News Summary 09.2013

With the launch of our new website, we also introduce the AMT-Lab News Summary, a monthly selection of articles that highlight innovations, challenges, and developments in the field of arts management and technology. Enjoy!

Accessibility

Free Tools to Test Your Nonprofit’s Website for Accessibility (NTEN)

Does your organization have an accessible website? This article suggests free tools that detect issues and will help you to improve the accessibility of your website.

Analytics

Hollywood Wants Numbers on the Digital Box Office (New York Times)

Subscription services, like Netflix, and on-demand providers, like the cable companies and iTunes, are growing. However, there is no industry wide data available on the digital performance of individual movies. In this article, Liesl Copland, a former Netflix executive and now working for one of Hollywood’s largest agencies William Morris, describes the problem of lacking data and discusses the benefits and challenges of sharing digital performance information.

Apps

6 Museum Apps for Virtual Field Trips (Mashable)

Do you want to know more about best-practice examples of museum apps? Then have a look at this short review of six museum apps of the well-known American and European institutions Museum of Modern Art, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Guggenheim, Musée du Louvre, American Museum of Natural History and National Gallery London.

How we made the Beethoven’s 9th Symphony App (The Guardian)

Earlier in 2013, Touch Press released the classical music app “Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” that has been downloaded 680,000 times so far. In this article, Max Withby, co-founder and CEO of Touch Press, illustrates how the app was designed, developed and delivered.

Digital Marketing

Who is not online and why? (Pew Internet)

What are the main reasons adults do not use the Internet? How is the non-usage correlated with demographics, such as age, education and household income? And how do 85% of adults who do go online experience connecting to the Internet? The study “Who is not online and why?” answers these questions based on a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in Spring 2013.

Performing Arts Digital Marketing Benchmarks (Capacity Interactive)

In Summer 2013, the digital marketing consulting agency Capacity Interactive Inc. carried out a survey among 50 American performing arts organizations. The report sheds light on where the industry stands in terms of digital marketing efforts regarding the aspects paid digital media, social media, analytics, mobile, website and email.

Education

Online courses: Music education for all? (BBC Culture)

For the first time, the online education company Coursera partnered with a music conservatory and more than 35,000 people sign up for a five-week course on exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. Learn more about a successful example of online arts education and explore the course features and its potential benefits and downsides.

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Apps

Poetics app review: create visual poetry by combining words, photos, and drawings (appPicker)

OkTECHberfest: Tech Tools for the Arts part 4 (Fractured Atlas)

Audience Engagement

BBC Radio 1 'Even More Music' month created via Karmarama + social-media agency Grape (Campaign Brief)

Fidelio comes to life with world-class cast, brainwave technology and vibrant Indian setting (Skylight Music Theatre)

Mozart meets Minecraft in this university's new opera (Polygon)

Cloud Computing

Video: How Microsoft is Giving Nonprofits the Cloud (GOOD)

Social Media Marketing

Media Logic (Arts Journal)