balletrising

Across the planet borders are being shut, crowds are being dispersed, performances are being cancelled, and workers cannot work. For the performing arts this is devastating. With budgets often running thin in good economic times, an unexpected row of performance cancelations, due to circumstances like COVID-19, can put many jobs at risk and leave communities broken.

The loss of revenue from tickets being refunded and gift shops closed, with no way of knowing when they will be open again, will undoubtedly bring back painful reminders of economic downturns from the past.

While we have to turn to proven methods of survival, we can also start thinking of the future. As the Internet of Value begins to form, we have an opportunity to look at how we might capitalise on this innovation to help us get through the tough times. It might also help us finally capture the full amount of value we produce when the flow of goods and services are at their peak.

Large opera houses can seat a couple thousand people on average and while tickets can range from twenty bucks to hundreds, this isn’t nearly enough to sustain a large cast of performers and the support staff behind the scenes. In Europe the shortfall comes primarily from the government and in the US almost entirely from private donations. Still tickets make up a sizeable portion of the annual budget; sizeable enough to sink the company if they aren’t sold. During the 2008 economic crisis many people couldn’t afford to attend the theatres as much and governments, like always, cut funding to the arts. American donors stopped donating as much and many people’s careers and lives were devastated. Since 2008 unfortunately, many governments never increased funding back up to previous levels, leaving many arts organisation still surviving on the edge.

What if people could watch performances on their mobil phones? What if someone halfway around the world who wanted to watch a performance of their favourite ballet company performing a piece by one of their favourite choreographers on their laptop? Historically performing arts companies have been apposed to televising or streaming performances as they believe live theatre should only be seen in person.

I think we can all agree that live theatre is not just optimal but sacred.

Does this mean we cant watch it from faraway. Why not? Why cant a ballet fan in Africa watch their favourite dancer’s premier at the Paris Opera? Why can’t ballet and opera fans watch companies around the world the same way football fans watch their favourite teams, religiously, on their TV or mobil device? We must maintain our identity as live performers but we can also reach out to much bigger audiences and bridge the divide between the people who can enjoy the arts and the billions of people who might never be able to travel to cities like London, or Moscow, NYC. I always like to ask sports fans if being able to watch the game on TV stops people from going to the stadium? Clearly not! Sports teams not only make a lot of money from the broadcasting rights, they're also are much more attractive to sponsors because their reach is far and wide and fans still pack the stadiums. I'm a big sports fan. I have also been a ballet dancer my entire life. Sports and the performing arts have many similarities and one very clear one is that seeing them live will never compare to watching it on TV. But if you really want to watch FC Barcelona, you can! If you really want to watch the Dutch National Ballet, get a ticket, book a hotel, get on a plane and good luck!

Live streaming performances can, and on very limited occasions, has been done. Also DVDs and VHS tapes have been out there for decades. Why can’t the artists them selves keep the lion’s share of the value they are creating through the Interledger Protocol? There are a number of hurdles to overcome in implementing this. Theatres, production crews, orchestras, set designers, composers, choreographers and more need to give approval. Paying all of the entities involved will be a great use case for smart contacts and digital assets as many of the people come from a wide range of countries.

Live streaming and streaming curated selections of old performances can bring in revenue, brand recognition, and fan engagement during good time. In rare situations like COVID-19, it can give companies the option to stream the performance from a closed opera house or just allow the artists to monetise more material from the decades of performances they have recorded in their archives. I believe many of these companies are sitting on a real meaningful income if they are able to capitalise on the wealth they are sitting on buried deep on hard drives in the vaults of history.

This might be a good time to really start developing solutions for the performing arts through the Internet of Value.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you!

Casey Herd

Cover image by Angela Sterling