Examine an arts organisation of your own choice in depth

The organisation chosen for the purposes of this assignment was the Scottish Chamber Choir based in Edinburgh. It has been in existence for thirty four years and has toured successfully both nationally and internationally during this time. It employs a small group of people whose job is to keep the organisation alive and thriving and the Orchestra itself developing and performing its music throughout the national and geographic circuit as well as provide the city of Edinburgh and nation of Scotland with its own chamber Orchestra.

Overall sense of direction and control. (Work of board and directors. Board controlling committee)

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is an organisation set up by the arts council of Scotland for the purposes of providing Scotland and particularly Edinburgh with a representative chamber orchestra. This is traditionally based upon, and is very much a part of, the preservation, reproduction and development of the arts, both classic and contemporary, within Edinburgh and the greater region of Scotland. Due to this, the SCO is firmly set up to administrate and represent Scotland’s national interest in line with their production of music encompassing the relationship that this has with the greater world (Scottish Arts Council, 2008). This is essentially its brand identity. However, rather than being organised by a governmental department as is often the case with state sanctioned or heritage based associations, the organisation is an independent group that is based upon a small hierarchy of employees in terms of decision making and operating. That is not to say that it has complete control over the nature and future of the organisation in terms of ideology and such like. However, in line with specifications and directives given by the arts council, it is otherwise autonomous making it free to organise itself as an independent group despite it not being a product based independent competitor.
Due to this, the controlling body is made up of a small group of employees given distinct roles in the operating system. However, the decision making is determined by its members, staff, arts council advisories and the opportunities that arrive from the somewhat specialised market of orchestral music and wider more competitive market of general music consumption. This means that it has close links with the art world and must operate by utilising relations and communicative ties with other international art councils, orchestras and theatre circuits set up to show performances. This is the overriding sense of direction that is taken up and acted upon by the SCO as an organisation. Rather than providing a service or ever competitive and developing product, it seeks to extend itself and survive as a small organisation representing the region. This is the fundamental principal. However, in terms of control, the group is organised so that members are part of the decision making process, unlike larger organisations (Baker, 2008). The various local performances and international tours are provided as a way of maintaining the status of the orchestra in terms of output and by including its members in an ongoing cultural series of performances. The decisions are therefore essential to the members themselves.

Artistic direction (Artistic Director) – Conductor/ Choreographer

Artistic Director = Person in charge of artistic repertoire, who comes up with ideas, and looks after performers etc

The artistic director can be seen in two ways. Firstly, there is the concerts director whose job it is to choose such things as the themes, styles and direction of the Orchestra. However, this is not necessarily an in depth artistic decision. Rather, it is based in relation to the influences and trends in the art world that the organisation feeds upon in terms of decision making. This is direction is acted upon by first ascertaining the will, opinions and preferences of the established members alongside other potential members that the Orchestra may wish to catch. Furthermore, the potential avenues suggested by the arts council and other stake holders are taken into account within the process. However, this procedural decision is passed over once an artistic direction has been decided. Once a procedure is embarked upon, a conductor is then enlisted for the more general and intimate artistic decisions and direction given over a specified period. Essentially, the concert director ultimately chooses a resident based upon various consumer wants and financial sensibilities so that a temporary conductor can then deliver the theme and direction taken by the orchestra of such the given period. For example, the current conductor Ticciati was enlisted during the summer for a short period in which he had artistic control. This was part of the temporary or seasonal direction taken in a three concert Highland Tour. This was due to his status and reputation in line with a decision to perform a programme consisting of Fauré, Strauss and Haydn (Scottish Chamber Orchestra, 2008), which had been indicated as a necessary direction in terms of financial, consumer and stakeholder influence. Commenting upon the nature of the relationship and the subsequent decision to enlist Ticciati as a tour director in the SCO on a longer term basis, McEwan stated that,
‘He struck up an immediate rapport with the Orchestra and, almost immediately after the concerts, negotiations commenced to establish a more formal relationship between Ticciati and the SCO culminating in his appointment as Principal Conductor.’ (McEwan, 2008)
Essentially, the direction of the SCO and its creative output is very much determined by the availability and practicality of particular conductors. Although practice is constantly facilitated, the nature in which the SCO will deliver an artistic theme or direction, in terms of their tour and their production of CD’s, is the premise of the in house conductor enlisted through consumer, financial and stakeholder interest as well as availability. This means that it is not in a position as more lucrative international orchestras are in choosing and securing full time representative composers, such as those twinned with the London or Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra or those associated with other arts on the international stage such as the Royal Shakespeare Company. Essentially, this means that securing art directors is essential for the SCO on a contractual basis, while the ideological premise of the direction is upheld by firstly the art councils notion of musical heritage and then the various other variables in terms of want and need. Essentially, the concert director in the company must be acutely aware of the available composers in relation to the viable themes and opportunities in relation to the members and stakeholders of the group. However, all artistic intricacies are then handed over to the composer as can be seen as indicative in the managing directors appraisal that,
‘Given that he is already in so much demand at an international level, we are very pleased that he will be able to work with us next summer and that he will have an important presence in the 2009/10 Season before taking up his full commitment the following season.’ (McEwan, 2008)
This means that the SCO and particularly the concert director has close relationships with many leading potential composers and his duty consists of commissioning the required composers on the basis of the artistic imperatives transfigured by him and his team in relation to the various variables.

Administration and Operational management

The administration of the SCO is comprised of a group of four staff each associated with the sole purpose of marketing. However, much of the marketing is geared towards appropriate and contemporary design distributed to a well defined consumer group. While the marketing director looks to direct the marketing, the officers are used by way of designing pamphlets, leaflets, news letters and promotions for the purpose of generating new pools of capital, fan base, new membership, promotion and generally generating popularity. The information is provided by the finance department who looks into the funds that allow for specific target markets to be ceased upon. It is from this that the financial plausibility of specific targets can be considered, reached or realigned. For example, the desire of the members and other stakeholders may be to venture out upon a European tour. These needs would be required for the purposes of upholding the requirements of certain memberships and establishing a brand identity through the European orchestral circuit. However, this would have to be set of against the financial implications of such a venture. So cash flow is a key facet of the marketing administration team as well as the press office, which can raise potential receipts. However, there are a range of incomes provided for by a variety of interests. As we have already seen the main fund provider is the Scottish Arts Council, who have a say in the direction taken in terms of the SCO representing Scottish culture and heritage (Scottish Arts Council, 2008). So by allowing the marketing team to direct the marketing in relation to a knowledge of the cash flow, potential from press releases and other commercial distributions, the director can then look to a specified market to attain whatever is required for a plan of action.
The SCO finance and administration team accounts for the operating of the SCO by means of information regarding financiers and potential financiers. This team has a hierarchal or procedural structure to it. Essentially, a small group of three people address the issue of specifically finance rather than funds or marketing that have their own teams. However, the finance director has access to current information regarding specific funds alongside the arts council. This purely procedural framework is set up so that creativity can be left to the artistic director and the concert director. The impact of any decisions made by the procedural managers of both finance and orchestra means that the artistic director is then enlisted once the cash flow; funding and overall approach has been adopted by the SCO. Essentially, the procedure can then be looked at by one specific group having the necessary information and expertise. As the conductor has complete artistic licence over the approach and is only conditioned and limited by the action plan of the SCO, so too the financial and orchestral managers are free from artistic distractions from the outset. They are only limited by the financial reality, maintained and readdressed through marketing strategies and the director of either associated departments. And as the artistic director has been given a procedural outline based upon an action plan devised with financial ability and stakeholder concern in mind, the SCO is then able to focus upon procedure. The impact of a procedural decision means that diaries and schedules are set up in relation to the artistic director, in this case the composer Ticciati. This is to say, that he can manufacture and ultimately conduct the orchestra for the necessary procedural tasks. This can be seen in the current action plan that consists of a four week stint of concerts during the SCO’s two thousand and nine/ten season and the subsequent procedure so that thereafter, he will join the Orchestra for eight weeks in each season.

Marketing – and the different strategies

The marketing strategies employed by the SCO consist of sponsorship campaigns, education and community programmes, a sponsorship committee, national and international tours and the promotion of recordings. Due to the known and unique cultural brand identity in a market that does not compete with leading competitors, the SCO can afford to apply a real life strategy (Baker, 2008). Essentially, the strategy revolves around the application of a common sense and intuition based approach to strategy, which sees the marketing group merging with the design. This is because the marketing team deals with a limited number of factors in an environment consisting of imperfect information and limited resources, which is complicated by uncertainty caused by the nature of the music arts and rigid timescales. The use of classical marketing techniques are invariably partial and uneven and the lack of leading competition means that the SCO does not have to employ contemporary market strategies or strategists, such as military based tactics or expansion based strategies (Pride & Ferrell, 2005). Essentially, by focusing upon a target audience based in and around the community through a national cultural identity and by offering itself as a genuine international brand based upon its official art council status, it is able to focus upon a few key markets (Meerman Scott, 2007). These are primarily concerned with sponsorship and fund raising as the orchestra is bound by stakeholders, members and its well defined consumer group.
Concert Sponsorship is the exclusive sponsorship of a concert series or any individual performance that the SCO has devised. During specific seasons, the SCO features a broad range of music from ‘Mozart and Beethoven to ground-breaking jazz/classical works and the best of contemporary music'(SCO, 2008). This means that there is a great deal of range for company sponsors to participate in, which generates interest and captures the potential market associated with the sponsor (Pride & Ferrell, 2005). An education and community programme is delivered as a vehicle to deliver businesses customer relations strategies by increasing company profile through being twinned with the arts. In this, the SCO targets community links through its work with schools in the local community throughout Scotland and gains interest from a local source. This is helped by its work in education work being recognised as a model of best practice by the Scottish Executive (SCO, 2008). Sponsoring a commission is another market avenue. It is a directive used by way of a company investing in young upcoming Scottish talent, which then provides advertising for the SCO. The sponsor of a commission of a new piece of music promises the sponsor the spoils of any emerging or established composer in return. International touring is one line of sponsorship that is integral to the SCO and acts in extending the scope of the market at a high international level. Essentially, as the company tours, the sponsor may gain international recognition, in return for informing its customers of the association with the SCO.
By extending the international pedigree of the SCO the sponsorship offers an association with the company’s client base (Baker, 2008). This is also extended through national tour sponsors who allow the marketing strategy to alter to incorporate an all encompassing national identity. By visiting community centres and extended rural communities throughout Scotland, the SCO is able to reach greater audiences. However, this is as much about retrieving information from the wider community to develop a better delivery of the SCO than it is about extending the brand to a wider audience. This information is then brought back into the SCO system through the marketing and press office and its four team members, which reciprocates the cycle of potential markets. The SCO can also gain information from the gain of CD sales in a visiting tour for the purposes of releasing CD’s on a larger commercial basis. However, the majority of the marketing is delivered by its art council status, stating for example that,
‘The Orchestra plays a prominent role in the Edinburgh Festival. In 2005, it was awarded a Bank of Scotland Archangel by The Herald in recognition of its sustained quality contribution to the Festival.’ (SCO, 2008)

Building development and access to Capital (Funded from lottery/ Council?)

The SCO gains less than fifty percent of its funding from public sources and stakeholders, such as the sponsorship and funding that we have mentioned. Although this provides it with its status, brand image and base needs, the Orchestra still depends upon charitable trusts and foundations. It has over fifty trust funds from recognised governmental and independent heritage groups that provide funds so that it can further support itself at a base level. These donations go some way to further securing that illustrious brand identity (Meerman Scott, 2007). However, although this provides its base funding and the employee base is relatively small, the SCO still depends upon other sources of finance to sustain itself and maintain its survival and reciprocation from a financial, procedural and artistic stand point. Membership facilitates an income in exchange for information and a say in the future direction of the SCO. The member ships are staggered to bring in income based upon the provision of service. These are named the Patron, which costs up to £120 per annum; the Bronze Patron, which costs up to £150 or more per annum; the Silver Patron, which costs up to £300 or more per annum; the Gold Patron which costs up to £600 or more per annum; the Platinum Patron, which costs up to £1,000 or more per annum and the Principal Conductor’s Circle, which costs up to £5,000 or more per annum (SCO, 2008). Although each membership offers different opportunities, such as quality and quantity of seating and transport and so on, it does not restrict information or opinion regarding the future action taken by the SCO.
Alongside membership as a source of funding, the Orchestra is also broadcast regularly and has a discography exceeding one hundred and forty recordings. This allows for more commercial recognition as well as provides a stream of sales for the SCO (Baker, 2008). What is also deemed fundamental to the SCO is the involvement of children from the local community who are seen as part of the culture and heritage process and so is believed to reciprocate and perpetuate the success and overall life of the SCO. This also attracts the attention of both sponsorship and funding. It also provides essential voluntary and project work for the organisation. In return, grants from stakeholders and the arts council contributes to young people of the community in helping them create pieces of music of their own doing via two local workshops at a primary school in Edinburgh. Projects such as this, which are funded, gain the return of both voluntary work and also the generation of commercial interest and sponsorship, whilst also providing a performance and product to sell in the form of the subsequent recordings, with a specific novelty value. Essentially, the choir then performs such pieces during a series of concerts and records them for commercial sale.