New web-based technologies have increased the amount of information on international cultural exchange in the public domain. Many of the long established cross-European networks have moved quickly to extend their online presence in the interest of spreading contacts and opportunities as widely as possible. But this has had the side-effect of throwing a considerable amount of information into the public domain in an unregulated fashion under the name of 'knowledge' when it is really only 'data'.

This piece offers practical advice by fundraisers for fundraisers. It gives an overview of the considerations that should be explored before getting started. It also outlines the tools needed to do the job and provides insight into the different sources of funding available.

The May issue of the Arts Management Newsletter takes a special focus on fundraising aspects in the arts sector. It provides a good overview about trends, specialized organisations and experts, books and web resources.

Many arts organizations begin their existence with a single artist--an Artistic Director/Founder supported by a volunteer board and perhaps some paid staff members in administrative support roles. Some arts organizations begin and end with this configuration, not living past the lifespan of their founding artist.
Others through growth or succession-planning begin to contemplate hiring their first General Manager or Executive Director . If your organization is at this point then this article is for you.

Apart from sending a press release to your favourite bloggers, how can marketers efficiently spend marketing dollars to influence word of mouth? Results of this survey suggest that one answer can be found in the online habits and behaviour of social influencers.

In this report, it examines:

As a manager in the arts industry, you face many of the same challenges as managers from other industries a demanding business environment, changing technology, pressure to innovate, cultural change, organisational transformation, people management and budget constraints.

AbaF Margaret Lawrence Bequest Scholarships provide arts managers with an opportunity to attend a fully-funded executive development program at one of Australias leading business schools: Melbourne Business Schools Mt Eliza Centre for Executive Education (MBS, Melbourne) or Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM, Sydney).

Applications for programs for the second half of 2007 close on April 20.

The Professional Guidelines, which is offered by Society of North American Goldsmiths, gives artists, craftspeople and communities the tips to deal with all the situations that are related with their careers. The goal is to hope the documents become a basic tool in implementing improved and equitable business leading toward standard professional practices.

This report is a snapshot of the cultural life of England. It uses a handful of examples and case studies to illustrate the advances that have been made in the last few years.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers valuable skills building for arts managers through the Fellowship Program. The program provides up to 10 highly motivated, disciplined, and creative artists and arts managers the instruction and experience they need to succeed in today's complex arts environment.

Fellowships are full-time and last 10 months starting in September and ending in June. Application deadline is on April 1, 2007.

Is culture losing its political clout in France? That may seem a bit of a stretch, since the government still pours 2.9 billion into the arts every year or 30 times the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States.

Many authors argue that digital technologies, and particularly the World Wide Web, have great potential to serve the challenges faced by museums in relation to access and audience development, which involves reaching and nurturing both existing and new audiences. But what initiatives are there, and how effective are they? What strategies and actions are museums undertaking to take advantage of this potential? What is it being done to establish closer ties with core audiences or to attract new audiences? And what is the audience response to the museums efforts? The British experience in this field is of particular interest because it shows a political context favourable to the development of this emerging area of museum work, and it provides some remarkable and exemplary cases from which to learn good practices.

Ticketing arts organisations internationally are moving away from third party ticketing agencies and more towards in-house box office systems which allow them to build more meangingful customer relationships.

The special interest relationships characterized by the influence on cultural policy of music service networks are the focus of our analysis, as evidenced not only in the United States, but also in contemporary Japan. This paper will describe the activities of significant music networks in Japan and the United States and demonstrate that todays music-related service networks in Japan and the United States appear to have learned the lessons of the 1980s and 1990s challenges to arts and cultural policy.

This issue has the special topic "Scandinavia".

The paper describes the economic impact of music in Iceland and gives and account of the structure of the music industry and its management. Music is of significant importance for the Icelandic community. The discussion touches on the creative industries and accounts for the special position of music, as well as the strategic planning and social organisation that characterise the sector. The theoretical foundation is based on the methods of cultural economics and the methodology of the creative industries. The contribution of culture as a whole to the Icelandic GDP amounts to approximately 4%, and of this music accounts for approximately a quarter. Music fits very well in with the ideology of the creative industries. Porters five forces model is employed to describe the competitive position of enterprises in the musical industry in Iceland. The competitive position of Iceland in the music sector is analysed by the use of Porters Diamond.

Earlier or later in his or her professionship, an arts manager will face legal aspects.
Questions about copyright and intellectual property as well as problems with contracts- the manager should have a basic understanding to prevent crises in legal matters. No doubt, that he cannot replace a lawyer as the expert in such a case. We have chosen the relationship between Arts and Law as our special topic for this month and hope, you will get benefits with reading some of the 27 articles about it. One highlight is a report by our EU correspondent Tanya Wittal-Duuerkop. She wrote a review about the last European Writers congress in Brussels, which had a strong part and even a resolution about authors rights. This makes us obvious how much legal aspects can involve political dimensions, too.

Conference of the ESA Research Network for the Sociology of the Arts
Lueneburg and Hamburg (Germany), March 28-April 1, 2007

The ESA Research Network Sociology for the Arts is organizing its 8th meeting at the end of March 2007 in Lueneburg (Germany), with additional events in near-by Hamburg. The main conference venue will be at the University of Lueneburg, close to the medieval old town. The conference will feature keynote lectures, plenary discussions, paper sessions, workshops, and round tables.