Organisation

Strategy

Art Music Denmark has entered into a four-year framework agreement. 

In 2021, Art Music Denmark entered a four-year framework agreement (2022 – 2025) with the Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Music Project Funding.

Art Music Denmark’s 2022-2025 strategy is informed by this agreement.

Strategy 2022-2025

Introduction

Art Music Denmark is the Danish national organisation for contemporary music, classical and sound art. Art Music Denmark has long played an important role in the Danish music sector and in 2022-25 the organisation will continue its development as an impactful  network-based specialist organisation, which aims to support creative professionals within our selected music genres.

In this period, there will be a particular focus on:

  1. Classical music.
  2. Growth. 
  3. Neighbouring countries.
  4. The boundaries between genres and the interdisciplinary
  5. Targeted development of the organisation’s own identity and work approach, as well as optimisation of its partnerships with the other national genre organisations ROSA, JazzDanmark and Tempi.

1. Purpose and vision

1a Purpose

Art Music Denmark’s purpose – in partnership with other organisations is to contribute to the elevation and development of the Danish music sector, and to promote Danish music abroad. Art Music Denmark also promotes knowledge-sharing between relevant partners.

Art Music Denmark focuses on the music genres of contemporary music, classical and sound art, but acknowledges that traditional genre labels do not reflect the reality of how music is developed today. Therefore, Art Music Denmark’s focus areas should be understood as a spectrum of independent and interconnected musical environments, each with their own unique characteristics.

1b Vision

Art Music Denmark’s vision is for the organisation to function as a network-based organisation dedicated to development and expertise, which strengthens conditions within its music genre areas for the benefit of professionals working within it, as well as the wider world. It sees itself as a player that can serve as a partner to professionals and diverse actors within its musical genre areas.

Based on its current and in-depth knowledge of its focus areas, Art Music Denmark can operate as a sparring partner, facilitator or catalyst. The priority is to foster sustainable music environments and to step up in areas where Art Music Denmark can make a difference.

2. Focus areas 2022-2025

To carry out Art Music Denmark’s vision, specific efforts will form the focus of the 2022-2025 period. Some of the efforts will characterise the first half of the strategy period, while others are more long-term in nature.

2a – Classical music
2b – Growth
2c – Neighbouring countries
2d – The boundaries between genres and the interdisciplinary
2e – Identity, organisational structure, work approach and collaboration

Over the 2021 – 2022 period, Art Music Denmark will draw up specific action plans for its concrete efforts (see Appendix 2 for further description of Art Music Denmark’s efforts).

3. Analysis of the music scene

The modern music industry is highly complex. Genres are numerous, borders are fluid and shifting, financial structures are complex, while larger institutions and individuals must be equally prepared for shifts and changes. Art Music Denmark covers a wide-ranging area of music, which has been redefined and expanded several times over the past decade. This calls for an in-depth analysis of the music scene at large – this process has been launched and is expected to be completed during 2021-2022.

3a. Art Music Denmark’s ecosystem – the five spheres

The below illustration shows Art Music Denmark’s view of the ecosystem in which it operates.

1. Other organisations dedicated to music genres
Beside Art Music Denmark, Denmark has three other organisations dedicated to specific music genres: ROSA, JazzDanmark and Tempi. These organisations each have their own specific traditions and methods and in principle, they cover all music genres. There is additionally a close collaboration between these organisations and the organisations MXD and Strøm.

2. The music sector
The diverse actors in the music sector make up Art Music Denmark’s closest partners. They consist of performers, intermediaries, creators and venues – everything from creative professionals (e.g. ensembles, soloists and sound artists), to festivals, media and venues. Across Denmark, music environments and music scenes foster the evolution of music.

3. Primary stakeholders
The music sector is in turn connected to many diverse stakeholders – donors (the state, municipalities, private foundations) in addition to professional music organisations, publishers and record companies. This category also includes institutions such as art galleries, museums and libraries.

4. Further stakeholders 
This includes the public, press and certain political frameworks.

5. International partners and stakeholders
Art Music Denmark operates within an international music industry. The organisation’s primary international partners include national agencies, cultural institutions, international foundations, associations, embassies, major international festivals and music fairs.

There is much to draw from the above illustration, but it is clear to see that Art Music Denmark’s ecosystem is complex and activities therefore must be prioritised. Art Music Denmark cannot be everything to everyone – therefore the prioritisation of resources and efforts make up a central part of the new strategy. 

Overall, the priorities within the five defined spheres will follow these main lines:

  1. The collaboration with the other national genre organisations will form a large part of Art Music Denmark’s everyday life. Among other things, there will be a focus on establishing a common administrative system.
  2. It will be a priority for Art Music Denmark to be active in the environments‘ existing networks and to help create new, relevant networks. This will raise the level, quality and communication within the genre areas.
  3. Art Music Denmark already has wide contact with actors from all over the immediate world, but collaborations involving representatives from Art Music Denmark’s environments will have the highest priority.
  4. For the creative, professional actors in Art Music Denmark’s environments, the relationship with the outside world is of great importance. However, Art Music Denmark will in future only prioritise direct contact with the outside world to a lesser extent. (See also 4a3). On the other hand, Art Music Denmark will optimise the creative, professional actors’ own ‘reach’ via help for communication and dissemination.
  5. Internationally, in the coming period, Art Music Denmark will particularly focus on the near abroad: the Nordic countries, Germany and England.

3b Actor analysis – an ongoing effort

As described, Art Music Denmark’s environment is constantly developing, and it will therefore be a priority to continuously optimise Art Music Denmark’s knowledge of what is going on among the creative, professional actors in the represented environments.

Art Music Denmark will initiate:

  1. Ongoing focused needs studies
  2. Actor analyses
  3. Implementation of CRM system*

* In collaboration with the other genre organisations, Art Music Denmark is developing a pilot project (CRM system) which will improve communication and knowledge gathering between the genre organisations and their actors. The goal is to professionalize communication and to create better analyses of the needs of music environments. In addition, the pilot project will function as a data hub with important and continuously updated knowledge about the entire field of actors.

4. Activities

From 2022, Art Music Denmark is focused on the following activities:

4a – Advice, expertise and networking
4b – Recording and data collection
4c – Project development
4d – Grants and subsidies

4a. Advice, expertise and networking

4a1 – The network as a fundamental tool
It is necessary for Art Music Denmark to form part of the music sectors in which the organisation works for and with. And to be a partner which creates value for creative professionals and thereby society at large. Art Music Denmark’s legitimacy in the music sector depends on the network that it belongs to, as well as the network the organisation can offer to others. This network can both be an existing network, or new networks fostered by Art Music Denmark.

Art Music Denmark will:

  1. Map existing networks across different environments
  2. Actively participate in existing networks
  3. Investigate the need for new networks – and foster them

4a2 Art Music Denmark’s consulting services
Art Music Denmark’s advice-giving functions will be carried out by the organisation’s consultancy service, which can operate both reactively and proactively. The service presently consults on a range of industry-specific topics and in tandem with the ongoing ecosystem analysis, will be upgraded with relevant competences. 

Art Music Denmark’s consultancy service falls into three categories:

  1. Personalised consulting (physical meetings, via telephone or email)
  2. Digital consulting (making resources available on the website or social media)
  3. Courses, presentations, etc.

4a3 Communication
Art Music Denmark’s communication will be primarily targeted towards creative professionals. Communication channels include Art Music Denmark’s website, selected social media, newsletters and an annual publication.

Art Music Denmark’s communication is targeted at two groups:

  1. Creative professionals – e.g. regarding open calls and other opportunities
  2. Broader stakeholders and the wider public – e.g. reporting research results 

4b Recording and data collection
These activities are largely carried out in collaboration with other genre organisations (see Appendix 6).  On a daily basis, Art Music Denmark will focus on ensuring that prioritisation and decisions are informed by its work with data.

4c Project development
Going forward, Art Music Denmark will produce its own concerts in a limited capacity. The focus will shift to establishing projects within several areas:

  1. International development and exchange
  2. Pilot projects with the aim of promoting music in areas without traditional promotion efforts – i.e. measures to connect with the public, school concerts.
  3. Internal identity and work approach

4d – Grants and subsidy support
Art Music Denmark’s role as a distributor of subsidies is rooted in its management of a pool for international travel support for musicians. This aims to promote the work of Danish performers, composers and sound artists abroad, and support Danish organisers in bringing international performers and sound artists to Denmark. The award of subsidies will be carried out by Art Music Denmark’s Music Committee in collaboration with the secretariat (Appendix 3).

5. Strategic perspectives

The above strategy has been developed to align with significant changes to Art Music Denmark’s scope and purpose in recent years.  At the start of the strategy period, Art Music Denmark will operate in a re-establishment phase, characterised by organisational restructuring, redeveloping the organisation’s identity, a comprehensive analysis of the ecosystem in which it operates, and establishing several pilot projects.

Across the four-year strategy period, it will also be a priority to evaluate existing measures and activities and make the necessary strategic adjustments. Art Music Denmark already plays an important role in the music industry, and with the present strategy, it is our hope to evolve the organisation to an even more impactful network-based specialist organisation offering expertise and development, which makes a significant difference to creative professionals for the benefit of society at large. 

Art Music Denmark’s board, September 29 2021

Appendix

Appendix 2: Elaboration of action areas

During the 2022-2025 period, Art Music Denmark will focus on several key action areas:

2a. Classical music
Classical music is an entirely new genre for Art Music Denmark, which is why it makes sense to make this genre a special focus in the strategy period. Art Music Denmark must immerse itself in the classical music scene, while classical music professionals need to learn about Art Music Denmark. The organisation will initially focus action on growth, in particular supporting classical music professionals’ international ambitions and building their competences. Key to this is the Art Music Denmark Academy (read more in Appendix 3, A3d), which will focus on themes like entrepreneurship, building an audience, operating among commercial realities, identity, work approaches, partnerships and curation.

2b Growth
The ecosystem in which Art Music Denmark operates is highly diverse – made up of artists, musical groupings, organisations and institutions which are fundamentally different. It is crucial that Art Music Denmark focuses its efforts where it can make the biggest difference. Therefore the next decade will see a special focus on creative professionals in a growth phase. Art Music Denmark has the ideal departure point to assist this target group, and it can be carried out across the different music scenes Art Music Denmark is connected to. One impact of this new focus is that in the coming period, Art Music Denmark will support larger institutions to a smaller degree than before.

2c. The boundaries between genres and the interdisciplinary
Art is not created in a vacuum. Creative professionals thrive when they can derive inspiration and stimulation from diverse aesthetic forms of expression. Therefore, Art Music Denmark will investigate and challenge experimental music across genres and environments in order to better define common elements, challenges and potential opportunities to the benefit of all professionals. Art Music Denmark will also foster interdisciplinary partnerships between the music industry and diverse cultural forms and industries. The focus will be on developing and supporting new concert formats, venues and audience experiences.

2d. Neighbouring countries 
Art Music Denmark’s ongoing analysis of the music industry and information derived from creative professionals has thus far demonstrated that neighbouring countries – the Nordics, Germany and the U.K. – make up the primary export market for Danish musicians. The coming years will therefore see a focus on fostering networks and projects which strengthen the career development of Danish creative professionals within these countries. One of the actions to support this is the development of a close and formalised partnership between Nordic music organisations to share knowledge and establish inter-Nordic projects.

2e. Identity, organisational structure, work approach and increased collaboration
Art Music Denmark has been significantly restructured and going forward will undertake a new role in the music sector and culture. This calls for an updated identity, organisation, communication style and work approach. In rolling out this process, a logical future step is to update the organisation’s name from Art Music Denmark to a title which better reflects the new role. Increasing collaboration across music sectors – in particular with the three other national genre organisations is also a priority. This part of the strategy will be carried out in collaboration with ROSA, Tempi and JazzDanmark. (See Appendix 4). 

Appendix 2: Elaboration of action areas

Art Music Denmark’s organisation consists of the following organs:

  1. Board
  2. Art Music Denmark’s Music Committee
  3. Secretariat

A1. Board
The board is Art Music Denmark’s highest authority and has overall responsibility for Art Music Denmark’s overall business. The board determines the institution’s strategic goals. In recent years, Art Music Denmark’s board has been professionalised and carries out its work in accordance with the recommendations set out in the Danish Culture Ministry’s publication “Good management in self-governing institutions.”

(Lars Liebst m.fl.).

A2. Art Music Denmark’s Music Committee
The committee is appointed by the board and is composed of an intermediary, a performer, a creator and a curator, who each represent Art Music Denmark’s music genres. Thus far, the committee has primarily worked with allocating the international travel support ‘Tilskud til international transport’. Going forward, the committee’s duties will be expanded to include all of Art Music Denmark’s selection and curation activities, for example, evaluating open call submissions – to ensure professional curation is carried out with objectivity and transparency.

A3. Secretariat
To accommodate Art Music Denmark’s new strategic focus areas, the secretariat will be structured as follows:

  1. Director (also a specialist within contemporary music)
  2. Deputy Director (also a specialist within sound art)
  3. Project Manager (also a specialist within classical music)
  4. Communication Manager
  5. System and Process Developer (also the committee secretary)
  6. Data Collection Manager (shared with other organisations)
  7. Student assistant

In order to support the organisation’s strategy, the secretariat’s work will be organised in the following departments (the employees will work across departments):

A3a An industry department / coordination team
This department consists of three specialists who each represent one of the music genres in Art Music Denmark’s focus areas. Its goal is to launch and coordinate Art Music Denmark’s projects and coordinate efforts across the secretariat.

A3b Project team
The project team is a flexible entity with the primary task of running and evaluating Art Music Denmark’s projects and oversees Art Music Denmark’s networking activities. (see also 4c) 

A3c Consultancy service
Art Music Denmark’s advice and consulting activities, which henceforth be carried out by Art Music Denmark’s consultancy service.

A3d Art Music Denmark Academy
In collaboration with several actors within Art Music Denmark’s focus areas, the organisation is developing an Art Music Denmark Academy. It will create the framework for courses and training aimed at Art Music Denmark’s target group. The individual courses will be developed internally or outsourced, according to need. For example, Art Music Denmark Academy may offer courses with grant applications, entrepreneurship, finance and marketing.

A3e Interdisciplinary task force
The joint work of the four music genre organisations is coordinated via several formalised bodies. The interdisciplinary task force is appointed by the organisations ROSA, Tempi, JazzDanmark and Art Music Denmark with the goal of rolling out projects selected and initiated by management of the respective organisations. The task force will consist of a project manager from each participating organisation.

A3f Cross-organisation analysis department
The shared data support employee for the four music genre organisations will lead a cross-genre analysis with the mandate to launch their own research projects across different music sectors.

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