Good artistic strategy is best conceived within an interlocking set of characteristics:

1. Authentic (artistically meaningful)
2. Sustainable
3. Not easily copied

Strategy is often best conceived from:

1. Rigorous visualization of the optimum results (with specific metrics for success)
2. Working backwards from this visualization

Too often, we spend the majority of our time on the tactics and early steps of a project; focusing on its ending and working back ensures:

1. Time management
2. Resource identification
3. Room for creative problem-solving

Strategy is empathy

1. Strategy is living, flexible, and iterative
2. A game of chess is not built on implementing a set of actions, but a structure of actions envisioning possible reactions.

Technology and artists have inspired each other throughout history

Curiosity, innovation and embracing technology is inherent to what it means to be an artist. Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionised the way music could be disseminated. Beethoven’s music led to an evolution in keyboard design when he included a note in his Piano Sonata No. 28 that didn’t exist on many instruments of his time.

Create your own framework for evaluating digital initiatives in the arts

Digital initiatives are resource intensive. We must be rigorous with new ideas and ask ourselves questions like: What problem does it solve? Is it digital for the sake of being digital? Is it a gimmick?

Need inspiration? Here are some digital initiatives in the arts

• The Philharmonia Orchestra’s “Virtual Orchestra” and LA Phil’s “Van Beethoven” use VR as part of audience development projects
• London Symphony Orchestra used motion capture to develop a visual identity for marketing materials:

• Berlin Philharmonic “Digital Concert Hall” allows viewers to watch live and pre-recorded performances
• Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s “Canada Mosaic” involved commissioning over 50 new works and recording them for free dissemination on YouTube and an e-learning platform.