Scott: I've long felt that we don't spend enough time thinking about the "quality" of an audience instead of just focusing on the quantity. That working on building the culture of an audience is an important part of the equation -- how they engage, respond, interact both with the artists and institutions but also between them.
I think Barbenheimer was a bit of a singular event and kind of genius confluence that I'm guessing wasn't planned but that producers were thrilled by -- two well-made singular movies in which the seriousness of Oppenheimer gave "permission" for people to enjoy the super-stylized over-the-topness of Barbie. And the iconic American culture celebrated by the Barbie fans saw in Oppenheimer an historical event that had legit serious weight. Even if you didn't see both, they collectively felt like an event that celebrated the alpha/omega excesses of American culture.
I think people are hungry for events, but just not generic events but unique experiences, things that speak to the zeitgeist. People have demonstrated they'll pay huge prices for them -- Taylor Swift, Coachella, Superbowl, the Vegas Sphere...
And I think you're absolutely right - people are hungering for authentic real-world experiences that stand out from the endless online scroll. I think eliminating the friction of having to "choose" culture (and by that I don't simply mean the algorithmic selection, but also the simple ease of accessing the always-on constant drip) dulls our enthusiasm. Some of the best most meaningful experiences I can remember have required work to access them -- driving 1,200 miles to see a concert, hiking to the top of a mountain at 6AM to hear a sunrise concert -- and because it required investment on my part, I was invested in being part of the moment. This can also happen in many ways -- communities of Hogwarts fans or Dungeons and Dragons players that build and invest in a culture around something they love and consequently wouldn't dream of missing a gathering of their clan.
I actually think the endless scroll is an opportunity for the live analog event to reassert its value, because it stands out in contrast. But it has to truly stand out. We have often touted the live event as a kind of self-evident totemic good without ensuring it actually is -- marketing copy, for example, that promises transcendent experiences that turn out to be just another Tuesday night performance. And there's good friction to participate and bad friction, and I think now more than ever people are doing the calculations and making their choices.
For the moment though, we're still mired in a system, an infrastructure, built in so many ways to reward and promote one kind of value -- the quick hit, the outrageous take, the shallow response -- and the TikTok algorithms brilliantly play on that, burying the more nutritious stuff. The platforms are collapsing right now as they get overrun by ads, subscription fees go up and the engagement of users falls. Something will take its place, and I think there are some awfully interesting opportunities (and of course threats) with AI for better discoverability and engagement.
Scott: I've long felt that we don't spend enough time thinking about the "quality" of an audience instead of just focusing on the quantity. That working on building the culture of an audience is an important part of the equation -- how they engage, respond, interact both with the artists and institutions but also between them.
I think Barbenheimer was a bit of a singular event and kind of genius confluence that I'm guessing wasn't planned but that producers were thrilled by -- two well-made singular movies in which the seriousness of Oppenheimer gave "permission" for people to enjoy the super-stylized over-the-topness of Barbie. And the iconic American culture celebrated by the Barbie fans saw in Oppenheimer an historical event that had legit serious weight. Even if you didn't see both, they collectively felt like an event that celebrated the alpha/omega excesses of American culture.
I think people are hungry for events, but just not generic events but unique experiences, things that speak to the zeitgeist. People have demonstrated they'll pay huge prices for them -- Taylor Swift, Coachella, Superbowl, the Vegas Sphere...
And I think you're absolutely right - people are hungering for authentic real-world experiences that stand out from the endless online scroll. I think eliminating the friction of having to "choose" culture (and by that I don't simply mean the algorithmic selection, but also the simple ease of accessing the always-on constant drip) dulls our enthusiasm. Some of the best most meaningful experiences I can remember have required work to access them -- driving 1,200 miles to see a concert, hiking to the top of a mountain at 6AM to hear a sunrise concert -- and because it required investment on my part, I was invested in being part of the moment. This can also happen in many ways -- communities of Hogwarts fans or Dungeons and Dragons players that build and invest in a culture around something they love and consequently wouldn't dream of missing a gathering of their clan.
I actually think the endless scroll is an opportunity for the live analog event to reassert its value, because it stands out in contrast. But it has to truly stand out. We have often touted the live event as a kind of self-evident totemic good without ensuring it actually is -- marketing copy, for example, that promises transcendent experiences that turn out to be just another Tuesday night performance. And there's good friction to participate and bad friction, and I think now more than ever people are doing the calculations and making their choices.
For the moment though, we're still mired in a system, an infrastructure, built in so many ways to reward and promote one kind of value -- the quick hit, the outrageous take, the shallow response -- and the TikTok algorithms brilliantly play on that, burying the more nutritious stuff. The platforms are collapsing right now as they get overrun by ads, subscription fees go up and the engagement of users falls. Something will take its place, and I think there are some awfully interesting opportunities (and of course threats) with AI for better discoverability and engagement.