August 29, 2007

Can Dancers Make a Living from the Internet?

Amanda Abrams wrote a post yesterday "How to Eat; or, Bringing Home the Bacon" that addresses a fundamental question about whether it's possible for creative people to make a living doing what they love:

We can all agree that actually making a living as a dancer is a ridiculous impossibility, at least in this country...

In the cases of the few dancers who do manage to make a living from their creative interests as opposed to supporting themselves from non-related jobs, it is usually done by "cobbling together a mix of teaching, bodywork and dance production."

Amanda believes that to earn one's livelihood solely from creative pursuits

...requires creativity itself, an openness of mind to brainstorming and combining potentially incongruent concepts. I love the idea of gradually developing a plan that is totally unconventional and unique to one individual, but figuring it out is a hell of a task.

Local dancers Kelly Mayfield and Daniel Burkholder follow-up Amanda's post with their own stories of the challenges that they have to struggle with in order to make it as artists.

The Internet as New Revenue Stream for Dancers

Amanda's post really addresses one of the underlying questions that I've been thinking about as I prepare to expand Great Dance in September:

Is it really possible for dance-makers to use the Internet in innovative ways in order to generate new and more reliable revenue streams, and, as a result, be able to devote more of their time and energy to their creative interests?

My answer is yes although lots of work and experimentation has to be done to make this happen. And as things stand now, the dance community is at the very early stages of developing different approaches to benefiting directly from the Internet.

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May 31, 2007

Ballet Deviare's CafePress Store

Ballet Deviare opens merchandise store on CafePress:

Anybody can sell merchandise with their own logo on CafePress. You choose which items to sell - hats, T-shirts, mugs, bags and other items. Upload your logo. And set-up your store. CafePress lists the base price for each item - the price you pay CafePress - and then you determine how much to mark-up the item. So for example, Ballet Deviare sells a tote bag for $17.99. The base cost for this item is $12.99. Ballet Deviare makes $5 each time they sell a tote bag.

You can sign-up for free and premium accounts with CafePress. They take care of e-commerce and credit card transactions.

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Dancers Should Be in Video Advertising Business

Here's a sample ad from Google's new video ad formats. Click on ad and you'll see that top portion of ad plays a video. This hybrid video/banner ad format makes sense. Advertisers still get the benefits of banner ads if visitors don't click on them. But they, of course, get added benefits if users do click on ads to watch video. I think dancers in these ads would create an extra incentive for visitors to watch these videos. And dancers could sell many different types of products.

[via Google Inside AdSense blog]

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April 28, 2007

How Are Dancers Profiting from Their Internet Videos?

How have you benefited by posting your dance videos to the Internet?

In yesterday's post, I wrote about seven ways that Internet videos can help dancers and dance companies be more successful and generate revenue. Now what I'd like to do is feature specific examples of how dancers are putting their online videos to work.

Have you taken advantage of any of the following approaches to profiting from your online dance videos? How have you done this? Do you know of others who have? Do you have suggestions on how to launch a successful online video campaign?

Here's a recap from my post of the main ways you can benefit from distributing your dance videos online?

1) Build dance audiences and sell more tickets

2) Increase bookings for your dance company

3) Improve your fundraising efforts and increase donations

4) Generate revenue from ads inserted into your videos

5) Sell online sponsorship to support your Internet video productions

6) Receive revenue from product placements in dance videos

7) Sell your dance videos online of performances and dance instruction

Please post a comment or email me directly.

I'll feature these stories in my upcoming book on dance videos and the Internet, which I'm in the middle of writing. My publication covers the entire process of how dancers and dance companies can shoot, edit, market and profit from their Internet videos. You can view an extensive archive of blog posts that relate to many different aspects of producing dance videos.

Also, if you know of other dancers and dance companies who are using Internet videos in profitable and innovative ways, please let me know about them as well.

Thanks for your help!

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April 27, 2007

Generating Revenue from Online Dance Videos

In this post I offer an introduction on how to profit from your online dance videos. I start with the more practical approaches – increase ticket sales, bookings and fundraising – and then move on to ways to generate revenue directly from the Internet. Some of these online revenue opportunities are definitely in their formative stages, but I think that they will grow in importance.

1) Audience Acquisition and Ticket Sales

One of the most important ways to use your Internet videos is to build audiences for your upcoming performances, dance events, dance classes, fundraisers and related activities. By adding video to your website and/or blog and integrating it into your overall marketing initiatives, you will capture the attention of more prospective audience members and encourage them to buy tickets and attend your programs.

2) Bookings

For some reason that I don’t really understand, many dancers and dance companies do not use their Internet presence – website, blog, social networking pages - for making a compelling case for why performing arts venues, theaters, festival organizers and others should book them. If you haven’t done so already, I would recommend adding a section to your website that says “Booking Information.” On this page it is definitely worthwhile to add one or more videos that highlight your offerings. If, say, you perform and teach, why not have one video for each of your different offerings? These videos along with good marketing copy will help presenters and others have a much better understanding of what you do.

3) Fundraising and Donations

I don’t mean to sound too depressing here, but I have not seen a single compelling example of a dance company using their dance videos as a component of an integrated online fundraising effort. The best approach to online fundraising is to raise money for a specific upcoming project. You can create a video where the members of you dance company speak directly to the Internet audience explaining the project and your need for contributions. Use a “charity badge” so that visitors can see how much money you’ve raised and can help promote your fundraising efforts on their own websites. And then send out a snail mail and email solicitation encouraging your audience to watch your online video and contribute to your fundraising drive.

4) Monetize Internet Video with Ads

An increasing number of video sharing sites offer tools for monetizing (generating revenue from) your videos. There’s no reason not to explore and experiment with these advertising opportunities to see what works and does not work. There are no truly established revenue models for online video. But at the same time, I’m confident that the dance community will figure out over the coming year what types of dance videos are most compelling and what are the best ways to monetize these videos. Imagine the benefits of a world where Internet revenue contributes a significant amount to your annual budget – this is definitely not outside the real of possibilities.

5) Online Sponsorship

If you already sell sponsorship packages to your financial supporters, there’s no reason not to expand these packages to your website and video content. In many instances extended exposure on your website, especially in the form of video promotions, can provide your sponsors with greater long-term access to your audience. Online sponsorship support can also enable you to create video documentaries, video access to your rehearsal process and mashup contents that let your audience re-mix your dance videos. And in the process of introducing these online video projects, you will generate more publicity, spur ticket sales and increase bookings.

6) Product Placement

This is unexplored territory, but it has always struck me that there are ways to integrate produce placements in online dance videos. The beauty of dance is that movement is a universal language. Ideas and emotions can be conveyed without the use of words. In addition, product placement avoids having to bombard ad-averse Internet audiences from watching 15 or 30-second pre-roll videos that are really annoying. So what better medium than dance is there for promoting different products to a worldwide audience? Just consider the creative service offerings of Pilobolus for starters. The question is how specifically can products be integrated into digital dance videos and who would sell these product placement opportunities to corporate advertisers? This commercialization of dance may not be for everybody, but it does seem like a growth field that can create a new revenue stream for dancers.

7) Digital Content Sales

Selling videos directly to consumers over the Internet is very much at this stage an unproven business model. And it may prove to be more challenging than monetizing videos through advertising. The main question is what type of online dance video content will the public actually purchase? Dance instruction seems like a good possibility – especially if it is made available for entire classes as well as individual moves and routines. Dance performances may sell if the video productions are shot in a way that is optimized for online viewing. And dance companies may seek payments in the form of donations for videos of works-in-progress and other programs.

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December 18, 2006

Generating Revenue with Dance Videos

Continuing my series of stories about dance and video, I'd like to devote this post to different ways to use online video to generate direct and indirect revenue. Some of the ideas I suggest below are more practical than others. I figured I'd try to come up with as many ideas as possible and then, later on, focus on those that seem the most feasible.

1) Sell More Tickets

The number one use of online dance video is to sell more tickets for upcoming dance performances. But I think that the dance community is at the very early stages of figuring out the optimal way to use online video to motivate viewers to buy tickets.

I start with a number of questions:

- What does an ideal promotional dance video look like? Do you show clips from the stage performance that you are promoting or from dress rehearsals? Do you include interviews with choreographers and dancers? How long should these videos be? And what type of promotional pitch should be made in these videos. Do you know I have never seen a performance dance video that had a voice over or a talking head actually encouraging video viewers to buy tickets.

- How do you integrate these videos into your website along with the text descriptions of your upcoming performances? Overall, I think most dance websites do not do justice to the performances that they promote. For starters, I usually do not find sufficient information about a performance on a website to even make a decision about whether to go or not. So part of the issue, from a marketing perspective, doesn't pertain to videos. It's simply making written information about performances at least as accessible and comprehensive as a program guide that is distributed to audience members at performances. Then, the next issue is how to go about integrating video with these enhanced online descriptions.

- The next issue has to do with video quality. If you want to include excerpts from a performance or dress rehearsal, how do you go about shooting a video when the lighting conditions, for one, are optimized for a live audience and not video viewers? I've seen a lot of dance videos where the lighting and other production elements were fairly poor. So it's important to figure out how to create compelling videos given some of the technical and production challenges that may be faced.

- Finally, why should dancers and dance companies spend time and money on producing good quality, promotional videos for the Internet when they may not have any financial incentive to do so? I do not know too much about the contracts entered into between dance companies and presenters, but my guess is that dance companies usually do not generate extra revenue by helping to promote a performance unless they are presenting their own work. So if there is no financial motivation, how can a dance company justify spending extra time and money on producing good quality videos for the Internet? Are there new ways that dance companies and presenters can collaborate so good quality online video can be produced that might help attract larger audiences?

- And finally, finally, video challenges are compounded both by contractual and intellectual property issues. For dancers who are part of a union, the contracts between dancers and dance companies tend to impose many limitations on how video can be used for promotional purposes. Essentially, these restrictions are so limiting that, I think, dance companies, dancers and everybody else involved in dance productions lose out on using the Internet as a powerful marketing platform. Then, there are additional issues relating to intellectual property. Many people contribute to a performance. There are many questions about how each artist or group of artists gets properly compensated for artistic output when video of a production is made available online. You have the choreography, the dancers, lighting, set design, costumes and music - that's a lot of people and interests to take into consideration.

2) Sell dance Videos and Dance Instruction

Theoretically, there is a huge untapped market for the online sale of downloadable dance performance videos, video dance/dance on camera works, and dance instruction.

I'm optimistic that there must be a way for dancers, instructors, dance companies and video dance directors/producers to generate modest to significant revenue through online sales even if we have no proven models to follow at this time and nobody has made any money at this to date. Of course, I'm happy to be proven wrong if you have success stories to share.

The reason why I'm optimistic is because there is a huge Internet audience and dance videos can be sold very inexpensively in order to generate decent revenue. If you produce an appealing video and sell it for something like $2.99 a copy, revenue can add-up if you can figure out how to target the right audience.

What will be the big sellers? I'd guess the number one seller will be dance instruction videos - if they are effective at teaching students what they want/need to learn. I've looked at many dance instruction DVDs, and, almost across the board, I have not liked them. So a lot of thought has to be given to how to create instructional videos that beginning to advanced students will really benefit from. And they have to be priced so that first-time buyers, in particular, will be encouraged to make an impulse purchasing decision.

Now to tamper the optimism I just shared about selling performances and video dance productions. Will dance fans really buy these videos online? If more and more dance videos are made available for free on the Internet, why would people buy downloadable videos? I don't really have an answer to this question yet. I think we have to start by considering a number of different types of performances (including TV shows) to see what might sell. Are TV viewers going online and buying episodes of "Dancing with the Stars" - if they are available for sale? Would families buy downloadable versions of the "Nutcracker"? At what price would these videos sell?

On Google Video, I found some examples of dance videos that are available for sale. Take a look at "African Dance: Sand, Drum, and Shostakovich." You can watch a low-resolution version for free. A high-quality version is available for $19.95 and a day pass for the high-quality version is available for $9.95. I enjoyed watching the free version of this video. But why should I buy the high-quality one? Can I burn it to a DVD disk and watch it on my computer or TV? And if I can't, what's the motivation?

Even though I obviously don't know what will sell and not sell, I'm still surprised that video dance creators (also called dance on camera productions - I never know what to call these films) have not tried to sell their dance videos online. They already have the film or digital video versions of their work, which are often shown at dance film-specific festivals. So why not experiment with online sales to see if revenue can be generated? There are a number of e-commerce systems and it is not difficult to start selling digital work online. In the near future, I hope to explore various e-commerce options for digital video sales.

3) Creating Hybrid Sponsorship Revenue

One possible approach to increasing financial support from your larger corporate sponsors is to provide extended opportunities for online video exposure for these companies. This additional promotional opportunity would augment the coverage they already receive in program guides, from the stage and through traditional offline channels.

For example, if corporate sponsors are given recognition on your website, it is often in the form of short text descriptions and a corporate logo. I'm sure many companies would appreciate more exposure for their products and services, and they would like to share more background information about why they contribute to and support your programs.

The best way to provide this expanded coverage is through video. You could have a dedicated page on your website where visitors could learn about corporate supporters as well as watch videos of executives from these companies discussing why they support the performing arts and why they specifically contribute to your dance performances. This type of video would be compelling -- especially if it's done in a classy way that is not too promotional.

Once again I've never seen this done before. Most corporations have the resources to produce good quality videos and I'm sure they would be delighted to create such videos in which they discuss how they contribute to fostering the arts in their local communities.

So what I'm exploring in this section is whether financial contributions can be increased by providing supporters with enhanced multimedia opportunities to talk directly to your web visitors about how they support the arts. I think that there is a good chance this will work.

4) Using Video to Enhance Fundraising Efforts

There are an emerging crop of web-based applications that are designed to help not-for-profits generate contributions - often in small increments - from online donations.

You can read "How to Use the Internet for Group Fundraising," which provides links to a number of fundraising tools. [via NetSquared]

Another approach to online fundraising is to use your own account on PayPal or another service that makes it easy to process online payments. If you use PayPal instead of the applications listed in the above article, you don't have to pay a cut of contributed revenue to a third party. But these fundraising applications may be worth exploring if you think that they can help you reach a larger audience of potential donors.

I have come across some dance company websites that encourage visitors to make donations. Overall, I am not at all impressed with these solicitation efforts. If I did not otherwise know about the dance company, I would not make a contribution based on the provided information.

So I think that a first step to enhancing these online fundraising efforts is to consider adding video that features members of your dance company talking about your company, your upcoming performances, educational efforts, outreach initiatives and other activities as well as making specific requests for contributions. So far I have not seen video used in such a manner and I think it has the potential to be very helpful in increasing donations.

5) New Crop Video Applications Pay for Content

This suggestion may be a long-shot but it definitely points to an online trend.

On the Mashable, there is a December 14th post, "19 Ways to Make Social Sites Pay," that describes how content creators can get paid for their work by posting it to Web 2.0 applications.

The first part of this article, "Cash for Videos," explores which video hosting sites will pay for your videos. These video sites support a range of different financial models. Some will split advertising revenue. Others will pay a flat fee. And others will pay you based upon the number of views.

The big question is what type of interest is there in dance videos and what types of dance videos will prove to be the most popular - and thus most lucrative. Do you have to produce "An Evolution of Dance" video to generate revenue? Or, can other dance videos actually help you make money?

6) Jumping into User Generated Video

Instead of hosting videos on third-party sites in order to generate revenue, you can also host your videos and the video contributions of others to create a new revenue stream.

The latest hot trend on the Internet is the growth in the culture of participation and consumer generated media (CGM). Time Magazine recognized this trend by making their Person of the Year "You" - all of us, the power of everybody to contribute their own stories.

So if you are interested in creating opportunities for your website visitors to contribute their own stories and dance videos, there are ways to do this at no cost to you. Plus, you can generate revenue from this initiative as well.

The VideoEgg application allows users to edit and contribute video. You can create a customized version of VideoEgg that is accessible via your website so that users can contribute specific types of videos. VideoEgg than adds video ads to pay for this service and splits the ad revenue with you. You can read more about VideoEgg in a post "Behind the Scenes with VideoEgg" in The Next Net.

I see pros and cons with this VideoEgg revenue model. On the upside, you can enter the user-generated media revolution with no money and you can generate ad revenue at the same time. But on the downside, it does not appear that you have any control over what ads are played and how obtrusive these ads will be. I would find this approach more compelling if you had control over which ads played, how long the ads are and when the ads are played (pre-roll or post roll - before or after the videos run). Plus, it would be even better if there was a way to sell your own video ads and add them to the inventory as you choose.

7) The Future of Product Placement

Can dance harness the power of product placement in videos to create new revenue streams?

In October, ClickZ published an article, "Technology Enables Product Placement in CGM," (consumer generated media) that discusses a methodology for embedding links in videos - CGM videos. So, for example, you could be watching a music video and admire the shirt the lead singer is wearing. If the shirt is highlighted, you can click on it to be taken to an e-commerce site where you can learn about and buy the shirt of his back.

This ClickZ article specifically discusses Entertainment Media Works and an embedded product placement video technology called "plinking" (product linking). Unfortunately, there is just about no public description of "Plinking" on the Entertainment Media Works website - very strange.

So embedding product placement links in dance videos may not be around the corner, but it does strike me as offering intriguing possibilities when it does become mainstream. Advertisers need a way to move away from traditional advertising that many people just tune out. So the question is how do advertisers embed their products directly in entertainment content? This is exactly what sponsors have been doing with product placement in movies, TV shows and now computer games and virtual worlds.

Why not do it for dance where clothing and accessories seem like the most obvious possibilities for product placement? Take a look at the Hanes commercial featuring dancers from Momix. (Getting to this ad takes a little extra work because Hanes scrolls its ads across the screen too quickly. So you have to find the image of a dancer (I think there're two of them) and then click on the image to get to the ad.) These ads don't have embedded links. But I think it gives you an idea of what the possibilities might be. In an online video, Momix could be performing a dance wearing clothes from an advertiser. At any time you could click on any of the clothing items and purchase them in your choice of style and color. The dancers or dance company could receive a cut every time a purchase is made or simply receive a flat fee for the product placement.

8) Getting Booked by Presenters

There are presenter booking events where presenters and dance companies get together so that performing arts venues, dance festivals and others can meet with and book dance companies.

It seems to me that much of this process could move to the Internet if presenters could access better quality video of dance companies online. As things stand now, if I were a presenter I would not be able to make booking decisions via the web because of a lack of good quality video and the scarcity of video in general. I'd have to meet dance companies and/or their representatives face-to-face, and request DVD versions of their work.

I haven't spoken with presenters about what goes into the booking decision-making process, but I would like to know what they would want in terms of online video to help facilitate this process.

Maybe it would be beneficial if a password-protected site were created where presenters could access full-length, high-quality videos of the dance companies they were considering for possible bookings. This way dance companies would not have to make complete versions of their work available to the public. And presenters wouldn't have to spend a lot of time requesting DVDs from dance companies. How such an initiative would be supported from a financial standpoint, I'm not sure. But presenters and dance companies do spend money on attending presenter conferences and creating an online version would, overall, cost less money.

But as with most things, a combination of a password-protected website for previewing dance videos as well as an opportunity to meet face-to-face would probably be the optimal approach.

9) Dance Videos Go Mobile

What are the prospects for mobile video as it relates to dance?

Will students download dance instructions videos to their mobile devices? Will dancers in different cities download choreography to their cell phones in order to collaborate on dance works at a distance? Will dance fans watch dance performances on their iPods? Will anybody make any money at this?

I have absolutely no idea. But the wireless market for video is growing and there is a lot of hype about the possibilities. So, at some point, mobile phone users will start to create, distribute, sell and share all types of dance videos. The challenge, as always, will be to create an economic model that actually makes sense for dancers, instructors and dance companies or there won't be a lot of activity in the mobile video arena except for sharing and collaboration (non-revenue generating activities), which is not a bad thing.

As I write this, the only possibility that makes sense to me is that the dance videos that people do buy can be viewed on multiple platforms. So maybe I would buy dance instruction videos via my mobile device and then watch them on the small screen. But at any time, I could watch a better quality version of the same video on my PC or TV. I could not see buying dance videos that could only be played back on a mobile device - it would seem pointless to be limited to such a tiny screen.

10) Dance Video Aggregation and Distribution

I've always been intrigued by Brightcove, a video hosting and syndication service that enables video producers to create a TV-like station for the web. If you set-up a video channel on Brightcove, you can also use their ad network to generate revenue and bloggers and website owners can take your videos and place them on their own sites.

Mashable has a good article, "Brightcove Launches YouTube-Style Video Marketplace," that provides more background about this service.

About a month ago, I came across Dance Channel TV, a video site that uses the Brightcove infrastructure for hosting videos and selling pre-roll ads.

You can either access Dance Channel TV on its own website or you can watch the same video content directly on Brightcove.

If you go back to the Dance Channel TV site, you'll notice that dance videos are broken down by style and that ads run before each video. So far, except for the home page which runs an AOL ad, every time I visit a different channel I'm presented with the same Sheraton hotel ad, which I must have seen about 5 times by now. I'm guessing that Brightcove is not selling a lot of ads to run on its network or this would not have happened. I don't know all the details, but it appears that each time that an ad runs Dance Channel TV gets a cut.

There is also a "trailers" section of the site that appears to provide links to only YouTube dance videos. The YouTube videos are separate from the Brightcove video ad network.

I'm intrigued by Dance Channel TV, but I think that there are limitations with this site. First, there are very few videos. The video quality is not very good. And there is no background description about the uploaded videos or links to websites to learn more about the videos. Plus, I don't understand why creators of dance videos should upload their videos to this site. Why provide your own videos so that Dance Channel TV will generate revenue from ads while you will not get paid anything? But I do like the fact that using Brightcove, unlike VideoEgg above, Dance Channel TV can sell video ads directly to sponsors.

11) Licensing Choreography Online

For the past few months, I've been wondering if there is a way to create an online marketplace for the inexpensive licensing of dance choreography.

Except for a limited number of classic ballet and modern works and maybe some popular Broadway shows, there is very little licensing of dance choreography. (I'm guessing here a bit about what is actually licensed today - I have to learn more about this topic).

Why not create an online service where choreographers could upload videos of their work along with the types of licenses that are available for reproducing this work. A slight variation of this service would be that all choreography would first be evaluated to ensure that it met certain standards - however these standards are determined.

Then, dance companies, teachers (of children, teens and adults) and anybody else could search and review the choreography to find dance pieces that they wanted to produce. It would probably make sense for the video clips to be a couple of minutes in length to give a solid flavor for the work without giving everything away. If a person expressed interest in licensing the work, then they would be given full access to the video upon request.

The advantage with this type of licensing marketplace for dance choreography is that the fees are low so that anybody involved in dance can afford to license the choreography while choreographers and dance companies can generate an additional revenue stream.

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November 20, 2006

Selling Dance Video Content Online

Benoit Beauchamp writes in "Online Revenue for Dance or Theatre Companies?" that he believes that online dance video is best used for promotional purposes and building buzz but is not likely to generate extra revenue for dancers. His post in his Recycled Space blog is in response to my Friday post, "Exploring Internet Revenue Opportunities for Dance."

Benoit writes:

I feel like online video content is for promoting the company itself but as far as I know, it won’t add another revenue model that generates enough funds to have a person doing this full time. The time needed to create those videos is just not possible for a company member to do it part time.

Yes, shooting and editing video is time-consuming. And without exploring new models for generating revenue from online video sales, there are not sufficient funds to pay for this video production work. But, I believe that there are new revenue models to pursue. For example:

- I'd pay extra if a dance teacher put video online of each dance routine taught in class so that I could more easily practice it in between classes. If an entire dance studio with many classes throughout the week did this, the additional revenue from online routines would add up. I'm not talking about time-consuming video shooting and editing. Maybe three different views of instructor demonstrating routine: 1) front-view, 2) back view or through mirror so it's easier to follow along, and 3) a slow version with the count.

- I'd pay for video of staged versions of dance performances if the price were right. I'd pay somewhere between $2-$5 dollars. Given the size of the global audience for dance, just $2 per video could add up to a significant revenue stream.

- I'd also pay for educational video. Once again, the price has to be right - very low. Maybe moves, routines, floor exercises and other dance guidance are sold individually for $2 or $3, or a package is sold of say 10 clips at a discounted rate.

- Finally, I'd pay for dance films that seemed interesting. There is just about no online distribution of dance-on-camera works, which strikes me as odd given the number of festivals held every year. There is a market for selling these dance films on a pay-per-view basis.

But in the end, until there is more experimentation with the above and other possibilities, nobody is really going to know what will and will not work. That's why in my "Exploring the Future of Dance" post from last week, I recommended an online or offline gathering of a diverse group of people from within and without the dance community to explore new online revenue models for dance.

At this point, I'm leaning toward creating a separate blog and inviting a diverse group of people (see listing in my post from last week) to have an on-going discussion focused on this and related topics. It would be great to have Benoit and other dance bloggers participate in this conversation.

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November 17, 2006

Exploring Internet Revenue Opportunities for Dance

How can dancers and dance companies generate revenue from the Internet now and over the coming years? In this post I pose questions about a number of possibilities:

- What is the best approach to increasing the sale of tickets online for upcoming dance performances? Should they be sold through dance company websites, presenter/performing art center websites or 3rd-party ticketing services or all of the above? What is best approach for each option?

- How do you sell banner ads and other forms of sponsorship for your website, email campaigns and blogs? Should dance companies use ad networks such as Google AdSense? Is it worth selling banner ads and other forms of sponsorship online? Or should dance companies focus their energies on enhancing online promotional opportunities for existing and new sponsors and funders?

- Does it make sense to sell video ads and sponsorship? Video ads and promotional segments could be free-standing, or could run before or at the end of dance videos (pre- and post-roll).

- Will dance be able to embrace the latest developments in product placement tools and technologies to generate revenue? In other words, can you buy the shirt off a dancer's back in a video? ClickZ has article, "Technology Enables Product Placement in CGM," that discusses "plinking" or product linking that enables video watchers to click on embedded links within videos to learn about and buy products.

- Is there a market for a fusion of "Retail Dancne" and Internet merchandizing? Last year I wrote about a "Retail Dance" program that consisted of multiple dance companies performing in different retail stores in San Francisco over a few day period. This always struck me as a good idea - especially if it was combined with an online component to extend the impact of this type of promotional campaign.

- What is the feasibility of creating a web-based online TV network devoted exclusively to dance? What revenue model would support such a TV outlet? Take a look at LX TV - Life/Style Television for a possible model. (Via Random Culture)

As I was finishing-up this post, I came across an intriguing website "Dance Channel TV," that is a type of online dance video channel that also distributes its video through Brightcove (see next item right below).

- How would dancers and dance companies go about creating a distributed model for dance videos? Visit Brightcove for an example of a company that provides the infrastructure for enabling organizations to distribute and monetize video. (Via Mashable)

- What approaches to online fundraising will bear the most fruit for dance companies, studios and others involved in dance? Read "First-of-its-kind" for a range of possible strategies. (via NetSquared)

- Can dance videos be successfully sold online - performance, education and dance-on-camera? Will a pay-per-view model work? Or, alternatively will a subscription model work? What are the best e-commerce applications for selling dance videos online?

- What opportunities are there for selling/distributing dance videos to handheld devices? Will this just work for promotional purposes or is there also revenue to be made in terms of sponsorship and/or video sales?

- Overall, what types of dance videos will generate the most revenue - performances, instructional, dance-on-camera, documentaries or other formats?

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November 1, 2006

Toward an Online Dance Economy

Yesterday I wrote in post that there is no online dance economy comparable to the music world. There are many ways that music fans can learn about, share and enjoy music and it's hard to imagine that online music consumption patterns don't have a direct bearing on what music is purchased and what bands/concerts are attended.

Since there is no online dance economy - that is there is no meaningful way for dance enthusiasts to consume dance online - the Internet is essentially a highly underutilized tools for building audiences for upcoming performances, for selling DVDs and related offerings, and launching larger-scale fundraising efforts.

I was thinking more about this when reading a post yesterday on Read/Write Web "Last.fm Launches New Features - Including Flash Player, Events and Free MP3s." One of the new features of the revamped Last.fm, a popular music recommendation engine, is an event recommendation system that generates a list of local concerts and performances based upon the musical interests of each Last.fm user. This events engine is a good example of the possible synergy between the online and "real" world.

I think a good starting point for the dance community would be to address this topic of building and sustaining an online dance economy at upcoming arts and dance conferences. The initial question for such a discussion would be what exactly does it mean to distribute dance content online? What types of dance programs would be offered and how would revenue be generated?

There are a lot of potential roadblocks including intellectual property issues, existing contracts that delineate what can and cannot be videotaped and reproduced, and a general reluctance to explore new online avenues for dance.

From my standpoint, not convening such an event is a huge missed opportunity. As I've written many, many times and is widely known, dance companies and dancers do not make enough money. The Internet is starring us in the face and the dance community as a whole is not taking proactive steps to explore what ought to be a vibrant and profitable online marketplace for dance.

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October 31, 2006

Breaking Down Resistance to the Internet Economy

DK in his new blog, "DK Is Lighting Dance," follows-up my post about being perplexed with a story about the level of resistance some of his production seminar students have to the idea of posting dance videos on the Internet.

Doug Fox in his blog Great Dance Weblog has often offered the suggestion that choreographers video tape portions of their rehearsal and post a bit of tape on the Internet via blog and ask for feedback - click on the title of this blog to read it. I posed this exact question to my Production Seminar class which has ten MFA choreographers.

They didn't like the idea at all! I know this is a new idea, so opinions will likely shift as they consider it over time. One student is very worried someone will steal her work and her ideas. Another wonders why you wouldn't just ask another choreographer in the studio next door. The conversation got quite heated (actually we all love when this happens) with me suggesting scenarios where you might need a more sophisticated point of view, a wider band of feed back and simple self-promotion.

I've come across this type of resistance before. While I understand it, I believe it is unwarranted and distracts from the bigger picture. Yes, it is always possible that artistic work will be "stolen" as distribution options proliferate. But that's a very negative way to evaluate the situation. If video of rehearsals and performances is distributed online, then many more people will watch these dance videos than ever before. Which means that dance companies and dancers will get larger audiences, get more bookings and increase the chances of making worthwhile connections with other artists that they would never even have known about.

I think it's worthwhile to look at how music is distributed online. There are thousands of outlets for music to be uploaded, shared and sold. Bands have made it big on the Internet as a result of the fact that their music is widely available and often free. Bands and musicians get more exposure and increase the chances they will reach a larger audience and find new ways to generate revenue.

In the dance world there simply is no Internet economy. This doesn't really make sense in an environment where dance companies are always struggling for financial survival and stability.

Then DK explores what he thinks is the ideal fusion between the Internet and dance. His premise is that we ought to focus on the local level and not so much nationally or internationally:

Following the newer model of Regional Theater and following the Regional Ballets like the ones in Memphis and Tulsa is a much more likely scenario. We may still have our Super Stars but we need to think about becoming Local Heroes. Memphis Ballet is creating New Work based on the locale and generating audiences who have knowledge of the local history or have civic pride.

The Internet tools used then could be an interactive website offering a chance to give reviews (I think this was Doug's idea in a past blog) which gives people the feeling of ownership and connection with a company. I also really like the idea of "profiling" on MySpace even though it's flawed, the idea is right -- of finding people of like interests and bringing them together. Using a blog to "preview" an upcoming performance is a much more appealing idea than generating feedback on a piece of choreography.

I think all of these areas are worthwhile for exploration. I especially like the focus on dance within a local community. I think one of the reasons that dance companies don't think about using the Internet to connect directly with their audiences is because they put to much emphasis on the importance of dance writers and newspaper coverage at the expense of devoting time and energy to building online relationships with their local, loyal fans. Obviously, I'm not discounting publicity. I'm just saying that it is one of multiple ways to connect with dance fans and build larger audiences.

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May 2, 2006

Perform a Checkup of Your Online Ticketing System

Can your customers purchase tickets online for your upcoming dance performances?

If yes, it's a good idea to test your online ticketing system to ensure that everything works properly. Whether people can buy tickets directly on your website or link to a third-party ticketing site, the entire process has to work smoothly and effectively or you will end-up losing customers.

Conducting an Audit of Your Online Ticketing System

1) Website links: When you list the details about your upcoming performances on your website, you probably include a link that users click on to purchase tickets. Make sure that this link takes users to the correct page. For example, if users are taken to a third-party ticketing website, the link should take users directly to the page which includes your performance details - do not link users to the home page of the 3rd-party ticketing site.

2) Email blasts: When you promote performances in email broadcasts, you'll want to include a link for purchasing tickets. Always send a test email to yourself before sending out the message to all of your recipients. Verify that all links - including the links for purchasing tickets - work properly in both the text and graphic versions of your newsletter.

3) Logistics: Are all of the required details included along with the description of your performance? For example, is the date, time, address, transportation details, maps, accessibility and all other information available to your website visitors? When listing the date, always include the year. When listing the address, always include the Zip Code. Verify that when users open a map, they are actually viewing the correct location for your venue.

4) Printing and email: Make sure that users can print all of the logistics details and that the printed page is legible and properly formatted. Also make it easy for users to email this logistics page to themselves and others.

5) Seating chart: Include a seating chart so that users can clearly see the locations of all sections at your venue. Label each section so that users can figure out which tickets they want to purchase.

6) Buy two tickets: Use a dummy credit card number to purchase two tickets -- better yet, get somebody who is not familiar with your website to buy tickets for your performance.

7) Clear instructions: During each step of the purchasing process are all instructions clear? Is anything confusing? Are required fields clearly indicated? If you enter the wrong information or don't complete a required field, does the error message make sense?

8) Ticket availability: If tickets are not available for a performance, is there a message that states that tickets for this performance have been sold out?

9) Selecting tickets: Is the process of selecting your desired tickets easy? If one type of ticket is listed as "Balcony section," does this make sense and correspond to the graphic seating chart?

10) Billing details: Can you enter one address for the billing address of the credit card holder and another one for your mailing address?

11) Will call: If you are purchasing the tickets within a few days of the performance, is there a clear indication that you can pick-up your tickets at the performance venue and that the tickets will not be mailed to you?

12) Confirmation page: Is a review page displayed before you click the actual "purchase" button? Can you edit any of the details if you need to make changes?

13) Credit card transaction: Once you click the "purchase" button, what happens? Does everything work properly? Do you get a confirmation page? Does the confirmation page give you a transaction number? Are you told how you will get your tickets? Does this confirmation page include all of the performance details along with the location and is it easy to print?

14) Email receipt: Do you receive an email receipt with all of the transaction and performance details (minus credit card number)? Can you print this email and take all of the performance details with you?

15) Telephone number: On the confirmation page or in the email message, are you given a phone number to call if you have questions about your tickets or the performance?

Technorati Tags: dance, ecommerce, performance

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April 28, 2006

Dance to the News

I was browsing the posts on the Springwise blog, a global network of "spotters" who identify the latest entrepreneurial trends, and came across a story about T-post, a Swedish company that offers a t-shirt subscription service.

Here's how it works: You subscribe to this t-shirt service and every 6-weeks you receive a new t-shirt with a news-specific theme. You can access the archive to review all of the news-themed t-shirts and on the bottom left of each page you can read about the news story that inspired the design.

I was thinking that this news-driven t-shirt concept would be great for a dance company. Why not create a new two-minute long dance work every couple of weeks or so that is based upon a current news event? Then videotape the performance and distribute it on the Internet. I think this type of video would generate a lot of traffic because many news websites and blogs would feature your video. Plus, there are probably ways to sell sponsorship and generate a new source of revenue.

The challenge, I think, would be to figure out what news stories to cover and how to stage your dance pieces in an optimal manner for video reproduction.

Technorati Tags: dance, marketing, news, video

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April 27, 2006

Monetizing Your Dance Videos

Brightcove, a commercial platform for distributing video content over the Internet, launches its public beta program today.

After watching the video tour and reading an overview of their service, Brightcove looks like an intriguing way for video content owners of any size to generate revenue through ads, sales and affiliate network distribution.

While popular sites like YouTube are a great way to get exposure for your dance videos, you end-up reaching a lot of eyeballs but you don't generate any revenue.

The concept behind Brightcove is to provide video publishers with a system that allows you to organize your videos into channels, determine how you will generate revenue and choose who will have access to your video content.

You could, for instance, create three video channels:

1) Dance performance previews

2) Performance videos for the web

3) Dance instruction videos

The first category you could distribute for free. The performance videos you might distribute as part of the Brightcove advertising network and video ads would be inserted each time your video plays. You would get a cut of this advertising revenue. And the third category - dance instruction videos - you might offer on a pay-per-view basis.

I think it's time to experiment with services such as Brightcove because there is clearly money to be made - the main question comes down to what the optimal business model is. Will Internet users pay for dance content? How much will they pay for different types of videos? Or is the advertising model the best approach for dance video distribution?

Technorati Tags: brightcove, dance, instruction, performance, ppv, tv, video

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April 11, 2006

Union Contracts Limit Online Revenue for Dancers

During The Washington Ballet labor dispute, which has since been resolved, I read some of the contracts between dance companies and the unions that represent the dancers.

What struck me about these contacts is that there are so many prohibitions against shooting video of performances and rehearsals that unless changes are made to these agreements, some of the most established dance companies will never be able to generate revenue from online video sales and promotions.

If I were an executive director of a dance company or a union representative, the first thing I would do is renegotiate the contract sections that relate to digital reproductions of performances, rehearsals and other dance formats. The online world, as I've written about extensively, represents a huge opportunity for dance companies to reach larger audiences, generate more revenue and ensure the financial health of dance. But the online world cannot be exploited without first addressing these contractual issues.

Here is a list of union contacts on the website for the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), which represents a number of US-based dance companies including The Washington Ballet.

Here is a portion of the Atlanta Ballet contract, section 41, that relates to "Filming, Broadcasting, Television, Etc.:"

Except as provided herein THE ATLANTA BALLET shall not videotape, film, broadcast, record or televise, including marketing of video cassettes and/or in-theater closed circuit television, any performances, rehearsals, concerts or engagements in which the ARTIST appears by wire, wireless, radio, telephone wireless process or any motion picture, recording, mechanical, electrical or telephone device now in use or hereafter developed or any combination of such devices...

The rest of this section goes along in the same vein. I can't begin to say how detrimental this contract language is for all involved in a dance company. Essentially dance companies and dancers are prohibiting themselves from exploring ways to make money through online sales and promotion.

This prohibition is ironic given the many financial challenges faced by dance companies in cities throughout the US. Here are two stories from last week that illustrate these challenges:

- "Hard Truths about Ballet in Southland," by Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times, covers the cancellation of Ballet Pacifica's first season.

- "Strapped Ohio Ballet Cancels Spring Series," by Wilma Salisbury of The Plain Dealer, covers the cancellation of the reminder of the Ohio Ballet's season.

Technorati Tags: ballet, dance, internet, marketing, union, video

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January 10, 2006

Video Options Proliferate - Untapped Opportunity for Dancers

Cable TV with its hundreds of channels offers very limited programming variety compared to what's coming down the pipeline. Online video distribution options are proliferating and the Internet will increasingly be the source of programs that are watched on home entertainment systems.

Internet-based TV services (TV shows that are distributed via the Internet Protocol - IPTV) are in their early test stages and will enable users to record multiple shows at the same time and access content that incorporates video, text and pictures. Essentially, we'll no longer think of TV, whether cable or satellite, as separate from the Internet - all of these media tools will be considered part of one video search engine and distribution network. We are not there yet, but we are not that far away either.

For more about the emergence of IPTV, read John Markoff's column in New York Times, "Coming Soon to TV Land: The Internet Actually" (registration required).

In terms of exclusively online video distribution, Google just launched an expanded video service that, like Apple's iTunes, allows users to purchase video content. See "Google Entering Video-On-Demand Business" by Elinor Mills in News.com. And visit Google Video to see what video content is available for sale.

An interesting feature of the Google Video Store is that content owners can set their own prices. A drawback with the Google video system, however as Wired News points out, is that a proprietary encryption system is used for videos that are sold in the Google Video Store and these videos cannot be transferred to portable devices.

There is also Yahoo Video Search, which allows you to distribute videos for free and similar services such as YouTube and Revver that can be used by content creators to make their videos available on the web at no charge as well.
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All of these video distribution networks, both the free and pay-per-view services, offer marketing and revenue opportunities for dancers and dance companies. I've done searches for dance videos, and all I have come up with so far are amateur videos and nothing to exciting or professional. I'd really like to see professional dancers post videos of performances, dance on camera productions or instructional programs to these video hosting and marketing services. Just from the marketing side, if your video is among the most popular or best rated, you can end-up with home page exposure on these video sites and potentially attract thousands or, possibly, tens of thousands of viewers. These viewers can then link to your site and learn more about your upcoming performances.

The pay-per-view possibilities for dance have not yet been explored. I will write more about this soon, but I think that selling videos online can eventually be a significant source of revenue for dancers, dance companies and dance instructors.

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