Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work Debuts

We’ve been team-teaching arts entrepreneurship courses at the University of Missouri Kansas City for four years, and we thought about writing a book to compile information gleaned from those working and making a living in all art forms, but ultimately decided on a podcast. We think it’s a great way to offer educational and entertaining content that’s relevant, current, and most importantly, accessible to anyone who has an interest in some aspect of the arts economy. Access is key to growing the number of arts participants and audiences, so it was very rewarding to see our first three episodes downloaded in the U.S. and nine other countries. 

Yes, we see our audience in three parts: our primary audience is comprised of anyone looking to pursue their passion in some aspect of the arts economy; educators using our content for courses in arts entrepreneurship or music business; and a smaller segment is comprised of patrons who want to know more about what goes into making and distributing art. We feel it's important for all in the arts to cultivate and develop more arts participants and audiences, and as your members know, an informed customer base encourages everyone to up their game.

Artists and those who make up the arts ecosystem view the world through a different lens, and there should be an outlet for those creatives to thrive and contribute to the arts economy by pursuing their passions. NAMM does a fantastic job promoting and advocating for music-making—specifically all the work Mary Luehrsen and her team do in policy and education, and we are taking a broader approach by incorporating all the arts because the more people pulling in the same direction, the greater the impact we will have. We just started collaborating with the Arts Council of Johnson County and Arts KC, our regional arts councils, to help amplify each other’s message. They provide detailed data on the impact the arts have on the economy in the greater Kansas City region. By inference, there would be a similar impact in other regions. Data can be found here: https://artskc.org/advocacy/data/. 

Just start! There’s a common belief that a new venture needs a detailed business plan to launch, but in reality, nearly every entrepreneur we’ve spoken with didn’t start with a business plan. Yes, you’ll need one to raise capital or to apply for a small business loan, but for young people, especially now with the tumult of the pandemic and advances in technology, the barriers to entry have been lowered in a variety of sectors such as performing, publishing, services, etc. So ironically, it’s a great time to start.