BOP Consulting's Culture and Creative Industries Blog

BOP rings the changes with a new website and a new home for the blog

BOP is today launching its redesigned website. As part of the revamp, this blog will be returning to the mothership as well - from now on, you can find the blog here.

The new website is only one of several changes at BOP in the last couple of months. We have moved (London) office to Farringdon, and there has been some internal restructuring in the company. Jo Burns, one of the company's founders (she's the 'B' in BOP) is stepping down as a director, though she will continue to work for BOP on projects. Richard Naylor and Alex Homfray have been appointed directors in her place. Meanwhile, Bethany Lewis, who has been working with us on a part-time basis for some months, is joining us as a full-time researcher.

Anyway, you can find out more at our website. Please have a look and let us know what you think.

Reflections on State of the Arts 2012 conference

State of the Arts is an annual conference held under the auspices of Arts Council England looking at the state of the sector. 2012's edition took place on Tuesday of this week, in Salford, with keynote addresses from Ed Vaizey and Liz Forgan. The conference seems to have been something of a mixed bag (as such things often are) and some participants have already published their impressions of the day. Here is a summary of the social media streams  from The Guardian, and a piece from Gillian Nicol for a-n. 

SOTA12 also had an accompanying blog, which can be read here. There will be audio and video from the conference posted in due course - we'll link to it when it's available.

Craft in an Age of Change, BOP's survey of the contemporary craft sector, published

BOP Consulting's major piece of research into the contemporary craft sector, Craft in an Age of Change, has been published today (top item). Commissioned by the Crafts Council, Creative Scotland, the Arts Council of Wales and Craft Northern Ireland, it is the first big survey of the sector for more than five years, and is the first to be carried out simultaneously across the four nations of the UK.

BOP has produced a main report for the UK as a whole, together with separate summaries for each of the four nations (England's can be reached via the link above; see them for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). The press release gives more details. Among the comments from the partners is this one from Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council.

This is an extremely significant survey – it gives us an overview of the sector at a time of unprecedented change. It will be of use to those arguing the case for the economic and social benefit of craft – and to individual makers proving a useful tool in planning their future.

 

 

 

John Howkins on creativity: how to help it, how to kill it

John Howkins is a BOP associate and the author of the acclaimed The Creative Economy. Earlier this month he gave a lecture at Ciy University in London, entitled "Creativity: How to Help It, How to Kill It. Five Ideas on Creative Thinking in Britain and China via Mulholland Drive". The lecture has now been released as a podcast by City. It can be watched on iTunes U here (top item), while non-iTunes users can find it here.    

Dave O'Brien: Measuring the Value of Culture one year on

Dr David O’Brien (now of City University) was the first fellow on the DCMS’s Measuring the Value of Culture programme. Thirteen months ago, his report on his research (also called Measuring the Value of Culture) was published. Here he reflects on the origins of the report and where he thinks the debate is going.

The Measuring the Value of Culture programme at the DCMS grew out of a range of trends and contexts. To name just a few:

• DCMS had recognised the need to make sure their decision-making process was clearer and more transparent and used evidence in a more effective way

• There was already a large scale programme underway to better understand evidence within the cultural sector (the CASE programme)

• Given the backdrop of ongoing financial crisis, there was a recognition that the process of comprehensive spending reviews would be difficult for the cultural sector without robust ways to make the case for cultural funding.

My work concentrated on a literature review on methods of measurement used across Whitehall. The main focus was using the Treasury's guidelines on policy appraisal and evaluation, the Green Book, to think about which methods would best fit those guidelines. I discovered there were valuable comparisons with transport, environment and health departments, which had all faced the same dilemmas and debates about how best to measure value within their respective policy areas. My research recommended that for central government's approaches to cultural policy it was most appropriate to use methods of measurement that were recognised by the Green Book. Primarily those methods are economic valuation techniques such as preference based and wellbeing based techniques, which help decision makers to price the costs and benefits of potential policies.

This is a controversial idea, particularly if you think culture is an area that defies measurement, one which should not be subject to the kind of processes that Treasury has tried to embed in other areas of Whitehall. Even using the phrase ‘economic valuation’ tends to cause suspicion, given the chequered history of the use of other forms of economics, particularly economic impact studies, by the cultural sector.

However, a year on from the report, I think that Measuring Cultural Value should be seen as an opportunity, rather than a threat to the cultural sector. As Phase Two of the project is asking - what other ways of valuing are there? What other measures would we like to see?

I think we’re at the start of what could be a vital debate that might go far beyond the cultural sector itself. We need to seriously discuss the nature, usefulness and limits of economic valuation and economics as a discipline. The cultural sector, with its stress on the possibilities offered by artistic and cultural experiences, can show us what a vision of the good society might look like. It might then show us how economics could fit into this vision. I hope the next year of the Measuring the Value of Culture programme will see dialogue between Whitehall’s measures and the cultural sector’s vision, dialogue which will benefit both the participants in the debate and, more widely, contemporary social life.

Understanding the audience for London fringe theatre

iTrend Research and OffWestEnd.com have just published what they say is the first major study of the audience for London fringe and 'off-West End' theatre. The survey, which was conducted online in the second half of November 2011, attracted 5,500 responses. This method may have skewed some of the results - there are a number of questions asking about use of the internet and social media, for instance - but the findings are interesting, all the same. They suggest that among fringe theatre-goers:

• 45% attend Fringe and Off West End productions at least once a month

• Most tickets are purchased considerably in advance, with half of tickets being purchased when they first go on sale or approximately one month in advance

• Theatregoers are most often influenced by what production is being performed, the writer, director, or performers (75-84%)

• New writings were slightly preferred (62%) over revivals (51%)

• 90% also attend West End productions

• Whilst 42% say that the Olympics will not affect their theatre-going habits, 34% say they will wait until nearer the time to decide

 

Making the case for libraries: evidence to the CMS Committee

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons has set up an inquiry into library closures. (We blogged about it here.) The Committee invited interested parties to submit their thoughts, and this week the submissions were published.  

The PDF containing all 130 responses is over 600 pages long. We have picked out a number of the more interesting/important ones below. 

The Reading Agency

Leicestershire County Council 

Arts Council England

Local Government Association

The responses vary considerably, but almost all of them stress the value of libraries. As Leicestershire County Council puts it:

Libraries help shape the community and make it strong. They provide one of the few free community spaces for people to meet, share ideas, be creative, learn and be digitally active. Removal of such a facility would have a significant impact on those most vulnerable in society. 

 

Making a success of 'pop-up' projects

'Pop-up' projects have become increasingly common in Britain, as the recession leads to more vacant retail premises and as artists become increasingly confident in using such spaces. Written by Dan Thompson for the Empty Shops Network, Pop-Up People is a short-ish report looking at a number of cases of interesting culture-led initiatives in places such as Leeds, Brixton, Rotterdam and Bedford. 

Does Orkney's rich cultural life have lessons for the wider world?

BOP is currently working on an economic impact assessment for St Magnus International Festival in Orkney. The festival is just one part of the rich cultural life of the islands, which is even more striking given that Orkney is home to just 20,000 people.

Last year Highlands and Islands Enterprise commissioned the arts consultant, François Matarasso, to examine the islands' culture in more depth. The resulting report, called Stories and Fables, is rather unusual in style, combining a straightforward description of the levels and type of cultural activity with more discursive reflections on Orkney life. Matarasso worries that the culture of Orkney is under threat from the tough economic climate and the departure from the scene (through retirement or death) of many of the key figures who have driven developments over the last 30 years. Nevertheless, he believes a talented new generation is coming through. 

Matarasso goes on to identify ten principles underpinning Orkney's success which have wider application. They include:

• Leadership with a clear vision 
• Demonstrating value 
• A sustainable economic model 
• Valuing volunteers
• Open, democratic governance

A day to celebrate Britain's libraries

Tomorrow (4 February) is the first National Libraries Day. Dozens of events are being held in libraries across the country. The Day has been prompted by the wave of proposed cuts to library services, and is supported by the likes of the Booktrust, the Reading Agency and the Society of Authors. As part of the project, 23 writers, ranging from Alan Bennett, Susan Hill and Zadie Smith to Caitlin Moran and Nicky Wire, have contributed pieces to The Library Book. 

The Culture Editor of Channel 4 News, Matthew Cain, has more on National Libraries Day below. He also talks about the spectacular new Library of Birmingham, for which BOP has carried out research. 

   

Defending museums from Charles Saatchi's criticisms

Charles Saatchi has attacked the practice of charging for exhibitions at publicly-funded museums and galleries. While museums always need to think about why they do things in a given way, and be open to change and innovation, we felt some of Saatchi's criticisms were wide of the mark. Alex Homfray, who leads BOP’s work in this area, offers some counterpoints.

Saatchi writes: Even London's leading museums, admirable in so many ways, only earn about 7% of their annual costs from ticket sales… why bother?

We say: Sustainable museum and gallery business plans are based on multiple income streams: admissions, retail, catering, events, licensing, and so on. Each of these streams can yield millions of pounds, making a worthwhile contribution to the total income base. A mix of income sources is more resilient to changes in spending patterns.

Saatchi writes: If [major retrospectives] had open admission, sales of catalogues, posters, keyrings, notepads, calendars, tea towels and other knick-knacks, would surely have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.

We say: Free entry is correlated with higher spend, though not in our experience to anything like the degree Saatchi suggests. Retailing potential varies enormously between shows. How do you 'merchandise' Jeremy Deller, for instance? 

Saatchi writes: If museums weren't featherbedded by state funding… they would discover income from sponsors would be easier to attract.

We say: Most major institutions and exhibitions already attract business sponsorship - Tate lists ten exhibition partners on its website. But, contrary to Saatchi’s views, business contributions to the arts are dropping fast, more than any other revenue stream.

Saatchi writes: One of the drawbacks of heavily attended exhibitions is that visitors feel short-changed by the crowds.

We say: Overcrowding of temporary exhibition galleries is indeed an issue. Demand for blockbuster shows like Leonardo at the National Gallery greatly exceeds capacity, and paid ticketing is the most effective method to control visitor numbers and flow.

Saatchi writes: Museums would find that if they stay open until 10pm, a lot of overcrowding evaporates.

We say: Late openings are enjoyable but need careful modelling for each venue and its audience. As Saatchi acknowledges, his gallery’s audience is younger so his model may not transfer so well elsewhere. And, of course, late openings increase staff and premises costs.

BFI statistics show 2011 a record-breaking year for British film

The BFI (British Film Institute) - a BOP client - has released new figures showing that British cinema broke a number of records in 2011, despite the tough economic climate. Gross box office broke through the £1bn barrier for the first time, reaching £1.04bn, a rise of 5% on 2010. Part of this increase was due to an exceptionally strong performance from British independent films, which recorded their largest ever share (13.5%) of the overall market.

Meanwhile, total investment in UK-based film production reached £1.26 bn in 2011, another new record, although the actual number of films produced declined.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was easily the most popular film of the year, taking over £73m at the UK and Ireland box office. In second and third places were two British independents: The King's Speech and The Inbetweeners Movie, both of which took over £45m.