Architects must consider the ways in which future audiences will interact with arts venues, says Jake Orr of A Younger Theatre

Last November, as part of the OMA/Progress exhibition at the Barbican Centre, I attended a panel discussion on architecture, audiences and the arts called Designing for the next generation: what’s the future of arts venues? Part lecture, part chaired discussion, the focus of the evening was on how architects are working to design arts venues that impact on future generations of audiences (and artists). The event was brought to my attention by Rob Harris, director of Arup, who had read an article in Auditora Magazine in which I discussed the effect that buildings – notably The Royal Opera House, Barbican Centre and Young Vic – have on young people.
Harris’s presentation seemed very fitting for A Younger Theatre, touching on the consideration architects must give to the ways in which future audiences (current young people) will interact with an arts venue. Harris presented several issues which venues will be affected by and have an impact on: affordability, sustainability, accessibility, interaction, attraction and participation. Each holds a consideration and challenge for an architect designing the future cultural buildings we inhabit.

It was saddening, but perhaps not surprising, that Harris spoke of affordability, the costs of designing, consulting on, and eventually building a venue in the “current economic climate”. He also spoke about venues having to adapt to suit their financial situations, resorting to hiring spaces for conferences and functions. These hires can mean the venue is worth more for its facilities than its artistic programming. How can future arts venues retain the versatility to support their artistic work without falling prey to becoming a conference centre? With recent funding cuts, cultural venues are already having to make this shift. I hear Barnet’s artsdepot is resorting to hiring out its spaces in the wake of Barnet Council cutting close to £200,000 funding to the building.Continue reading→

The free app, called good-nights, allows users to purchase tickets for an event by scanning a QR code – which could be on a poster, a flyer or a Facebook page – with a smartphone. Ticket information appears on the phone and users scan a credit card to pay. The app then produces a digital ticket which is scanned by venue staff when the user arrives, explained UBC commerce student Michael Moll, who is one of the developers.

“So when you show up to an event, you don’t actually have to think about the will-call line or removing your credit card and all those things to verify who you are,” Moll said, adding that goodnights charges a service fee of eight per cent of the ticket cost. The app provides venue staff with a digital list of all the people attending, so if someone forgets their smartphone or the battery runs out, they need only produce photo ID, Moll added. Moll and colleagues Jeff Blake, Justin Locke and James Hinton won’t be giving Ticket-master a run for its money any time soon. Ticketmaster is the exclusive distributor for Rogers Arena, where many of Vancouver’s biggest events are held, so the goodnights team will focus on small-and medium-sized venues that don’t have proprietary software and aren’t locked into contracts, Moll said.

“The great thing about music and events is there’s so many niches, there’s so many venues.”

Moll, Blake and Locke, representing UBC, took first prize at an international university app-building competition held in Barcelona earlier this month.

Goodnights’ potential to tap into the lucrative ticket resale market and redistribute some of that money from scalpers to artists is what Moll said gave his team the edge at the competition.

Goodnights allows users to resell tickets by emailing the QR code to the person they want to sell it to, or posting the code on websites such as Facebook or Craigslist and naming their price. Anyone wishing to purchase the ticket simply scans the code from the website and makes the purchase. Goodnights coordinates the financial trans-action, eliminating the need for the parties to meet in person, Moll explained.

However, if a user tries to sell a ticket at a markup, goodnights takes some of that profit and redistributes it to the artist and the venue, Moll said, adding that this is an important difference from Ticketmaster, which redirects users to a resale site when an event is sold out.

“The reason that ticket is going to that value is because of the artist, because of the venue, because of the event, not because of the scalpers.”

This represents a new revenue stream for artists, Moll said. Goodnights also allows artists to market tickets directly to their fans through social media, by posting a QR code on their Facebook wall or Twitter feed.

Moll and his colleagues are seeking early stage funding to further develop goodnights and promote it in Vancouver.

The app is available for Apple and Android mobile devices and the group plans to develop a web version of goodnights that BlackBerry users could access through a computer, Moll said.

Finally an Update! A Need for a new Music Centre in Vancouver

In 2011, a coalition of presenters, musicians and managers from Vancouver’s diverse music community commissioned consultant Anna Russell of Unodia Media to conduct a Needs Assessment for a designated music centre. The Needs Assessment found a lack of suitable venues for live music in Vancouver and a demand within the music community for a supportive, affordable, accessible and sustainable centre for both acoustic and amplified music.

Comments from the Music Community:
An affordable, accessible and sustainable music venue will contribute to the long term health and stability of Vancouver’s world, jazz folk and chamber music scenes.

Diane Kadota (artist manager)

Musicians need to feel part of a dynamic music community to sustain inspiration, exchange ideas, and earn a living. Ideally that community is rooted close to home, and draws in more musicians from around the world. A good venue that is affordable enough for artists to self-present concerts and/or develop concert series, administrated by a non-profit society dedicated to world, jazz, folk and chamber music , would go a long way to help create and sustain that kind of dynamic music community year round.

Jessica and Celso Machado (artist manager / musician)

The music centres that I have played in Europe, dedicated venues of the type talked about in this proposal have been fantastic. I would love to see something similar in our growing city, a place that could both nurture and promote our incredibly rich and diverse music scene.

Veda Hille (musician)

There are many non-profit precedents for music venues in cities all over the world from Edmonton’s Yardbird Suite for jazz, to the Musiekgebouw / Bim Huis (Amsterdam) and the Stadtgarden (Koln). It’s time for Vancouver to take the next step towards being a “world class” city for culture.

Ken Pickering (artistic director, Vancouver Jazz Festival)

Comments from the Community:
“Most venues had significant limitations as a space formusic performance, ranging from high rental costs and limited availability to poor acoustics and poor sightlines.”

“…the key informant interviews clearly indicated that there are significant negative consequences for the music community and audiences when the right venues are not available, from financial challenges to reduced access and diminished experience.”

“Musicians who benefit from good acoustics and good sightlines to create a strong connection with their audience, are not always able to perform to their best ability.”

“The lack of a music-specific space is holding Vancouver back as a cultural hub.”

Others commented that there was “nothing in the city with the right size and good acoustic”, a situation that is ‘frustrating’ for presenters and ‘obviously’ or ‘absolutely’ there was a need for a music centre.”

Next Steps

We are seeking support for the next steps – to hire consultants to research and assess the capacity and sustainability for a designated music centre with flexible seating in the range of 150-500 seats, to research and propose operational models and to develop a building program to meet the needs of the music community and market in Vancouver.

Canadian Lauren Pratt, associate producer of the REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in Los Angeles, will assess the current demand and potential market for a dedicated music venue in Vancouver through interviews with local presenters and self-presenting artists. She will research and prepare operating plans and budgets featuring potential revenue sources and costs associated with each model. The goal is to develop operational models that will satisfy the community interests and enable opportunities that might arise through private and public partnerships. Pratt is a highly respected music manager who currently produces in two venues: REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles and The Wild Beast on the CalArts campus. In addition, she is on the boards of the wulf., a 50-seat music venue in the L.A. warehouse district, and the California E.A.R. Unit, a contemporary performing ensemble which tours and self-produces in Los Angeles. She is also Special Assistant to the Dean for Programming and Finance at the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts, and as such, in addition to her producing duties, handles the bookkeeping and reporting for the School of Music’s 4.5 million dollar budget.

Secondly, an architectural consultant, possibly out of three proposals submitted to date (Don Luxton & Associates, Cornerstone Architects and David Wong/ Jim Smith) will further assess the market and needs for a music centre and develop a building program according to the findings. The resulting documents will give potential funders, developers and supporters the vision, values, shape, space requirements, governance, projected usage and estimated capital and operating costs for the project.

The lack of live music venues in Vancouver is made acute when compared with the spaces designed and available for theatre, dance and the fine arts. Many of the existing live performance venues in Vancouver are designed and operated for theatre productions, which makes it difficult to find available dates for single evening concerts and more expensive and often less suitable for live music.

A purpose-built music venue should cost less to operate and be more affordable, flexible and environmentally sound for diverse concert presenters, musicians and audiences than many existing multi-purpose venues that cater largely to theatre and dance productions in Vancouver. Flexibility in seating provides significant advantages in concert presentation, but if it is not well designed, can lead to extraordinary costs of conversion.

Music presenters frequently incur additional costs for the installation of sound and lighting equipment because of the lack of standard concert lighting hangs, and sound systems appropriate for the presentation of music.

After more than a decade of discussion, a coalition of presenting organizations, musicians, composers and managers has started plans to develop a designated music centre in Vancouver. The new non-profit society, the Vancouver Independent Music Centre Society, was registered in the Province of British Columbia in July 2011. Its founding members include prominent Vancouver festival and concert presenters, recognized musicians and composers and established music managers. Support is growing for the development of a culturally diverse music centre in Vancouver.

Impact

The Music Centre would showcase Vancouver’s incredible diversity and wealth of music and provide Vancouver audiences with a venue designed for the listening and enjoyment of local, national and international music artists. Such a centre would also provide a better and more cost effective way of promoting Vancouver musical diversity to residents and visitors alike. A music centre would enable musicians and artists from different genres and cultures to meet one another, exchange ideas and experiences and potentially to develop new musical collaborations and sounds. It would also welcome a wide range of concert goers and communities to experience music in a relaxed and intimate setting. Music has the capacity to speak to all people regardless of language, culture or experience.

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Vision

A Music Centre for world, jazz, folk, traditional and chamber music – one that cares about live music, is tailored and affordable for the presentation of diverse music, is accessible to diverse artists and serves to attract both the general public and members of Vancouver’s culturally diverse communities to the incredible musical wealth of this city. Such a centre would provide a venue designed for the performance and enjoyment of music for use by existing and future music presenters. A dedicated music centre would provide a focal point for music and musicians in Vancouver and assist in the promotion of live music to residents and visitors alike.

Good acoustics, ambience and sightlines, staff trained and dedicated to working with musicians and presenters from different musical genres and cultures, engagement of audiences and communities, accessibility for local musicians and concert goers, affordability and sustainability, are some of the considerations for a music venue. Input from the music community and concert goers through surveys, interviews and focus groups will contribute to the development of a venue that will meet the demand for a place for the appreciation of diverse music by local and visiting musicians and composers.

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The survey is now complete. Please go to the following link to read what we’ve found.

We want to hear your voice. Please support this exciting new venture to build a music venue in Vancouver  by filling out the survey.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey. It is now closed. We are taking the time to analyze data and assess the need for a new music venue in Vancouver.

We hope the coalition will grow as the shared needs of the community, values and vision for a music centre become clearer through this and future studies.

We are still in the early stages of community consultation. Please sign up for our mail list located on the right sidebar and stay tuned for updates on this exciting project. Any questions about this study and the music centre project in general should be sent to info@vancouvermusiccentre.ca or call 604 683 8240 for more information.

Thanks for your participation in this exciting venture!
Vancouver Independent Music Centre Society