In July, the UK government’s Culture is Digital initiative launched an online platform to take evidence from the arts sector on its four key themes: cultural infrastructure (including digitised collections); access and participation; cultural production; and skills, intellectual property and business models. The platform closed in early August and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is now reviewing the submissions, with the aim of reporting on the findings by the end of the year.
The initiative comes at a time of growing interest in how the museum sector can adapt to an increasingly digital economy. A blog by Chris Michaels, the digital director of the National Gallery, London, for the innovation charity Nesta in June posed several “what if” questions, such as whether selling tickets using Amazon’s dynamic pricing model could help maximise income, and whether low-commitment monthly memberships in the style of Netflix subscriptions could attract new members.
Michaels says museums’ models for commercial operations have often “grown layer by layer over time”, rather than through a deliberate strategy. He believes there is an opportunity for the sector to become more resilient by learning from digital business models such as those his blog discusses.
Variable pricing is already being implemented at a basic level. The Victoria and Albert Museum is selling tickets to its current Pink Floyd exhibition at a lower price during the week. And Michaels says the National Gallery plans to introduce variable pricing for its two main temporary exhibitions this autumn.
He stresses that data will be crucial in developing this type of service to a more sophisticated level. “Ultimately, you can only do something like dynamic pricing if you have access to good information about what transactions the audience is making, and respond to that with changes as you go along,” says Michaels, adding that the benefits will be boosted if institutions pool data to build collective insight.
Share incentive
Andrew Ellis, the director of Art UK, an online catalogue of more than 3,000 digitised public art collections, says there are also benefits to museums in sharing a digital collections infrastructure.
“For many public collections, sharing their art online would not be possible at all without a shared infrastructure,” he says. “And for those that can afford it, a shared infrastructure makes it that much more affordable and efficient.”
Art UK offers public art collections a portal for uploading and updating content, and a legal framework for licensing images. To those that pay a fee, it will also offer a potential income stream by selling prints and merchandise through its integrated online shop, which will launch later this year.
Art UK’s submission to Culture is Digital argued that “there seems to be a strong public benefit case for public funding bodies investing in digital infrastructure projects and contributing to their operating costs”.
Fiona Romeo, a cultural sector consultant who was previously director of digital content and strategy at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, says that while it is possible for museums to boost commercial revenue, the key issue is how public funding is spent. She would like to see private and public funders move away from a focus on high-profile capital projects, and towards investing in people.
“If digital initiatives could get funded outside of that context, there could be some more progress,” she says.
Romeo says there are risks for museums in attempting to emulate large digital businesses, but believes that massive online open courses and podcasts are two potential opportunities.
“Looking at the longer- term impact of digital, I think there are some really exciting opportunities for museums to rediscover purpose,” she says.
Organisational knowledge
Mike Ellis, the director of agency Thirty8 Digital, believes museums lack organisational knowledge, rather than the technology or infrastructure.
“People shirk their responsibility in needing to understand technology and digital, and that happens all the way down from director level to front of house,” he says.
In Chris Michaels’ opinion, Culture is Digital will help address this issue by formally acknowledging a digital shift, regardless of its eventual recommendations.
“The Pandora’s box effect of the sector and government recognising that these four strategic pillars are key drivers will have a long-term impact,” he says.
The initiative comes at a time of growing interest in how the museum sector can adapt to an increasingly digital economy. A blog by Chris Michaels, the digital director of the National Gallery, London, for the innovation charity Nesta in June posed several “what if” questions, such as whether selling tickets using Amazon’s dynamic pricing model could help maximise income, and whether low-commitment monthly memberships in the style of Netflix subscriptions could attract new members.
Michaels says museums’ models for commercial operations have often “grown layer by layer over time”, rather than through a deliberate strategy. He believes there is an opportunity for the sector to become more resilient by learning from digital business models such as those his blog discusses.
Variable pricing is already being implemented at a basic level. The Victoria and Albert Museum is selling tickets to its current Pink Floyd exhibition at a lower price during the week. And Michaels says the National Gallery plans to introduce variable pricing for its two main temporary exhibitions this autumn.
He stresses that data will be crucial in developing this type of service to a more sophisticated level. “Ultimately, you can only do something like dynamic pricing if you have access to good information about what transactions the audience is making, and respond to that with changes as you go along,” says Michaels, adding that the benefits will be boosted if institutions pool data to build collective insight.
Share incentive
Andrew Ellis, the director of Art UK, an online catalogue of more than 3,000 digitised public art collections, says there are also benefits to museums in sharing a digital collections infrastructure.
“For many public collections, sharing their art online would not be possible at all without a shared infrastructure,” he says. “And for those that can afford it, a shared infrastructure makes it that much more affordable and efficient.”
Art UK offers public art collections a portal for uploading and updating content, and a legal framework for licensing images. To those that pay a fee, it will also offer a potential income stream by selling prints and merchandise through its integrated online shop, which will launch later this year.
Art UK’s submission to Culture is Digital argued that “there seems to be a strong public benefit case for public funding bodies investing in digital infrastructure projects and contributing to their operating costs”.
Fiona Romeo, a cultural sector consultant who was previously director of digital content and strategy at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, says that while it is possible for museums to boost commercial revenue, the key issue is how public funding is spent. She would like to see private and public funders move away from a focus on high-profile capital projects, and towards investing in people.
“If digital initiatives could get funded outside of that context, there could be some more progress,” she says.
Romeo says there are risks for museums in attempting to emulate large digital businesses, but believes that massive online open courses and podcasts are two potential opportunities.
“Looking at the longer- term impact of digital, I think there are some really exciting opportunities for museums to rediscover purpose,” she says.
Organisational knowledge
Mike Ellis, the director of agency Thirty8 Digital, believes museums lack organisational knowledge, rather than the technology or infrastructure.
“People shirk their responsibility in needing to understand technology and digital, and that happens all the way down from director level to front of house,” he says.
In Chris Michaels’ opinion, Culture is Digital will help address this issue by formally acknowledging a digital shift, regardless of its eventual recommendations.
“The Pandora’s box effect of the sector and government recognising that these four strategic pillars are key drivers will have a long-term impact,” he says.