Art--A Large Market Opportunity

It has been quite awhile since I wrote about a new market opportunity. I tend to write about opportunities that I think are underappreciated.  Schopenhauer said that art makes our emotions tangible (or real). This unique mission is what, in part, makes the arts precious. Since the earliest days of computing people have been trying to bring this technology to art. However, typically they make the same mistake we see in edtech. If we use technology to duplicate an analog experience, do not expect a different outcome or much user uptake. Music streaming might be the one noticeable exception, but I would argue that streaming makes listening so much more covenient that it is not really an exception. The power of art is that it changes our perception of reality. Therefore where technology should focus Is in facilitating the understanding of perception. Rather than focusing on the art object--the music, the artwork, etc.--we should be facilitating how the participant interacts with the artist. Fred Wilson's post today, The Online Club, talks about how music performers can get immediate feedback from thousands of online listeners. Certain book sites allow readers to question and converse with authors and a new Miami company, Kurator, will allow purchasers to talk with the artist before they buy one of their works. All of these examples I think highlight a new focus and opportunity for how to change the user's experience with art.  Bloomberg reports that annual art sales alone total $54 billion, before we consider music, literature and film. Ever wonder why the Kardashians have millions of Twitter followers. All of the arts are important to us and we want more personal relationships with the artists. That is the big opportunity where I think people should focus.