Postby Odd-Arne Oseberg » Mon Jan 27, 2020 10:03 am
It's true that for many years now jazz festivals have had to add a few things to attract enough people to get by financially. A jazz festival is in general an act of idealism. They generally need funding and still loose money.
I've seen some positive changes lately, though. It's a combination of thinking about both general appeal, PR and simply not biting over more than they can chew. So what if they used to be the biggest jazz festival ever? If the market isn't there you have to adapt. Things are always in motion. It's not like it's always a steady decline. It's a roller coaster. As is everything in most every business, especialy if it relates to any sort of trend in fashion or entertainment.
Jazz was never popular with the masses. Not really.
I happen to have grown up in a period when going to jazz festivals was the hip thing to do, not for everybody, but it was a trend. All those extra people didn't go there just for the music, though.
I see some positive things happening in music clubs now. They have all kinds of music, but since it's popular and there are many regulars, they can put some jazz in there and that way they help promote it by exposing music fans to as wide a selection of music as possible. They make more money on some things than others, but they are not really in it for the money. They understand that if the business can't keep afloat, everyone looses, so they try to keep a balance.
There is a business side and unless you want to go it alone you have to accept some general truths about how that works right now. It might change tomorrow and if you get a little bit lucky combined with your hard work, you may not need to compromise at all eventually. It's completely possible and I know for sure I'd be doing it if my platform hadn't gone bye bye. It's much much easier with some sort of safety net. I haven't given up, though.
I'll certanly be giving you some jazz if things go my way these next months.
