendices: 
     a. Elements of the performing arts.
     b. Elements of the economy related to the performing arts industry.
     c. Definitions of key terms.
     d. Applying the model: 
              Part 1. The economic model designating principal players and principal
                         economic flows in the performing arts industry.
              Part 2. The economic model designating the economic flows particular to the
                         classical ballet company.
     e. Determination of the scope of research.
     f.  Selective annotated bibliography.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Creative Economies