Where the s u n r i s e s
A&E industry – what we can tell you
A&E industry – what we can tell you
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We didn’t choose to be in the Arts and Entertainment industry. We were born into it.
We are not the only artists trying to make it independently, in fact believing that this favors us.
We know full well that there are hundreds of thousands of other musicians and authors out there.
We believe that our work stands a chance. All we want is one good, fair shot. Industry related challenges to date:
Economic crisis/recession.
Music programmers facing their own challenges understandably have been slow in responding to the over 100 program proposals we sent out about the relatively unknown classical (!) pianist Gustavo Corrales Romero, even if he is ‘not just another pianist’.
Where in another climate his unconventional repertoire (Latin American music, classical and contemporary) may have been jumped on, programmers have evidently been playing it safe.
Hype factor and favoritism.
The case of the twin brothers, pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen illustrates how it is easier to roll into the business having a leg up being from The Netherlands, having a father in the music industry and of course the added sympathy factor of being twins.
By contrast, opera singer Eva Maria Westbroek, equally a Caucasian local, who completed her conservatory education in 1995 in The Hague, only broke through in The Netherlands in 2006 after successfully trying her luck in Germany because having failed to be taken seriously at home.
Both examples are symptomatic of the (classical) music industry, given other experiences we’ve read and heard about.
In the book publishing business the competition is perhaps even more vast. Factors:
- The same challenges as above apply.
- The consideration whether to invest in finding an agent, editor or publisher or publishing oneself.
In the first case, as with record companies, author/musician receives only part of the gains from his/her work. Many would argue that the percentages are unjust. In the latter case investment and promotional considerations come into play.
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