Digital Trends and Strategies

Music and

Performing Arts

Art, Culture and New Technologies

in Latin America and the Caribbean

Creative Economy

S _ BID_ARTES ESCENICAS: TENDENCIAS Y ESTRATEGIA DIGITAL

Author: Pablo Solis Vega

General coordination: Aura

Aura is a creative economy consultancy based in

Mexico City

Series editors: Isabel Gil Gómez, Alejandra Luzardo

and Trinidad Zaldivar

Editors of the book: Julieta Maroni, Manuela Reyes,

Eduardo Saravia and Andrea Villers

Quantitative study: Sistemas de Inteligencia en

Mercados y Opinión (SIMO)

Qualitative study: Angélica Martínez

Data analysis: Jerome Rozat

Research assistants: Lourdes Goldez, Maricarmen

Martínez and Mónica Sandoval

Editing: Elsa Gil

Translation: Oswaldo Hernández Trujillo

Editorial design: Periferia Taller Gráco

Graphic design: S Consultores en Diseño

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The opinions expressed in this publication are those of

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view of the Inter-American Development Bank, its Board

of Executive Directors, or the countries they represent.

Contents

Introduction 4

Methodology

1. COVID-19 Traces in the Music Industry and the Performing Arts 9

The Curtain Coming down on a Stage in Crisis 10

Data gap and Informality in the Sector 16

Flourishing Collaboration amidst Confusion 18

2. Reimagining The Performing Arts: Between

the Face-to-Face and the Digital Experience 21

The Digital Transformation of the Performing Arts Sector 23

Digital Content Platforms and Increased Audiences 26

Technology and its Challenges 29

Technological Innovations to Engage with Ofine Audiences 31

Technologies as Management and Marketing Solutions 33

MonetizationStrategies 34

Virtual Shows Are Still Performing Arts? 42

The Future Was Already Here: Immersive Reality and the Metaverse 44

3. Cases of Innovation 48

Teatrix. Argentina 49

How to Promote the Consumption of Music and Theater in the Virtual World?

PortalDisc App. Chile 50

How to Promote the Local Art Scene while Fostering the Digital

Economy for the Benet of Music and Performing Arts Creators?

Pro Indie Music. Mexico 45

How to Support Professional Development of Independent Musicians Using an App?

Muse’s Simulation Theory: Virtual Experience. England 51

How to Transform a Live Concert into an Interactive Digital Experience?

Interspecics. Mexico 52

How to Create Innovative Links Between the Performing Arts and Science?

Centro para la Revolución Tecnológica en Industrias Creativas (CRT+IC). Chile 53

How to Promote Technological Development for Creative Industries in LAC?

4. Final Observations 54

5. Bibliography and Sources 58

6. Glossary 65

7. Projects Reviewed for This Publication 68

8. Acknowledgments 72

How are music and the performing arts staged in the virtual sphere? Can

online experiences substitute face-to-face interactions? What are the op-

portunities for this sector in the digital economy? How do technologies

help the development of the industry and what needs to change for the

performing arts to thrive in the digital world?

In the report, Vision 2025. Reinvesting in the Americas: A Decade of

Opportunity, issued by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), it

has been stated that in order to tackle economic reactivation dening the

next decade, our region needs to work towards sustainable and inclusive

growth. Some of the routes of action for this recovery are revitalizing the

production sector, promoting digitization, rapid adoption of new technol-

ogies, innovation, and entrepreneurship in creative industries, supporting

SMEs, and fostering synergies between the public and private sectors.

The performing arts is one of many other sectors of the economy

taking part in the strife for sustainable and inclusive growth. They com-

prise those artistic manifestations that take form on a stage, aiming at

being performed live in front of an audience. They are forms of expres-

sion contained in the world of performing, including disciplines such as

theater, dance, music, circus, opera, performance, and multidisciplinary

arts. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) there is little systematic

research studying and making visible the impact of performing arts on the

economy and on society. This book gathers quantitative and qualitative

research from collected data and experiences on technology adoption in

the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting unpublished data

from the recent experience of different institutions and organizations

in the region. With presentations and shows being canceled, the health

emergency has deprived the industry from its main source of income,

forcing it to bring the curtain down. The digital scene became the only

momentary showcase to communicate with the audience, and for that

reason professionals from the sector turned to technology, nding alter-

native ways to create, promote and generate revenue from their work. It

was the onset of an unprecedented exploration of digital tools that are

changing the ways in which we can experience something as old as the

performing arts. The Argentine theater critic and historian, Jorge Dubatti,

refers to this digital transformation as “technovivio” (technoexistence),

1 Inter-American Development Bank, Vision 2025, Reinvest in the Americas: A de-

cade of opportunity, (Washington DC: BID, 2021).

Introduction

5 —“Living culture deterritorialized by technological intermediation”—,

which allows for non-physical interaction and communication,

unlike the

theater “convivio” (coexistence) that “demands the intense, physicality

of the artists, in a rendezvous with the technicians and the spectators”.

Music and Performing Arts: Digital Trends and Strategies is part of the

IDB’s editorial series, Art, Culture and New Technologies in Latin America

and the Caribbean, that aims at identifying the ways in which technology

can drive innovation in the creative economy. The sector generates a

multidimensional impact rarely analyzed from an economic perspective,

considering them productive activities worthy of attention and promo-

tion. These industries provide entertainment while also contributing to

the economy by creating jobs —many of them based on innovation and

creativity—, creating attractive assets for investment, talent and tourism,

and by fostering social cohesion, while promoting mutual understanding

and empathy.

This publication is divided into four chapters. In the rst, we review

the effects of the pandemic on the performing arts ecosystem. In the

second chapter, we describe the main changes brought about by the

adoption of new technologies in music and the performing arts, the

challenges faced by the industry and the innovations that ensued, em-

phasizing on emerging digital business models. The third part discusses

illustrative cases of technological innovation, pointing out trends and

possible futures for performative experiences from a digital perspective.

Finally, we enlist trends and strategies that can trigger technological

innovation in music and performing arts and underpin their role on the

path to economic recovery and sustainable development in LAC.

2 Idem.

3 Jorge Dubatti. “Convivio y Tecnovivio: el Teatro entre Infancia y Babelismo”.

Revista Colombiana de las Artes Escénicas. No. 9 (2015): 44-54, http://artesce-

nicas.ucaldas.edu.co/downloads/artesescenicas9_5.pdf.

Metodología

Methodology

This publication was created on the basis of (i) primary data, from a

qualitative research conducted through in-depth interviews to different

stakeholders in the region and a quantitative research surveying three

hundred directors of institutions and organizations related to the per-

forming arts, whether in the elds of music, dance, theater, opera or

multidisciplinary expressions; (ii) salient innovative cases in the eld in

LAC, North America and Europe and Asia; (iii) the review of secondary

information such as global, regional, national, and sectorial surveys; and

(iv) statements, interviews, and round tables with sector professionals,

ofcials from the culture eld, and creative economy experts. Throughout

this volume, data from other studies is referenced in the critical appa-

ratus. In the interest of not being repetitive, whenever no reference is

assigned to support any information, it should be assumed that we are

quoting our primary research.

(i)

Primary

data

(iii)

Review of

secondary

information

(ii)

Salient

innovative

cases

(iv)

Statements,

interviews,

and

round tables

COVID-19

Traces in the

Music Industry

and the

Performing

Arts

The performing arts are a ritual, where spec-

tators take part not as consumers but as fel-

low travelers. We knew that the big problem

was that without any attendance, the perform-

ing arts could not survive. The main problem

during the pandemic has been the disconnec-

tion from the audience, and for that reason

new languages and channels were created,

while expecting the return of the long-awaited

in-person experience.

—Carmen Romero Quero, CEO Teatro a Mil

International Foundation

I. Las huellas de la COVID-19 en la industria de la música y las artes escénicas

8 The Curtain Came down on a Stage in Crisis

Cancellation of in-person activities left the sector without activities and

income, both from ticketing and from the collection of royalties for

public performances, removing any possibility of distribution of their

products. It was a hard blow for the region and not everyone could

recover from it. Many independent businesses were shut down and

high-skilled professionals temporarily transitioned to other productive

areas, while others ventured into the digital sphere to continue explor-

ing their craft.

It is estimated that in Latin America at least 6,908 theaters and

11,304 cultural centers were subject to intermittent closure through-

out 2020 and most of 2021.

The impact has been different in each

country. For instance, in Mexico and Argentina, performing arts are

responsible for 5.6% and 4.4% of cultural GDP, while Colombia, Costa

Rica and Ecuador represent 1.1%, 0.7% and 0.15%, respectively. If we put

these ve countries together, the year-on-year variation between the

second trimester of 2019 and 2020 was -44% in the performing arts

and -23% in music (see chart 1).

In 2020, the loss of income from live

music concerts worldwide was 30,000 million dollars.

The rst year

of the pandemic worldwide collection of copyright royalties dropped

by 130,000 million dollars. Royalties in the music industry amounted to

8.498 million while in theater and other performing arts only 108 million

were collected, which represents a contraction of 44%, a historical low

for the sector.

4 Triguboff Matías, et al., “Evaluación del impacto del COVID-19 en las Industrias

Culturales y Creativas. Una iniciativa conjunta de MERCOSUR, UNESCO, BID,

SEGIB Y OEI” (Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2021), https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

ark:/48223/pf0000380185.

5 Idem.

6 Andy Gensler, “2020*, A Year Forever Qualied”, Pollstar, accessed May 25,

2021, https://www.pollstar.com/article/a-year-forever-qualied-146993.

7 Confederación Internacional de Sociedades de Autores y Compositores

(CISAC), “Informe recaudaciones mundiales 2021 (datos 2020)”, CISAC, ac-

cessed January 20, 2022, https://www.cisac.org/sites/main/les/les/2021-10/

GCR2021%20CISAC%20ES_2.pdf.

9 Chart 1. Year-on-year variation from the second trimester 2019-2020

in music and performing arts in ﬁve Latin American countries

For the performing arts in LAC, public nancing plays a central role,

since most of the regional public administration models focus on guaran-

teeing access to cultural goods and services, considering citizen partic-

ipation in arts and culture as a constitutional right. Thus, public cultural

institutions contribute to the creation, production, and dissemination of

artistic and cultural events. However, it has been estimated that expen-

diture on culture per country does not exceed 0.3% of GDP

(see chart

2), while the economic contribution made by the creative and cultural

sectors amounts to 2 to 5% of GDP by country.

In the light of this im-

balance, there is an opportunity for more public expenditures and larger

investment aiming at increasing wealth and creating new jobs.

8 Idem.

9 Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), “América Latina

(17 países): gasto en actividades recreativas, culturales y religión del gobierno

central, 2018 (En porcentajes del PIB)”, accessed March 15, 2021, https://obser-

vatoriosocial.cepal.org/inversion/es/graco/america-latina-17-paises-gasto-ac-

tividades-recreativas-culturales-religion-gobierno-0.

10 Alejandra Luzardo y Lázaro Rodríguez Oliva, “Economía Creativa en América

Latina. Mediciones y Desafíos”, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, 2018,

41-64. https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/

Econom%C3%ADa-creativa-en-Am%C3%A9rica-Latina-y-el-Caribe-Mediciones-

y-desaf%C3%ADos.pdf.

Tabla 1. Variación interanual del segundo trimestre de 2019 y 2020 de

la música y la artes escénicas en cinco países de América Latina y el Caribe

Argentina

Colombia

Costa Rica

Ecuador

Mexico

Average

-81%

-33%

-17%

-27%

-44%

-58%

-10%

-17%

-21%

N.A.

-23%

Performing ArtsCountry Music

10 Chart 2. Expenditure on recreational, cultural, and religious activities

by federal governments in 14 LAC countries during 2018 (percentage

of their GDP).

Although 61% of the respondents admitted having received support

from public institutions, they deemed it insufcient to face the extended

lockdowns, making it necessary to look for other alternatives. 77% of

them considered that the industry became more supportive (chart 3) and

55% reported having helped other rms during lockdown (chart 4). Also

30% received donations from citizens (chart 5), 27% from independent

groups and 23% from trusts or foundations (chart 6).

Royalties generated by copyright, an additional source of income for

the performing arts sector, fell by 25.4% in LAC compared to the previous

year. In 2020 of the total 388 million dollars collected from royalties, 90%

came from the music industry. In other words, the music sector shrunk

by 24.3%, while theater and performing arts shrank by 82.5%, compared

to the previous year.

11 CEPAL, op. cit.

12 Aura/SIMO. “Estudio cuantitativo para la Serie Arte, Cultura y Nuevas Tecnologías en

América Latina y el Caribe”. Ciudad de México: 2021.

13 (CISAC). “Informe recaudaciones mundiales 2021 (datos 2020)”. When added up,

Brasil, México y Argentina accounted for 80% of the collection of royalties, and in

2020 income from royalties were 150, 101, and 95 million dollars respectively.

Tabla 8. Gasto en actividades recreativas, culturales y religiosas del gobierno

central en 14 países de América Latina durante 2018 (en porcentajes del PIB)

Honduras

Paraguay

Brazil

El Salvador

Mexico

Colombia

Costa Rica

Rep. Dominicana

Ecuador

Guatemala

Chile

Nicaragua

Uruguay

Panama

Recreational activities culture and religion

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.2

0.1

Tabla 3. Nivel de solidaridad gremial a raíz de la pandemia

77% 12% 9%

Most solidary Equally

solidary

Less

solidary

response

Tabla 4. ¿Su organización ha ayudado a otras durante la pandemia?

55% 3%42%

response

Yes

Tabla 5. Origen de los apoyos recibidos por el sector de la música

y las artes escénicas en ALC

The Federal Government

The State, Local, or

Municipal Government

Civil Society

Organizations

International

Organisms

Donations

from Citizens

Organizations from the

same industry

Organizations from

dierent industries

Yes No No response

58% 7%

11% 79% 10%

9% 80% 11%

35%

55% 6% 39%

18% 9% 73%

30% 10% 60%

5% 10% 85%

Chart 3. Solidarity as a result of the pandemic

Chart 4. Has your organization helped others during the pandemic?

Chart 5. Support for the sector in LAC

The closure of venues upended other businesses and professionals

indirectly related to the industry, such as rental companies (of furni-

ture, audio, video, and lighting equipment), transportation, logistics and

catering services, costume designers and set designers, among others.

Although there is no specic regional data, in New York City, the closure

of Broadway shows (responsible for 10,000 direct and 97,000 indirect

jobs) led to an annual loss of 14.7 billion dollars.

In LAC, public support for stage professionals has been unalike. 86.8%

of the policies facing the crisis have focused on supporting creation, pro-

duction, and dissemination, 7.8% on promoting consumption and 5.5%

were recovery measures and transversal policies. Regarding direct fund-

ing, 45% were nancial transfers through scholarships, contests, calls

for proposals and prizes. 7% was allocated to the promotion of national

content, which resulted in the creation of digital platforms where ar-

tistic and cultural works were disseminated.

Some of these platforms

are: Compartir Cultura,

(Argentina); Cultura en Casa

( Uruguay); Aquí

14 Michael Paulson, Elizabeth A. Harris y Graham Bowley, “One Lost Weekend”,

The New York Times, issued September 23, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/

interactive/2020/09/24/arts/new-york-fall-arts-economy.html.

15 UNESCO et al., “Evaluación del impacto del COVID-19”.

16 Ministerio de cultura Argentina, “Compartir cultura”, ofcial website, https://

compartir.cultura.gob.ar/.

17 Ministerio de educación y cultura, “Cultura en casa”, ofcial website, https://

culturaencasa.uy/.

Tabla 6. Redes de apoyo para el sector de la música y las artes escénicas en ALC

Public or government institutions

Patrons or foundations

Private companies or organizations

Civil Society organizations

International organisms

Collectives from cultural institutions

Independent collectives

Other

No response

50% 100%

61%

21%

20%

25%

27%

12%

23%

Chart 6. Support networks in LAC

13 Cultura

(Costa Rica); o Contigo en la Distancia,

(Mexico). As a sector

the performing arts accounted for 56% of specic measures during the

pandemic.

From all support measures by governments in LAC, the emergency

bonds for the performing arts industry in Argentina and Brazil stood out.

The rst transferred nancial aid to creators thanks to national directories

and registries of performing professionals, like the Instituto Nacional de

la Música (INAMU).

In Brazil, the artistic community organized to push

for the adoption of the Aldir Blanc Law (named after the Rio de Janeiro

composer who died of COVID-19),

which allocated $700,000 dollars

to be distributed as a temporary income support of $120 dollars per

person.

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) launched a $100,000

dollar fund to support the music subsectors, festivals and carnivals, and

any artistic and cultural projects using digital tools and fostering a gen-

eration of income.

Other governments provided credit support for workers in the cultural

sector, such as Argentina and Ecuador. In Argentina, 7 million dollars were

granted through zero-interest loans for SMEs.

In Ecuador, the Central

Bank opened a special line of credit for the arts, as well as bank loans

through Impulso Cultura, offering conditions tailored for professionals in

the creative elds.

18 Ministerio de cultura y juventud, “Aquí cultura”, ofcial website, https://aquicul-

tura.go.cr/.

19 Secretaría de Cultura, “Contigo en la Distancia”, ofcial website,https://contigo-

enladistancia.cultura.gob.mx/.

20 Triguboff Matías, et al, “Evaluación del impacto del COVID-19”.

21 Instituto Nacional de la Música, https://inamu.musica.ar/.

22 Nestor García Canclini, “Debate 22: políticas culturales México Brasil”. recorded

February 8, 2022, Mexico City, Mexico. Video, 7:46. https://youtu.be/spOzgHE-

jpmk?t=466 .

23 “Aprovada ‘Lei Aldir Blanc’, que destina R$ 3,6 bilhões da União a trabalhadores

da Cultura de todo o país”, Revista Forum, Issued May 26, 2020, https://revis-

taforum.com.br/cultura/aprovada-lei-aldir-blanc-que-destina-r-36-bilhoes-da-

uniao-a-trabalhadores-da-cultura-de-todo-o-pais/#.

24 Michelle Nurse, “CDB allocates US$100,000 for COVID-19 Emergency Relief

Grants for Cultural, Creative Industries”, Caricom Today, issued April 25, 2020,

https://today.caricom.org/2020/04/20/cdb-allocates-us100000-for-covid-19-

emergency-relief-grants-for-cultural-creative-industries/.

25 Ministerio de Cultura de la Argentina. “Medidas para el sector de la cultura ante

el COVID-19”. Issued April 25, 2020. https://www.cultura.gob.ar/medidas-en-el-

sector-cultural-ante-el-covid-19-8932/.

26 BanEcuador, https://www.banecuador.n.ec/productos-ciudadanos/credito-mi-

cro/productos-microempresas/credito-impulsocultura/.

14 Aside from subsidies, looking for funds posed several problems.

Sponsorships, a key source for the sector, were restructured and many

companies stopped sponsoring the arts, to focus on other areas, such

as health or food.

Private banking in the region still has a long way to

go, as it currently lacks nancial services targeting professionals from

the creative elds, such as the performing arts. For now, credits address

other types of companies and are not well-suited for creative projects.

In some countries, sponsorship laws promote private funding by grant-

ing tax exemptions for rms supporting the performing arts. This model

is at a very early stage: legislations are relatively new, while patronage

so far has little penetration and limited growth. Countries such as Brazil,

Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay have regulations and mechanisms

addressing this issue, allowing both individuals and companies to nancially

support cultural initiatives, in exchange for tax exemptions. In Argentina

though, patronage law is valid only in its capital, Buenos Aires (see chart 7).

Incentives for innovation and adoption of technology are usually a task

of the ministries of Economy, Foreign Trade or Labor, leaving cultural

government departments out of the scheme. Such is the case in Chile,

where the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO),

agency of the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism,

allocates part of its budget for the development of local creative enter-

prises. Regarding the music industry, CORFO has nanced projects such

as Bizarro Lab,

an acceleration program focused on music; the Music

Tech Association Chile (MUSTACH),

an organization bringing togeth-

er technology-based Chilean companies that provide innovative prod-

ucts and services for the music industry; and the Observatorio Digital

de Música Chilena (ODMC),

the rst research project of its kind in the

region, aiming at creating reports on the economic impact of music sim-

ilar to Music By Numbers, a program in the U.K.

27 KEA European Affairs, “The impact of the COVID19 pandemic on the Cultural

and Creative Sector”, issued November, 2020, https://keanet.eu/wp-content/

uploads/Impact-of-COVID-19-pandemic-on-CCS_COE-KEA_26062020.pdf.pdf.

28 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Culture

shock: COVID-19 and the cultural and creative sectors”, issued September 7,

2020, https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/culture-shock-covid-

19-and-the-cultural-and-creative-sectors-08da9e0e/.

29 Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO), https://www.corfo.cl/

30 Bizarro Lab, ofcial website, https://www.bizarrolab.cl/.

31 Mustach, ofcial website, http://www.mustach.cl/.

32 Observatorio Digital de la Música Chilena, ofcial website, https://www.odmc.cl/#/.

33 UK Music, “Music by Numbers 2020”, https://www.ukmusic.org/research-reports/

music-by-numbers-2020/.

Program Territory Year Description

Ley de

Mecenazgo

(Santilli Law)

Buenos

Aires,

Argentina

2006 Individuals are admissible for up to $8,000 and companies for

up to $120,000 on tax deductions per project. The benets

granted by the law are 100% deduction of VAT for individuals,

and 50 to 80% for companies. It is in force only in the City of

Buenos Aires, and therefore not applicable at a federal level.

Rouanet Law Brazil 1991 It governs tax exemptions on donations for artistic and

cultural undertakings. It grants individuals with up to 6% tax

deductions and companies with up to 4%.

Cultural

Donations

Law

Chile 1990 It allows taxpayers to deduct up to 50% of their taxes

payable with donations and the other remaining 50% can be

acknowledged as expenses required for the production of

income.

Corporación

Colombia

Crea Talento

(COCREA)

III

Colombia 2020 It grants a tax benet of 165% of income tax deduction to

private initiatives that contribute to the development of

training, creation, production, distribution, and circulation

projects in the creative elds.

Estímulos

Fiscales

a las Artes

(EFIARTES)

Mexico 2017 It allows companies to contribute up to 100,000 dollars for

the development of a stage production, in exchange for an

equivalent deduction of taxes payable (VAT). Among its public

calls are: EFITEATRO (production and Creation of Theater

pieces), EFIDANZA (dance projects) and EFIMUSICA (music).

Fondo de

Incentivo

Cultural

Uruguay 2009 The fund has been established with contributions from both

individuals and companies interested in nancing arts and

culture projects. It allows the donor to deduct up to 75% of

the total donation in taxes payable (VAT) while the rest can be

labeled as general expenses.

Ciudad de Buenos Aires. “Los Contribuyentes pueden ser mecenas de la cultura”,

accessed February 11, 2022. https://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/cultura/mecenazgo/

informacion-para-contribuyentes

Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio. “Ley de Donaciones Culturales

(Ley Valdés)”, accessed February 11, 2022. https://www.cultura.gob.cl/wp-content/

uploads/2013/08/rc-presentacion-donaciones-culturales-2-oscar-aguero.pdf.

III

COCREA, https://cocrea.com.co/.

El Estímulo Fiscal a Proyectos de Inversión en la Producción Teatral Nacional; en

la Edición y Publicación de Obras Literarias Nacionales; de Artes Visuales; Danza;

Música en los Campos especícos de Dirección de Orquesta, Ejecución Instrumental

y Vocal de la Música de Concierto y Jazz, (EFIARTES). https://www.estimuloss-

cales.hacienda.gob.mx/es/escales/eartes.

Decreto reglamentario al sistema de incentivo a las actividades artístico culturales

(mecenazgo) de octubre de 2007. Accessed February 11, 2022. https://www.mnhn.

gub.uy/innovaportal/le/913/1/decreto_reglamentario_incentivo_cultural.pdf.

Chart 7: Examples of patronage laws in Latin America

16 Data gap and Informality in the Sector

The pandemic has shed light on job insecurity in the performing arts

industry and a high rate of informality, amidst provisional, dynamic, and

temporary jobs.

Without formal contracts and usually underpaid, stage

professionals try other sources of employment to supplement their in-

come.

After the economic setback, this informality exposed the fragility

of the sector, in which lack of economic support, healthcare or unem-

ployment insurance is a common reality across LAC.

The scarcity of data makes it difcult to clarify the effect of informality.

Although in the region there has been signicant progress in incorporat-

ing Culture Satellite Accounts, in 2021 only six countries have published

statistics on the cultural sector (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica,

Ecuador and Mexico). Even the available data from these accounts is mis-

cellaneous (see chart 8),

because information catalogs and denitions of

cultural activities uctuate among countries. In addition, current metrics

do not integrate digital transactions, making it impossible to estimate

their exchange and generated value.

Moreover, artistic and cultural jobs

are often underestimated in ofcial statistics for several reasons, like

the difculty of determining specic activities exclusively to the sector,

or the fact that most artistic jobs are not the main source of income for

creative professionals, and even the premise that most creative jobs are

not considered part of the formal economy.

34 OECD, “Culture shock”.

35 Ana Carla Fonseca et al., “La pandemia pone a prueba a la economía creativa:

Ideas y recomendaciones de una red de expertos”, Banco Interamericano de

Desarrollo, accessed January 20, 2021, https://publications.iadb.org/publica-

tions/spanish/document/La-pandemia-pone-a-prueba-a-la-economia-creativa-

Ideas-y-recomendaciones-de-una-red-de-expertos.pdf.

36 Diana Cifuentes Gómez, “Los retos en la medición del empleo cultural en América

Latina”, Observatorio de Cultura y Economía, accessed March 30, 2021, https://

culturayeconomia.org/wp-content/uploads/empleo_cultural-1.pdf.

37 Ernesto Piedras, “Economía creativa para un desarrollo sustentable”, Hermosillo

Dialoga, lmed May 13, 2021, https://hermosillodialoga.com/economia-creati-

va-para-un-desarrollo-sustentable/.

38 OECD, “Culture shock”.

17 Chart 8. Data Availability on cultural activities

by country (elaborated by the author)

A concrete example of the consequences of informality in the sec-

tor can be seen in the independent project Música México Covid-19,

launched by the University of Guadalajara, in collaboration with the

Mexican Association of Phonographic Producers (AMPROFON), and the

agency Música Relatable. After raising 500,000 dollars in the rst round

of funding for musicians and technicians in Mexico, several problems

with sharing these donations arose. By the end of 2021, the money had

not been fully distributed because the beneciaries could not meet basic

requirements, such as being registered in the Mexican Taxpayer Registry

or having an active bank account under their own name.

39 Música México Covid-19, ofcial website, https://musicamexicocovid19.com/.

40 Ana Rodríguez (partner at Música Relatable), interview by Pablo Solís Vega,

February 2021.

Tabla 7. Disponibilidad de información de estadísticas culturales por

país (elaboración propia)

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Ecuador

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Rep. Dominicana

Uruguay

Venezuela

•

Goods

Imports

Foreign trade

COMTRADE

Services

•

Goods Services

Exports

Cultural satellite accounts

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

Added value

by section

Production/Consumption

/Added Value

By general

area

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

jobs

Other revealing data

(non exhaustive)

Event

assistance

Cultural

Infrastructure

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

•

N.A.

18 Flourishing Collaboration amidst Confusion

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) contributed to the

creation of networks on multiple platforms, where people shared expe-

riences and thoughts, or created innovative ways to carry out activities

and fulll their goals. Like never before, professionals from the world

of culture and the arts joined their peers in global interaction, fostering

a shared discussion on the present and future of the performing arts,

claiming the importance of arts for society. For María Claudia Parias, ex-

ecutive president of the Fundación Nacional Batuta

in Colombia, these

platforms helped to “create emotional chains of support, and sectoral

validation of collaborative work, since there is a need to recognize the

creative industries as an essential sector in human life”.

Collective organization became a lobbying tool for fundamental

changes, new regulations, and assistance funds. Flavia Furtado, director

of the Amazon Opera Festival

in Manaus, Brazil, recalls the rst time

Brazilian opera houses were meeting on WhatsApp groups and Zoom

calls to share good practices and think of joint solutions. From that point

onwards, they have organized a common front to dialogue with author-

ities and promote initiatives that would ease the emergency situation in

the sector. In total, they have managed to bring together 1,500 profes-

sionals from more than 200 cultural institutions in the country, putting

them in a position to elaborate a unied discourse in front of public

authorities.

In Panama, stage professionals organized and lobbied to

modify a law on culture that had left out the performing arts, while suc-

ceeding in including the majority of their agreed demands.

41 Fundación Nacional Batuta was founded in 1991 as a public federal project in

partnership with the private sector, and is the leading organization of the Sistema

Nacional de Orquestas Sinfónicas Juveniles e Infantiles de Colombia. https://

www.fundacionbatuta.org/.

42 María Claudia Parias (CEO at Fundación Nacional Batuta), interview by Pablo

Solís Vega, March, 2021.

43 Festival Amazonas de Ópera is an annual festival held at the Teatro de Manaos,

in Brazil, around March and May. It is one of the most important opera events

in the country and one of the most traditional ones in the continent https://fao.

teatroamazonas.com.br/.

44 Flavia Furtado (CEO of the Festival Amazonas de Ópera), interview by Pablo

Solís Vega, March, 2021.

45 Analida Galindo y Marlyn Attie de Mizrachi (Director of the Fundación Espacio

Creativo), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, March, 2021.

19 The Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires

joined the “Beijing Forum for

Performing Arts”,

a network of more than forty Opera houses around

the world with the mission of reecting on the future of the discipline.

In Chile, several music professional associations bringing together

singers and technicians, managers and producers founded the Red de

Asociaciones Musicales de Chile (RAM) which, although is not a formal

organization, has made it possible to reach agreements between different

actors in the music industry, pushing a reactivation agenda and lobbying

with governments for emergency funds and health protocols to be ready

for the return of in-person events.

46 Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires is one of the most important opera halls in the

world. It is a stage open to foreign productions, but it also has an in-house or-

chestra, ballet and chorus, as well as a production team and workshop. https://

teatrocolon.org.ar/es.

47 Beijing Forum for Performing Arts. http://bfpa.chncpa.org/eng/gylm/.

48 María Victoria Alcaraz (General Director at Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires), inter-

view by Pablo Solís Vega, May, 2021.

49 Félix Barros (CEO at Evento Medido), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, May, 2021.

20 Box 1. Solidarity in the Face of the Health Crisis

In addition to making available their programming for free during lockdown,

some cultural institutions shared their spaces and technical and creative staff

to support the work of health professionals.

In Argentina, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires turned their stage production

workspace into a facial mask workshop available for the whole population. Its

facilities were also adapted to carry out contagion tests and part of its staff

volunteered at a hotel where citizens in isolation were lodging.

In Chile, the Bizarro Live Entertainment company and Movistar Arena urged

their food production teams to assemble and distribute food boxes for mar-

ginalized populations. In addition, proting from their experience in handling

masses, they have been used as a vaccination center for the population in

Santiago.

In Quito, Ecuador, the Eugenio Espejo National Library, housed an emergency

ventilator prototype factory at one of its warehouses.

In Mexico, theatrical production teams helped to build division walls to iso-

late patients at improvised hospitals, aiming at expanding their capacity and

treating a great part of the infected population.

In Brazil, the Servicio Social Do Comércio

de São Paulo increased the col-

lection and donation of food. It also distributed hygiene products and hired

community associations and cooperatives to produce cloth masks, which

they distributed at public hospitals. Face shields were also manufactured at

the technology and arts sections of their facilities.

50 Alcaraz, entrevista.

51 Ricardo Lira (CEO at CRT+IC. Centro para la Revolución Tecnológica en Industrias

Creativas), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, May, 2021.

52 Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio de Ecuador, “Nueve respiradores repara-

dos fueron entregados al Hospital de la Policía Nacional, gracias al trabajo de

biomédicos voluntarios”, Gobierno de Ecuador, issued May 23, 2020, https://

www.culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec/nueve-respiradores-reparados-fueron-entre-

gados-al-hospital-de-la-policia-nacional-gracias-al-trabajo-de-biomedicos-vol-

untarios/.

53 Founded in 1946, The Servicio Social de Comercio (SESC) is a Brazilian Non-prot

organization with nancial support from the corporate sector, and active across

Brazil. Its main goal is to improve the wellbeing of local communities, addressing

education, leisure, culture, and health care aspects. It is the leading institution in

funding and supporting the arts in Brazil. https://www.sesc.com.br/.

54 Aurea Vieira (Manager for International Relations at the Servicio Social Do

Comércio de São Paulo), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, February, 2021.

Reimagining

The Performing

Arts: Between

the Face-to-

Face and the

Digital

Experience

The pandemic sped things up and pushed for-

ward everything related to streaming so that

instead of postponing it, streaming was hap-

pening faster than we had anticipated.

—Andy Ovsejevich, CEO at Ciudad Cultural

Konex

II. Reimaginando la música y las artes escénicas: entre lo presencial y lo digital

22 In the history of the performing arts, technological exploration has been

a constant goal in search for new forms of expression, but also as a

means to enliven the aesthetic experience of audiences. Even before the

pandemic, technological innovation was constantly used to enhance the

artistic in-person experience, blurring the boundaries between the imag-

inary and the real world. Among some of these innovations are: Neural

synthesizers,

wearables sensors that transform body movements into

sound and lighting,

Visual projections that react to body movements

using Kinect technology,

stereoscopic dance,

mapping, drones

and robots,

360 videos,

virtual

and augmented reality,

and even

holograms, which bring deceased characters back to life.

The pandemic

accelerated the process of technology adoption, with the intention of

addressing digital audiences.

The urge to transform itself led the in-

dustry to rethink their contents and infrastructure, while discovering new

activities and experiences.

55 Pepe Zapata, “Transformación de las Artes Escénicas en la Era Digital”, Anuario

AC/E de Cultura Digital (2016): 54-72, accessed March 25, 2021, https://www.

accioncultural.es/media/Default%20Files/activ/2016/Publi/anuario2016/4_trans-

formacionArtesescenicas.pdf.

56 Imogen Heap, “The Mi Mu Musical Glove - Kickstarter”, March 23, 2014, https://

youtu.be/vJWzxMVDq8I.

57 Frieder Weiss, “Mortal Engine by Chunky Move”, https://youtu.be/sbjOMualLVs.

58 Klaus Obermaier, “Le Sacre du Printemps – Klaus Obermaier & Ars Electronica

Futurelab”, March 20, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhPtrpSIHXU.

59 RWC - Real-World Connection Pte Ltd, “3D Architectural Mapping Projection

Yt Symphony Orchestra 2011”, June 19, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=7eF9W3gcDWw&feature=youtu.be.

60 Daito Manabe, “ELEVENPLAY x RZM “24 drones”, September 15, 2015, https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWvKudIIJ8.

61 Huang Yi, “HUANG YI & KUKA - A duet of Human and Robot”, October 23, 2013,

https://vimeo.com/77566365.

62 Wall Street Journal, “Backstage with an Elite Ballerina (360 Video)”, November

26, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQZAIg5KfvQ.

63 Welsh National Opera, “Rhagflas MAGIC BUTTERFLY Trailer”, July 11, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBW8KVRhZEs&t=43s.

64 stype, “BTS ‘Love Yourself”’ World Tour - Augmented Reality stage”, May 28,

2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Qb1OcIl80.

65 Michael Jackson, “Michael Jackson - Slave To The Rhythm”, May 14, 2014, https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDRTghGZ7XU.

66 Aura/SIMO, op. cit.

23 The Digital Transformation of the Performing Arts Sector

Before the pandemic, 7 out of 10 performing arts organizations deemed

their technological development as ideal (chart 9) and 54% rated their

technological infrastructures as optimal or sufcient (chart 10). The most

common tools were social networks (90%), WhatsApp (63%), and web-

sites (54%), while teleconferences were mentioned by 32% of the re-

spondents (chart 11). In almost half of the sector (49%) technological

development and innovation plans were being carried out (chart 12), while

websites (30%) and online streaming (21%) were the main innovations

projected.

7 out of 10 organizations admitted the need to develop ad-

ditional technological tools (chart 13) and 80% of them recognized their

importance during the pandemic (chart 14). Among the activities that

grew in relevance are digital catalogs (8 to 30%), streaming (28 to 60%),

teleconferences (32 to 52%), online ticket sales (8-18%), mobile apps (10-

15%), QR codes (18-23%), virtual reality (8-12%), and podcasts (10-12%)

(chart 15). 55% of the respondents admitted that the development of new

multimedia content was a consequence of the health crisis (chart 16).

While in 2019 only 1 out of 4 artistic, cultural or entertainment projects

were digitally available, during the pandemic that same percentage rose

above 50%, we can conclude that traditional sectors of the creative econ-

omy have been undergoing major technological innovation adjustments

since its onset.

Chart 9. Technological development prior to the pandemic

Chart 10. Perception of the level of technological

adequacy before the pandemic

67 Ibidem.

68 Ibidem.

69 Triguboff et al., “COVID-19 Impact Assessment.” op. cit.

Tabla 9. Nivel de desarrollo tecnológico previo a la pandemia

8% 8%

62%

15%

Very

good

Good

Regular Bad

response

Very

bad

Tabla 10. Percepción del nivel de suﬁciencia tecnológica antes

de la pandemia

1% 46%

Optimal

Sufficient

44%

Insucient Does

not

exist

response

24 Chart 11. Digital tools in use before the pandemic

Chart 12. Plans for the incorporation of new technologies before the

pandemic

Chart 13. Plans for the incorporation of new technologies after the on-

set of the pandemic

Tabla 11. Herramientas digitales utilizadas antes de la pandemia

Websites

Virtual visits

Virtual reality tours

Online catalogs

Promotional campaigns and digital communication

Ticket sales and online access

Transmission of cultural and artistic events online

Creating mobile apps

QR code integration

Social media activity

Podcasts

Streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Deezer, etc)

Teleconferences

Other

None

50% 100%

54%

24%

46%

29%

24%

10%

16%

32%

18%

90%

10%

25%

63%

Tabla 12. Planes para la incorporación de nuevas tecnologías antes

de la pandemia

49%

No response

49%

Yes

Tabla 13. Planes para la incorporación de nuevas tecnologías después del

inicio de la pandemia

They require

additional

development

67%

30%

No response

They have enough

tools and digital

platforms

25 Chart 14. Perception of the degree of importance

of digital tools for the sector

Chart 15. Use of digital tools

Chart 16. Development of multimedia content

as a result of the pandemic

Tabla 14. Percepción sobre el grado de ayuda de las herramientas digi-

tales en las actividades de las artes escénicas en ALC

Somewhat helpful

26%

Less helpful

14%

Not helpful

54%

No response

Very helpful

Tabla 15. Variaciones en el uso de herramientas digitales seleccionadas

Digital catalogs

Streaming

Teleconferences

Online Ticketing

Mobile apps

QR codes

Virtual Reality

Podcasts

28%

32%

10%

18%

10%

30%

60%

52%

18%

15%

23%

12%

Tools Before of the pandemic After the pandemic

Tabla 16. Desarrollo de contenido multimedia de la música

y las artes escénicas a raíz de la pandemia

55% 35 %

As a result of

the pandemic

We did this previously

10%

response

26 Digital Content Platforms and Increased Audiences

For some institutions related to music and the performing arts, online

streaming was not completely new since they already owned websites,

which they used as digital repositories and social tools aiding them to

engage with new audiences. At Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires online re-

cording and streaming became common in 2015. When the pandemic

hit, they had substantial experience in distributing digital content, and

counted on a catalog extensive enough to put together programming,

which is still available for free and with the artists’ authorization granted

in advance.

Due to the pandemic, the Servicio Social Do Comércio de São Paulo

(SESC SP) launched their SESC digital platform ahead of schedule, even

though another online content platform has been available since 2014.

In addition to their catalog, they have live streamed to promote sports,

musical, theatrical, dance or circus activities every day. By May 2020,

their #EmCasaComSesc project included one daily debate, four music

shows, three theater performances, and two dance interventions every

week. All content was available for free and is still available on their

YouTube channel.

In Chile, the Teatro a Mil International Foundation

previously had an

online digital repository

with available videos of past festivals. During

the pandemic, guaranteeing optimal experience of their website while

making it user-friendly for an increasing number of users became their

major priority. To reach this goal, their staff was trained in the users’ jour-

ney through their platform. As its director states, “Today [a website] is

a tool that connects, supports, promotes, and disseminates the work of

theater companies. We have managed to consolidate a digital channel

and a virtual stage which went from three thousand to eighty thousand

followers in just one week; we even had peaks of ve hundred thousand

connected users, something unusual for a foundation like ours which is

devoted to theater”.



70 Alcaraz, interview.

71 Scallop, interview.

72 The Teatro a Mil International Foundation is responsible for organizing the

Santiago a Mil International Festival, one of the most important performing arts

gatherings in the region, which takes place each year in January and features the-

ater, dance, music, opera, circus or multidisciplinary arts. https://www.teatroamil.

cl/quienes-somos/conocenos/.

73 Teatro a Mil, ofcial website, www.teatroamil.tv.

74 Carmen Romero Quero (general director of the Teatro a Mil International

Foundation), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, March 2021.

27 Cultural organizations have turned to the most popular social net-

works to reach larger audiences. Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are

the most mentioned among respondents when asked about tools to en-

hance audience engagement, especially with younger generations. The

most popular ways to address audiences are social networks (94% of

respondents), WhatsApp (77%), and email (56%).



Jorge Codicimo, from the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, recognizes

the importance of social media to strategically create audiences that

would attend theaters in the future. He highlights the “long tail” phe-

nomenon, that consists in leaving content available on the internet to

allow a larger number of users to watch it over time. As an example

he points out their production and mise-en-scene of the Swan Lake,

available on Youtube where it reached 250,000 views by June 2021, a

gure that could only be compared to the attending audience of 250

sold out performances.

New audiences come from different countries, signicantly widening

the global outreach of theaters and platforms. In Brazil, the São Paulo

SESC and its 2,208 online artistic actions presented in 2020 reached

8 million views.

For the Manizales International Theater Festival

Colombia, this meant its audience increased vefold and reached 32 dif-

ferent countries, some of them quite distant like Ukraine, China or Japan.

At the Ciudad Cultural Konex, in Buenos Aires, they can also assess that

their programs have surpassed the local sphere. CEO, Andy Ovsejevich,

explains that, before the pandemic, their activities only addressed the

population of Buenos Aires and its surroundings, but thanks to the digi-

tal transition the whole country is now their target: “Now we are able to

reach people in the provinces, who could not visit us otherwise; we are

addressing them through social networks, and that means new business

opportunities”.

75 Aura/SIMO, op. cit.

76 Jorge Codicimo (general coordinator of Institutional Communication of the

Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, May 2021.

77 Vieira, interview.

78 The Manizales International Theater Festival was founded in 1968 and is one of

the oldest performing arts festivals in LAC. It takes place each year in autumn,

between September and October, in the city of Manizales, Colombia. https://

festivaldemanizales.com/.

79 Octavio Arbeláez (director of the Manizales International Theater Festival), in-

terview by Pablo Solís Vega, February 2021.

80 Andy Ovsejevich (CEO at Ciudad Cultural Konex), interview with Pablo Solís

Vega, March 2021.

28 At Fundación Espacio Creativo,

in Panama, they believe new tech-

nologies have democratized culture by reaching audiences that, for dif-

ferent reasons, could not go to theaters or simply did not know about

them before.

Óscar Carnicero, from La Teatrería in Mexico, agrees with

this idea. People across different Mexican provinces have thanked him

for the chance to see a play for the rst time through La Teatrería’s

online transmissions.

Alejandra Serrano, a Mexican theater researcher,

emphasizes that “criticism on digital cultural activities has to do in part

with excluding people without internet access, which is true. However,

in-person theater can also be exclusive: theaters are not always easy to

get to and have limited seats to offer, not to mention the cost of tickets.

For that reason, shedding light on the shortcomings of both in-person

and digital shows seems positive to me”.

Training audiences is a priority for most cultural organizations.

In Manizales, Colombia, the pandemic help to expand the Escuela de

Espectadores program, launched in alliance with the Argentine Jorge

Dubatti. By March 2020 there were 1,200 users registered.

According

to Octavio Arbeláez, “the experience has been interesting because now

we have no less than 300 or 400 viewers, while before the pandemic

our events were attended by 50 or 60 people; and during the 3 days

of our festival 48,000 users were connected, which is not exactly a low

attendance”.

During lockdown audiences have shown different behavior patterns:

6 out of 10 respondents recognize that their audiences have changed.

Initially, digital programming focused on younger audiences consuming

digital content. But little by little, older audiences began to increase,

forcing them to adapt their content. At the Fundación Teatro Nacional

81 Fundación Espacio Creativo (FEC) is a center offering artistic residencies that

promotes the creation, production, education, and celebration of contemporary

dance and performing arts located in Panama City. https://www.fec.org.pa/.

82 Galindo and Attie de Mizrachi, interview.

83 Óscar Carnicero (director of La Teatrería), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, February

2021.

84 Alejandra Serrano, “Pandemic reections from independent theater”, Theatrical

Research. Magazine of Performing Arts and Performativity, Vol. 11, No. 18 (2020),

https://investigacionteatral.uv.mx/index.php/investigacionteatral/article/

view/2649/4605.

85 Arbeláez, interview.

86 Idem.

87 Aura/SIMO, op. cit.

29 Sucre

in Ecuador, this shift meant an increase in digital ticket sales.

As Fabiola Pazmiño states, “perhaps young people buy tickets driven

by specic shows, by specic artists, but do not necessarily buy tickets

again, while mature audiences are very loyal and are more aware of the

importance of paying for tickets”.

While audiences were changing, it became clear that the number of

online users was decreasing. Digital saturation prompted people to re-

turn to face-to-face experiences. Salomé Olarte, music manager at the

Instituto Distrital de las Artes in Bogotá, has witnessed this exhaustion:

“After spending so many hours working on a computer, people no lon-

ger wanted to watch a concert, they prefered to read a book, go out to

breathe and see nature. So, the outreach of our digital programming was

not what we expected.”

This fatigue has also encouraged the creation

of new formats. Plays and concerts that used to last an hour or more,

have now been reduced into 5 to 30 minutes formats.

Technology and its Challenges

Technological adoption has not been uniform, and professionals in the

sector have had to cope with several challenges related to the digital

divide: 9 out of 10 respondents pointed to lack of nancial resources, 8

out of 10 lack of technological skills, and 6 out of 10 lack of technological

infrastructure in their cities (chart 17).

88 The Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre is an NGO formed by the Municipio del

Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, The Empresa del Desarrollo del Centro Histórico

de Quito and the Fondo de Salvamento del Patrimonio Cultural in Ecuador.

The foundation manages several theater halls (Teatro Nacional Sucre, Teatro

Variedades Ernesto Albán, Teatro México, and Centro Cultural Mama Cuchara);

it also supports several in-house groups and casts, such as the Banda Sinfónica

Metropolitana, the Orquesta de Instrumentos Andinos, as well as other ensembles

and choirs, and is responsible for promoting the development, dissemination and

production of the arts in Quito and Ecuador. https://www.teatrosucre.com/.

89 Fabiola Pazmiño (Production Coordinator at the Fundación Teatro Nacional

Sucre), interview by Pablo Solís Vega, March 2021.

90 Salomé Olarte (Music Manager at the Instituto Distrital de las Artes, Bogotá),

interview by Pablo Solís Vega, March 2021.

30 Chart 17. Technological innovation shortcomings

During lockdown, the rst experiences of online streaming emphasized

the need to involve professionals like engineers, cameramen, illuminators,

editors, and post-producers, in producing quality content. Others have

learned to adapt or set stage productions in digital formats, aiming at

creating innovative digital experiences. While some of this self-learning

was done at home, organizations devoted to the performing arts offered

training and education programs on editing, lighting or self-production.

That was the case of the Teatro a Mil International Foundation in Chile.

After realizing that some of the new proposals they received lacked tech-

nical standards, they organized a series of workshops for creators in order

to improve the production of digital content.

The increasing number of connected users shed light on poor infra-

structure and the limited possibilities of connectivity, even in some LAC

capital cities. A salient case is Despierta Elena, a play written for Zoom

that took place in real time at three different houses, in which the viewer

could simultaneously see what was happening at each setting and could

91 Romero Quero, interview.

Tabla 17. Limitaciones a la innovación tecnológica

Technological innovation is

required but we do not have

enough economic resources to

develop it

Technological innovation is

required but we do not have

enough knowledge to develop it

Technological innovation does not

work for the characteristics of my

area/industry

Innovation is important but there

is not enough infrastructure to

develop it

Strongly agree Agree Strongly disagreeDisagree No response

45% 5% 1% 1%

24% 18% 3% 1%

12% 51%

22% 1%

27% 41% 29% 2% 1%

14%

54%

48%

31 choose among three different endings. But users experienced connec-

tivity issues, preventing them from watching the live stream properly.

In terms of infrastructure, some theaters improved their speed of con-

nectivity in an unprecedented way. In Mexico City, La Teatrería changed

their internet provider, and invested in technical infrastructure to adapt

their hall for live HD streaming sessions.

At the Ciudad Cultural Konex,

in Buenos Aires, they adapted their facilities and refurbished the digital

division of the complex at an old oil factory, dividing it into nine rooms

to stage shows in different formats. According to CEO Andy Ovsejevich,

they invested in cameras and equipment, upgraded their connectivity

network, and hired cameramen and cinematographers. Now one of the

nine rooms will be destined exclusively for digital content, functioning

as a TV studio.

Technological Innovations to Engage with Oine Audiences

Digital alternatives are not yet available among a large percentage of the

population, since more than half of the planet’s inhabitants do not have

internet access.

It is estimated that broadband penetration in LAC is

around 30% of the population, highlighting existing inequalities in the

region.

In the Caribbean, specialists have remarked poor infrastructure

and lack of basic digital skills. Universal connectivity access is a pending

issue in our region that has become more urgent during the pandemic.



To address this, the cultural sector has merged old and new technol-

ogies, looking for innovative solutions. An outstanding example was led

by the Fundación Nacional Batuta in Colombia, an organization devoted

to musical training among vulnerable children and youngsters. A country

where 40% of its population does not have internet access, resorted to

92 Idem.

93 Butcher, interview.

94 Ovsejevich, interview.

95 World Bank, “People Using the Internet (% of Population),” accessed May 10,

2021, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?name_desc=false.

96 Antonio García Zaballos and Enrique Iglesias Rodríguez, “Economía digital en

América Latina y el Caribe. Situación actual y recomendaciones”,”, Inter-American

Development Bank (2017), accessed January 20, 2021, https://publications.

iadb.org/es/economia-digital-en-america-latina-y-el-caribe-situacion-actu-

al-y-recomendaciones.

97 Rodney Small (coordinator of creative industries at the Ministry of Culture of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), interview with Pablo Solís Vega, April 2021.

32 distance training. They delivered more than 30,000 kits with USB keys,

reading devices, speakers, and other sound equipment. In partnership

with local and community radio stations, Radio Nacional de Colombia,

the RTVC network, and the army, they broadcasted twenty-six half-hour

radio programs twice a week. For those who did have internet access,

they opened a YouTube channel where teachers posted tutorials, keep-

ing close contact with their students at home. For many of the tutors it

was their rst experience with online education and they were trained

to adjust their methodology accordingly. This is how they succeeded in

keeping up their work across the country. The strategy was well received

and its endeavors triggered a lot of sympathy because of the psycho-

social support they kept giving, and the fact that they even reinforced

it. María Claudia Parias, the CEO of the organization, explains how up to

ten children would gather for class in those homes that have internet:

“our containment strategy, based on the idea of emotional and physical

self-care, worked out quite well”.

Some other organizations in the region also turned to the radio in

order to tell stories. The Santiago a Mil International Festival, in Chile,

developed a radio drama project, initially targeting the elderly. But in

the end, there was a connection between “the analog grandparents and

today’s digital grandchildren, because grandparents told them that when

they were young radio theater was part of their lives, and now their

grandchildren, the most digitized segment of the population, could share

that world with their grandfathers and grandmothers, helping them re-

connect with it.”

Concerned by the exclusion caused by the digital divide, the organiz-

ers of the International Theater Festival in Manizales, Colombia made”car-

ros-valla” available. They are small trucks with giant screens traveling to

stream live events in inner-city areas without internet access. According

to the director of the festival Octavio Arbeláez, “this strategy resulted

in major inclusion for people without internet connection, granting them

access to this type of experiences”.

100

In Panama, the Espacio Creativo Foundation gured out a way to help

their dance students without home internet access. Through strategic

alliances, technology companies and internet providers donated laptops,

smartphones, and prepaid chip cards granting unlimited data for a year.

101

They also adapted their curriculum to cover programming, web design,

98 Parias, interview.

99 Romero Quero, interview.

100 Arbeláez, interview.

101 Galindo and Attie de Mizrachi, interview.

33 photography, and lighting. However, they pointed out that “our boys

did not have the basic skills and it was a great lesson to realize that our

programs must be adjusted to the reality of our environment. We cannot

pretend that we are ready to venture into virtual reality before developing

basic skills rst”.

102

Technologies as Management and Marketing Solutions

Technological innovation at different stages in the production chain of the

music and performing arts industries is improving organizational efciency

of rms and new ventures. From the joint research carried out by UNESCO,

IDB, SEGIB and OEI, it can be concluded that in the cultural and enter-

tainment sector, innovation in the development of new services (45%), in

the methods of production and distribution (22%), and in new operational

software (9%), are major trends.

103

Several platforms and applications

are now available on the market to support management, administration,

and monetization of creative activities. For instance, GigWell,

104

a com-

pany that emerged in Silicon Valley, has created a software granting art

agents access to an extensive database of forums, halls and venues, and

giving them tools to organize contracts, share calendars, send technical

riders and create nancial records with costs and expenses. Similarly,

VIP-Booking

105

offers stage producers and art agents the possibility to

retrieve musical proposals and venues for shows from a catalog, where

they can also review social networks metrics, access multimedia content,

and contact artists and professionals without any intermediaries.

Another collaborative software is Critical Switch,

106

a Mexican platform

that seeks to connect entrepreneurs from the creative eld, promoting

networking and serving as a channel to formulate proposals, exchange

views, and obtain feedback. There are other emerging streaming web-

sites like the ones mentioned, such as Overture Plus, in England,

107

as well

as other ticketing platforms like Boletia

108

in Mexico and Access hoy in

Argentina.

109



102 Idem.

103 Triguboff et al., “Assessing the Impact of COVID-19.” op. cit.

104 Gigwell, ofcial page, https://www.gigwell.com/.

105 Vip-booking, ofcial page, https://www.vip-booking.com/.

106 Critical Switch, ofcial page, https://criticalswitch.com/.

107 Overture, ofcial page, https://overture.plus/.

108 Boletia, ofcial page, https://boletia.com/.

109 Accesshoy, ofcial page. https://www.accesshoy.com/.

34 In Chile, Evento Medido

110

was founded as a pioneer company measur-

ing impact of shows in LAC. The rm’s software generates systematized

information on concerts and festivals, measuring demographics, direct

and indirect economic impact, as well as the carbon footprint produced

by mass events.

111

Business intelligence services provide key indicators

for the effective management of in-person and online activities, yielding

data for decision-making, and useful information for organizers, but also

for other brands and investors.

This sector in LAC has enhanced its business possibilities thanks to

new emerging conferences and the organization of specialized industry

gatherings. These networking events have been useful in strengthening

the performing arts industry ecosystems and in professionalizing the op-

eration of creative industries in the region. Some of them are: Circulart,

112

in Medellín, or the Feria Internacional de la Música para Profesionales

(FIMPRO)

113

in Guadalajara, aiming at the development of music; and the

Santiago a Mil International Festival, in Chile, or the Ventana Internacional

de las Artes (VIA),

114

in Bogotá, devoted to the performing arts. During the

pandemic, these events migrated to the digital sphere, proting from the

possibilities of reaching new digital platforms. Investing in the develop-

ment of this type of virtual meetings and platforms will help strengthen

professional and business ties in the sector, and for that reason continuing

to foster the digitization of the music and performing arts will be essential.

MonetizationStrategies

When it comes to nancing, 9 out of 10 respondents believe that new

technologies can help generate new income (chart 18), but only 22% ad-

mitted having used technological tools with that intention, while only 1 out

of 5 have ventured yet into e-commerce (chart 19).

115

The LAC experience

has shown that digital options are still not enough to compensate for the

losses caused by the rst two years of the pandemic. Digital payments

110 Evento Medido, ofcial page, https://www.eventomedido.org./

111 A detailed example of the information generated by the platform can be seen at the

following links: http://bit.ly/dashboard-talca and http://bit.ly/dashboard-ozuna.

112 Circulart. https://circulart.org/.

113 International Music Fair for Professionals (FIMPRO). https://mguadalajara.mx/

114 The International Window of the Arts (VIA) is the meeting of scenic professionals

that takes place around the Ibero-American Theater Festival of Bogotá, Colombia.

https://festivaldeteatro.com.co/..

115 Aura/SIMO, op. cit.

35 are not widespread and a digital payment culture needs to be encour-

aged. In addition, an important number of the organizations producing

and promoting the performing arts are public institutions, which offer

free content, reinforcing a message of culture as a right that should be

accessible without paying.

116

Chart 18. Perception of the use of digital tools to generate revenues

Chart 19. Financial strategies followed during the pandemic

Live streaming music, theater, dance, or opera shows, represent an

opportunity to generate income in the future, from both ticket sales and

from advertising boosted mostly by the pandemic. Several live streaming

companies, particularly specialized in digital music shows, consolidated

in 2021.

117

Live Nation, the global entertainment giant, invested in the de-

116 Codicimo, interview.

117 Music Ally, “The Trends Report: looking ahead to 2022,” published January 14, 2022,

https://musically.com/2021/11/15/live-music-back-livestreaming-here-to -stay/.

Tabla 18. Percepción sobre el uso de las herramientas digitales para

la generación de ingresos

They help

89%

They

don’t help

6% 5%

response

Tabla 19. Estrategias ﬁnancieras implementadas durante la pandemia

Cancelation of events, campaigns,

fairs, and expositions

Cost reduction

Searching for other ﬁnancial funding

or alternative support networks

Personnel cuts

Digitizing cultural services

Using technological tools

for ﬁnancial management

Reduction or elimination for broadcasting

and communications programs

Using e commerce to monetize

on product or service

E commerce

Other

No response

50% 100%

72%

43%

22%

20%

11%

57%

65%

36 velopment of Veeps, a live streaming website. Another example is Driift,

a new platform that has managed to sell 600,000 tickets for 28 shows in

17 countries and a revenue of 14 million dollars in less than a year of being

in business.

118

In our region Tickets Hoy emerged, a platform currently

available in Argentina, Chile, Spain and the United States, that streamed

nearly 600,000 shows during the rst twelve months of the pandemic,

engaged with an audience of 1.8 million people and generated 21 million

dollars.

119

The performing arts have ventured into video-on-demand (VOD) and

Over-The-Top (OTT) services, in order to reach new markets and nd

other ways of monetization. A pioneering company in LAC is Teatrix

from Argentina, which since 2015 offers a video catalog of theater piec-

es, available at any time of the day, in exchange for a monthly or annual

subscription.

120

Escenix was born in Chile, another theater-on-demand

platform with stage proposals recorded in 4K cameras. It was launched

at the end of 2020 with 45 works and 2 unreleased titles each month.

121

These types of platforms are in full development and more people are

making use of them every day,

122

including institutions such as the Teatro

118 Driift, ofcial page, https://driift.live/about/.

119 Diego Balan. “XAVE: el mercado de NFT para los artistas latinoamericanos”.

Creativity Culture Capital. accessed January 15, 2022. https://www.creativitycul-

turecapital.org/es/2021/09/13/xave-el-mercado-de-nft-para-los-artistas-latino-

americanos/.

120 Teatrix. https:a//www.teatrix.com/.

121 Escenix. https://escenix.cl/.

122 For comparison purposes, Netix reached 200 million global subscribers in 2020;

among them 53 million were from LAC, where they control 77.8% of the market

share. In addition, market projections for the region estimate that video on de-

mand platforms will reach 116 million subscriptions in 2026, with ve platforms

based in the United States (Netix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, Apple TV +

and HBO) sharing 90% of the market. Faced with this scenario, initiatives that

foster competition, enhance conditions for other competitors to enter the market,

and encourage the transmission and consumption of diverse cultural content will

be desirable, following the steps taken by the European Union, or countries like

Canada and France, where legislations have forced platforms to maintain national

content quotas, or to pay taxes earmarked for the production of local creative

content.

Carlos Fernández de Lara, “Netix suma en promedio 100 mil suscriptores al día

durante pandemia; 37 millones en 2020”, Forbes, issued January 19, 2021, https://

www.forbes.com.mx/tecnologia-netix-ya-suma-200-millones-de-usuarios-37-

millones-se-sumaron-en-ano-de-pandemia/#:~:text=6%3A19%20pm-,Netix%20

suma%20en%20promedio%20100%20mil%20suscriptores%20al%20d%C3%A-

Da%20durante,usuarios%20en%20un%20solo%20trimestre.

Larroca, Nicolás, “El 13,6% de los ingresos de Netix provienen de América Latina”,

Telesemana, issued in 2019, https://www.telesemana.com/blog/2020/01/23/

latinoamerica-representa-el-136-de-los-ingresos-de-netix/.

37 Real de Madrid,

123

Cirque du Soleil,

124

the New York Metropolitan Opera

125

or the Broadway industry.

126

Online music streaming platforms are also widely accepted. In 2020

they had 443 million paid subscriptions, reaching a value of 13.4 billion

dollars, a 18.5% increase from the previous year,

127

a sustained annual

growth of 18% is projected for these companies.

128

YouTube and Spotify

have grown particularly fast in LAC. Prior to 2020 they were already

boosting in ve capitals cities, Mexico City, Bogotá, Santiago, Lima, and

São Paulo,

129

among the top ten triggering cities

130

with the most reg-

istered users. After the pandemic, the International Federation of the

Phonographic Industry (IFPI) conrmed this trend: revenue from record-

ed music increased by 30.2% in LAC, mostly from streaming platforms,

amounting to 84.1% of total income from royalties in the region.

131

Plataformas.News. “América Latina Sumará 63 Millones De Clientes Svod Para 2026”.

Plataformas.News. issued March 3, 2021. https://plataformas.news/ott/nota/

america-latina-sumara-63-millones-de-clientes-svod-para-2026

Rufo Valencia, “Netix y Amazon deberán nanciar producción de contenidos ca-

nadienses”, Radio Canadá Internacional, issued November 4, 2020, https://

www.rcinet.ca/es/2020/11/04/netflix-y-amazon-deberan-financiar-produc-

cion-de-contenidos-canadienses/

Agencia EFE, “Francia obliga a plataformas como Netix a invertir en producciones

locales”, Periódico Gestión, issued June 28, 2021, https://gestion.pe/economia/

empresas/francia-obliga-a-plataformas-como-netflix-a-invertir-en-produc-

ciones-locales-noticia/

T. Koch, “El Parlamento europeo obliga a Netix y a las televisiones a ofrecer un

mínimo del 30% de producción europea”, El País, issued October 3, 2018, https://

elpais.com/cultura/2018/10/02/actualidad/1538480515_585030.html

123 My Opera Player. https://www.myoperaplayer.com/

124 Cirqueconnect. https://cirqueconnect.cirquedusoleil.com/es

125 MetOpera On Demand. https://www.metopera.org/season/on-demand/

126 BroadwayHD. https://www.broadwayhd.com/

127 International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), “Global Music

Report 2021”, accessed February 10, 2021, https://www.ifpi.org/wp- content/

uploads/2020/03/GMR2021_STATE_OF_THE_INDUSTRY.pdf

128 Lisa Yang et al, “Music in the air 2020 Report”, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc

(2020), https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/pages/infographics/music-in-

the-air -2020/report.pdf.

129 Jason Joven, “Music ‘Trigger Cities’ in Latin America & South/Southeast Asia

(Part 1),” Chartmetric, published May 28, 2019, https://blog.chartmetric.com/

music-trigger- cities-in-latin-america-south-southeast-asia-part-1/

130 See Glossary.

131 International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). op. cit.

38 Creators have found new alternatives in the use of platforms such as

TikTok, Twitch or Patreon, which seek creative content creators to closely

engage with their audiences, triggering new and more sophisticated so-

cial interactions, and making possible new ways of monetization. Some

of them, like TikTok, allow creators to generate income from the number

of followers playing their videos, but others, promote micro-donations,

thus placing the nal consumer in a new position within the value chain.

Twitch and Patreon make interacting with users easier while promot-

ing crowdfunding. The rst specializes in live broadcasting and allows

creators to receive wire transfers, using an in-house banking system. On

Patreon, creators post exclusive content for fans connected through a

paid membership, helping them engage with their audiences, and con-

veying to them the feeling of belonging to a select base of fans. Ana

Rodríguez, from the agency Música Relatable, points out that on these

platforms, some musicians receive 3 dollars from thousands of followers

per month, generating an income not comparable to just streaming their

music online: “Spotify works well for the big superstars and their cata-

logs, but not for artists who have less followers, or simply prefer to have

a direct and closer relationship with their fans, and these new tools can

balance things out”.

132

Platforms have multiplied licensing and collection of royalties by increas-

ing the supply and consumption of series, movies, and videos.

133

In 2019,

it was estimated that digital content contributed to 20.5% of the total

royalties generated by reproduction rights worldwide, growing at a rate

of 187% during the past 5 years. More than 2,000 million euros in revenue

came from online music consumption, (23% of the total music royalties),

growing 27.2% from 2018 to 2019. On the other hand, copyright of digital

theater performances generated 100 thousand euros.

134

In 2020, the total

collection of digital royalties was 116 million euros, 36.4% more than the

previous year.

135



The collection and regulation of royalties in digital environments

have been subject of an intense debate, particularly regarding streaming

132 Rodríguez, interview.

133 Paul Brindley, “Digital Landscape: The Post-Pandemic Industry,” Circulart, lmed

November 12, 2020, https://youtu.be/P8abUhLPZpo?t=7984.

134 CISAC, “COVID-19: Crisis, Resilience, Recovery”.

135 CISAC, “2021 Report”.

39 platforms,

136

which has resulted in legal disputes ghting for a fair distri-

bution of royalties. In the case of music, the market-centered or “market

share” distribution system (called Market Centric Payment Systems –

MCPS) is predominant, favoring big transnational record labels and their

artists. According to Spotify from a catalog of 5 million artists registered

in their platform, about 43,000 music tracks are responsible for 90% of

the music consumed by listeners. This means that less than 1% of the cre-

ators receive 90% of the revenue.

137

To put it in other words, for artists

to receive the equivalent of the minimum wage in Spain,

138

they would

need 225,000 streams on Spotify.

139



In 2020, SoundCloud announced a user-centric model, that shares

revenues with artists in a more equitable way (User Centric Payment

Systems – UCPS

140

). In the United States, songwriters’ societies won a

legal battle that forced these companies to increase songwriters’ roy-

alties from 10.5 to 15.1%, a legislation enforced since 2022.

141

In the UK,

the discussion over the distribution of digital royalties was held at the

British Parliament, where it was concluded that the digital economic

distribution system had to be balanced.

142

The committee assigned to

136 Center National de la Musique, “Le CNM évalue l’impact d’un changement éven-

tuel de mode de rémunération par les platforms de streaming”, issued January

27, 2021, https://cnm.fr/le- cnm-evalue-limpact-dun-changement-eventuel-de-

mode-de-remuneration-par-les-platformes-de-streaming.

137 Shain Shapiro, “We Don’t Just Need A Review Of Music Streaming: We Need A

Review Of The Entire Music Ecosystem,” Forbes Magazine, published January

20, 2021, https://www.forbes.com /sites/shainshapiro/2021/01/20/we-dont-just-

need-a-review-of-music-streaming-we-need-a-review-of-the-entire-music-eco-

system/?sh= 19995c9b2c1e.

138 By September 2019, when the referred article was published, the minimum wage

in Spain was 1,050 per month.

139 Lidia Montes, “Cuántas reproducciones necesita un músico para ganar 1 euro en

Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon y más”, Business Insider, published on September

15, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.es/cuantas-reproducciones-spotify-necesi-

tan-ganar-1-euro-491653.

140 Dani Rivas, “Spotify, Soundcloud y cómo funciona el pago en plataformas de

Streaming”, Tenho Mais Discos Que Amigos!, published on March 24, 2021,

https://www.tenhomaisdiscosqueamigos.com/2021/03/24/spotify-sound-

cloud-pagamento-streaming/?fbclid=IwAR3U0ammNx2tzbduo-_tnvm3hJOIn-

QxrdFGSEc18qSS6BkDKoiFXnmntjh4.

141 Rhian Jones, “Songwriters ght to be heard in streaming revenues debate,”

The Guardian, published February 12, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/mu-

sic/2021/feb/12/songwriters-ght -to-be-heard-in-streaming-revenues-debate.

142 Music Ally, “Play and Plays: the story of the UK’s Parliamentary Inquiry into music

streaming economics,” published July 15, 2021, https://musically.com/wp-con-

tent/uploads/2021/07/MusicAlly-PlaysAndPay.pdf.

40 the case, recommended adopting an equitable remuneration system

(50/50 of the royalties), the same already in use for radio and televi-

sion. They also suggested that the Competition and Markets Authority

(CMA) carry out an investigation to analyze the market practices of

the main record labels in the country and their eventual impact on the

music industry. Finally, they mentioned the need to promote laws al-

lowing artists to regain the rights over their works 20 years after having

transferred them to record labels and producers, as well as other legal

initiatives promoting transparency while providing advice for creators

on the terms and conditions of the agreements between record labels,

music publishers, and streaming platforms.

143

The proliferation of platforms, contents and means of distribution has

led to severe problems for stakeholders, which is why the regulation of

why IDB and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) have de-

veloped tools and invested in promoting the exchange of best practices,

technical cooperation, and meetings on this matter. Among its programs,

the recommendation to legislate on the protection of intellectual property

stands out, promoting fair rates and equitable collection of royalties and

encouraging the professionalization of the creative sector to contribute

to the sustainable development of creative industries in digital environ-

ments

144

. Similarly, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors

and Composers (CISAC) updated its system for the identication of mu-

sical works (International Standard Musical Work Code or ISWC), for the

rst time in fteen years, trying to improve the reliability and efciency

of royalty collection.

145



Blockchain could be another solution because it keeps a unique

and traceable record of each agreement, transaction, or contract. Until

recently, collection of royalties was an almost manual process, mostly

done on a country-by-country basis and through some intermediaries

lacking transparency in how they determined, quantied, and collected

royalties. On the other hand, Blockchain allows for a transparent and

secure registration system that can be trusted by all stakeholders (both

143 Music Ally, “Labels under re as UK streaming inquiry report calls for ‘complete re-

set’ of market”, issued July 15,2021, https://musically.com/2021/07/15/labels-un-

der-re-uk-streaming-inquiry-report/.

144 United Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),

“Culture and Covid-19: Impact and Response Tracker. No. 3”, consulted on

February 20, 2021, https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/les/issue_3_en_cul-

ture_covid-19_tracker-5.pdf.

145 CISAC, “COVID-19: Crisis, Resilience, Recovery”.

41 creators, distributors, and consumers) and that will eliminate interme-

diaries and increase revenues.

146



Stored on a blockchain, Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are another alter-

native for monetizing and distributing digital works. The way digital assets

are chained ensures both their uniqueness and, especially their traceability,

creating a kind of proof of ownership, whether of an audio le, an image,

a video, a 3D animation, etcetera. In some cases, NFTs are used as bank

shares of digital projects. The ownership of this sort of investment capital

is not only useful in the development of a given project, but it also entitles

the holder to other benets —not to mention being co-owner of the proj-

ect— such as access to exclusive content and information.

There has been some speculation that NFTs will be a suitable alter-

native to monetizing and taking control over intellectual property in the

digital age

147

. In addition, this technology encourages new methods of

monetization while adding digital value. Ownership agreements, the so-

called smart contracts, entitle creators not only to full legal copyright

without need for intermediaries, but it also guarantees a revenue share

for any future transactions related to each work or piece, thanks to its

traceability and blockchain technology. If this trend continues, NFTs could

radically change the way creators monetize regardless of their artistic

discipline, giving them control over the trading process, while at the same

time generating long lasting revenues from their work.

The exorbitant sales gures of the rst collectible NFTs have sparked

nancial speculation. Music bands, like Kings of Leon are now distributing

and monetizing their music using blockchain technology,

148

while others,

like Grimes have obtained millions of dollars in revenues.

149

In December

2021, Natalia Osipova, prima ballerina at the London Royal Ballet, was the

rst to sell NFTs dance performances, with a tryptic of two videos of the

piece Giselle and one more of the duet Left Behind, for $80,000 in total.

150



146 PWC, “Blockchain: recording the music industry. How Blockchain technology

could save the music industry billions”, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, published

2018, https://www.pwc.co.uk/entertainment-media/publications/blockchain-re-

cording-music-industry.pdf.

147 Barros, interview.

148 Sara Cáseres Huerta, “Kings of Leon será la primera banda en lanzar un álbum en

formato NFT: ‘When You See Yourself’”, Rolling Stone Mexico, published March

4, 2021, https://rollingstone.com .mx/kings-of-leon-lanza-album-nft/.

149 Jacob Kastrenakes, “Grimes sold $6 million worth of digital art as NFT.”, The

Verge, published March 1, 2021, https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/1/22308075/

grimes -nft-6-million-sales-nifty-gateway-warnymph.

150 Hanna Noelle-Smith. “World’s First Ballet NFTs Starring Natalia Osipova Dance to

Success at Bonhams Encore Sale”. Bonhams. Viewed February 22, 2022. https://

www.bonhams.com/press_release/33503/.

42 Cryptocurrencies are here to stay with NFTs as a means of building

digital communities, triggering digital transactions, and creating value.

Experts believe that rather than just being tools to generate income eas-

ily, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and metaverses will disrupt how we socially

interact, trade, and create economic and social value.

151



Virtual Shows Are Still Performing Arts?

Some Zoom conversations transformed into aesthetic explorations on

their own right, as in the case of the Brazilian Theater Company Anti

Status Quo

152

and its piece JuntosESeparados. In Mexico, the group

Landscape Artes Escénicas

153

adapted the show LOOP Mirrors of Time

TCRV, originally designed for the stage, but nally streamed live on Skype,

winning the World Summit Award 2020 in the Culture and Tourism cat-

egory.

154

Thanks to an Argentinian-Swiss collaboration among choreog-

raphers Edgardo Mercado, Gilles Jobin, and Damián Turkieh, the piece

Virtual Crossings was staged as a simultaneous performance by three

dancers in Buenos Aires and Geneva, using Augmented Reality and

Motion Capture Technology.

155

At the Manizales International Theater

Festival, the Magiluth group from Brazil presented All that a VHS can hold,

a transmedia experience inviting their audience to connect to different

social networks such as WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and even their

emails.

156

In that same festival, Linderos del Horizonte Dramafónicos, from

the Quinta Picota group was also staged, with live stories being told

over the phone. Mia sobre ella misma, by the company Deca Teatro, was

staged entirely on WhatsApp.

157

La Quinta del Lobo presented Inﬁnitos, at

151 Music Ally, “The Trends Report”.

152 Anti Status Quo, ofcial Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/asqciaded-

anca/.

153 Landscape_Artes Escénicas, https://landscape.com.mx/escena-contempora-

nea-danza-teatro-y-multimedia/.

154 “Propuesta mexicana de teatro digital gana concurso mundial de innovación

tecnológica”, La Jornada, issued December 21, 2020. https://www.jornada.com.

mx/notas/2020/12/21/cultura/propuesta-mexicana-de-teatro-digital-gana-con-

curso-mundial-de-innovacion-tecnologica.

155 Cie Gilles Jobin, “Virtual Crossings Buenos Aires/Geneva”, November 22, 2020,

https://vimeo.com/482243033.

156 Grupo Magiluth, “Tudo que coube numa VHS”, https://www.grupomagiluth.com.

br/tudo-que-coube-numa-vhs.

157 Manizales Festival, catalog, https://www.festivaldemanizales.com/catalogo/.

43 Teatro Colón in Bogotá. For the show, ve lms were recorded using dif-

ferent video tools along with a video mapping projection that simulated

the restoration and the collapse of the main hall into particles.

158

As part

of the show, the audience could share on their website

159

the lessons, and

the nostalgic or disengagement feelings they had gone through during

the Covid crisis.

The pandemic has been fertile ground for the creation of new con-

tent in the creative elds, using both old and new technologies. Fabiola

Pazmiño, Production Coordinator at Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre,

in Ecuador, believes that “multimedia production has seen an exponen-

tial growth, creating non-stop premieres and new releases. The most

interesting thing is that we have gone back to basics, with home studies

playing a major role. It is something worth considering when planning

subsidies and funding.”

160

All this experimentation has even posed the question if performing in

the virtual world can still be considered performing arts. Mexican Cecilia

Sotres, from the collective Las Reinas Chulas thinks that, “There’s innite

possibilities in the language of performing arts, learning this new lan-

guage has taught us that it’s not theater, or video, TV, or cinema, but it’s

the opposite, it contains all of them”.

161

This idea was echoed at art fairs in

the region, where attendants reected upon creative exploration through

technological means. The Colombian Octavio Arbeláez shared that the

2020 edition of the Manizales International Theater Festival wanted to

highlight the relationship between technology and mise-en-scène, not

only in terms of the appropriation of digital tools by creators, but also in

discussing new ways to communicate with audiences, which he believes

“must be considered and studied from another perspective. For now, in

this moment of transition, the audience’s participation is absolute, and

that must be at the center of this discussion.”

162

Others were skeptical about the replacement of face-to-face experi-

ences with technology. Most of them believe that neither of them can be

replaced; and they both will coexist, with technological innovations as a

158 Carmen Gil (professor at the Arts Department from the Universidad de los Andes

and curator of Voltage: Salón de Arte y Tecnología), interview by Pablo Solís

Vega, May 2021.

159 Innitos, https://innitos.co/.

160 Pazmiño, interview.

161 Cecilia Sotres, “Cabareteando ando en pandemia”, Investigación Teatral.

Revista de Artes Escénicas y Performatividad. Vol. 11, Núm. 18 (2020),

https://investigacionteatral.uv.mx/index.php/investigacionteatral/article/

view/2649/4605.

162 Arbelaez, interview.

44 convenient alternative. Jorge Dubatti points out that “if we were to ac-

cept that a gathering culture could be replaced by a techno-living culture

[...] we would be encouraging an immense cultural shipwreck, the loss of

one of the most wonderful cultural treasures of humanity (what we call

a theater show

163

)”. Ricardo Lira, executive director of the Centro para

la Revolución Tecnológica en Industrias Creativas

164

(CRT+IC), in Chile,

stressed that the pandemic helped us understand digital experiences as

completely opposed to live physical experiences, so we must think of

them like two different sorts of contents. In light of new technological

advances, video cameras will not be the only necessary ingredients for

live streaming events; they should instead be considered as experiences

in their own right, opening new creative and business opportunities.

165



The Future Was Already Here:

Immersive Reality and the Metaverse

Amidst erce competition for the users’ attention on electronic devices

and faced with the evidence of stage productions losing their appeal

when watched on a screen, innovation has become crucial to recreate

stage experiences and engage more effectively with audiences. Fabiola

Pazmiño thinks that if we intend digital content to be so compelling that

people would pay for it, “there should be more investments, to enhance

digital experiences and help us recreate the face-to-face connection with

the audience, sharing with them the feeling that they are actually taking

part of something unique”.

166



It was with this intention in mind that theater organizations around

the world incorporated immersive technologies, creating new expe-

riences while expanding the possibilities of their productions and the

interaction with audiences. Shows supported by immersive virtual envi-

ronments (IVE) and digital cities accessed through avatars have taken

center stage. Video games are ahead in taking advantage of these types

163 Jorge Dubatti, “ “Entre el convivio y el tecnovivio: artes de pluralismo, convivencia

y diversidad epistemológica”, Investigación Teatral. Revista de Artes Escénicas y

Performatividad. Vol. 11, No. 18. Universidad Veracruzana, México, accessed March

15, 2021, https://investigacionteatral.uv.mx/index.php/investigacionteatral/arti-

cle/view/2649/4605.

164 CRT+IC is a public-private organization that promotes the development of tech-

nological skills among creative industries professionals in order to enhance cre-

ative companies, startups, products, and services. https://www.crtic.cl/.

165 Lira, interview.

166 Pazmiño, interview.

45 of technologies, serving as frameworks for the rst staged events in the

metaverse. In 2019, DJ Marshmello took the stage inside Fornite during

a virtual concert organized by the video game franchise, which brought

together 10.7 million users.

167

A year later, the video game broke its own

record with 12.3 million connected players that attended rapper Travis

Scott’s concert,

168

and in 2021 they repeated the experience with singer

Ariana Grande’s show.

169

Although we are talking about prerecorded and

prescheduled shows, with artists appearing as digital characters, what is

interesting about these events is the size of their audience and the dif-

ferent opportunities they offer to develop narratives that suit them. At

each new version, the organizers have made improvements with games

that allow you to unlock levels or acquire digital objects to better enjoy

the concert (like a microphone on re), or overcome obstacles to reach

the stage, like rushing off of a giant toboggan or jumping on and off of

different planets with moon-like gravity force. As each track changed,

the digital environments changed and players could y into space or dive

into giant oceans, unfolding alternative narratives. Additionally, shows are

no longer single presentations. Instead, they are scheduled at different

timeframes,

170

further expanding their outreach.

171

In Roblox, stage shows have also translated into digital millionaire

sales. An illustrative case was that of Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson,

who reported more than a million dollars in revenues in digital assets.

After her presentation, virtual objects such as hats, clothes and acces-

sories were sold to dress the avatars of connected users, and an even

an avatar with the physical traits of the singer was for sale.

172

Users of

167 Nick Statt, “Fortnite’s Marshmello concert was a bizarre and exciting glimpse

of the future,” The Verge, posted February 2, 2019, https://www.theverge.

com/2019/2/2/18208223/fortnite-epic -games-marshmello-concert-exciting-bi-

zarre-future-music.

168 Andrew Webster, “Travis Scott first Fortnite concert was surreal and

spectacular”, The Verge, posted April 23, 2020, https://www.theverge.

com/2020/4/23/21233637/travis-scott-fortnite-concert-astronomical-live-report.

169 As of the date of this publication, the number of attendees for the Ariana Grande

concert series has not yet been made public. Andrew Webster, “Ariana Grande’s

Fortnite tour was a moment years in the making”, The Verge, posted August

9, 2021. https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/9/22616664/ariana-grande-fort-

nite-rift-tour-worldbuilding-storytelling.

170 Webster, “Travis Scott”.

171 Idem.

172 Mark Savage, “How Pop Star Zara Larsson made a seven-gure sum on Roblox”,

BBC, published on November 5, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertain-

ment-arts-59163449.

46 Minecraft have monetized concerts, taking advantage of its gameplay,

which invites them to build worlds while learning how to code them. An

excellent example is Open Pit, which is made up of people under the age

of twenty-ve who organized and programmed several virtual concerts

for Minecraft, bringing together 18,000 connected users in April 2020,

and raising more than $55,000, that were donated to charity

173

in the US.

Immersive environments represent a great opportunity to develop

new narratives and engage with audiences in unconventional ways.

174

Considering the examples above, it seems that in the metaverse live

events disappear, transforming into new creative happenings. The phys-

ical presence of the artist and spectator is replaced by an avatar, coming

together in an entirely virtual time and space. The magic of art takes

place while the audience gathers together in a space where all physical

barriers have been removed and boundaries between the performing arts

have become blurry. If the invention of cinema marked the birth of the

“Seventh Art”, are we now on the threshold of naming a new discipline?

Meanwhile, Mixed Immersive Reality, supported by Virtual Reality (VR),

Augmented Reality (AR), Blended Reality (MR), and Extended Reality

175

(RE), is being used to enhance the experience of in-person events. An

innovative example is the show “ABBA Voyage: The Concert”, which in-

volved creating four forty-years-younger digital versions of the original

Swedish group members, who were lmed by 160 cameras for motion

capture, working with a team of more than 500 artists to complete a live

show that combines video, lighting, and sound.

176



On the other hand, some shows do not involve any human characters

on stage, as is the case of Uncanney Valley, performed by the Rimini

Protokoll collective at the Santiago a Mil International Theater Festival.

The work reects on the relationship between robots and humans, pre-

senting a humanoid on the scene, who at some point states: “if you have

come to see an actor, you are in the wrong place; but if you have come

to see the real thing, you are also in the wrong place.”

177



173 Ellise Shafer, “More than a game, Minecraft Music Festival is a Blockbuster”,

Variety, issued May 13, 2020, https://variety.com/2020/music/news/all-about-mi-

necraft-music-festivals-1234598970/.

174 Tom Rockhill, “To engage remote audiences, AR is more vital than ever,” Digital

Arts, issued April 6, 2020, https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/hack-

ing-maker/engage-remote-audiences-ar-is-more-vital-than-ever/.

175 For the denition of these terms see Section 5.

176 HMV Ofcial. “ABBA announce new album Voyage and spectacular new live

show”. YouTube video accessed February 28, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=lRT2ZTRR1ps.

177 Fundación Teatro a Mil. Trailer Uncanny Valley | Santiago a Mil 2021”. YouTube

video, accessed March, 14, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwGq9G-

dvdE&t=8s.

47 Although it is not yet clear what the future of the metaverses and

cryptocurrencies in music and the performing arts will look like, artists

and creators will play a central role in the development and appropri-

ation of new technologies. They will be in charge of bringing coding to

life, transforming complex technological languages into attractive and

immersive environments, with engaging and exciting narratives. Also,

by combining these tools, artists would unleash their imagination as

stage creators, developing new and unexplored narratives. If that kind

of future is to become a reality in LAC, different issues from poor con-

nectivity to lack of digital skills, must be addressed so that both creators

and consumers can become active agents in these new hyperconnected

worlds.



Theater as we knew it, or as we used to think

about it, is no longer going to exist; it has to

stop being narrow-niched and will have to

adapt to new technologies.

—Óscar Carnicero, director of La Teatrería

III. Casos de innovación

Cases of

Innovation

49 In this section we analyze six cases of innovation that, through tech-

nology, have found innovative solutions for the performing arts indus-

try. Their experience provides direct responses to the concerns raised

throughout these pages, relating to the situation of the sector in LAC:

How can technology favor the professional development of performing

artists? How to promote stage creations in digital environments? How

to improve the digital experience? Each case address these questions

and tackles the challenges of what the future holds in store, the possible

paths to transition into a globally hyperconnected digital sphere through

data intelligence, or how to renew the engagement with audiences based

on technological innovation with interactions highlighting the positive

impact of the performing arts in the societies of our region.

Teatrix. Argentina

How to Promote the Consumption of Music

and Theater in the Virtual World?

One of the biggest challenges in the digital eld is to increase the con-

sumption of culturally diverse content. In the context of tech giants like

Netix, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Disney or Spotify, it is nec-

essary to advance regulations and nd strategies to promote content

produced in different parts of the world, using other narratives reecting

cultural diversity. Teatrix has tackled this task by launching a video on

demand platform (VOD) specialized in theater plays in Spanish. It is the

rst platform streaming theater in high denition that can be accessed

from any device and at any time, offering several subscription plans. The

project was born in 2015 in Argentina and during the pandemic they have

expanded to new markets in Bolivia, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Paraguay,

and the Latino audience in the United States. During their rst four years,

they reported a sustained annual growth of 5%, but during the rst 6

months of 2020 that number increased to 80%, and by the end of that

year they had tripled their audience, while time spent by viewers multi-

plied by 10. Faced with restrictions in performing for physical audiences,

theater companies, production houses, and the like had to adapt their

pieces to be streamed on Teatrix, keeping professional standards and

hoping to monetize their shows. The streaming company has invested in

creating an intuitive, world-class, and user-friendly platform with cultural-

ly diverse contents produced, meeting global quality standards. This has

granted access to theater experiences for people who had never visited

a theater hall before, encouraging new audiences to become interested

in consuming both virtual and in-person performances.

50 PortalDisc App. Chile

How to Promote the Local Art Scene while Fostering Digital Economy

for the Beneﬁt of Music and Performing Arts Creators?

Independent or culturally diverse projects are faced with the challenge

of making their content visible, promoting it, and making it stand out. To

cope with this situation PortalDisc, launched in 2020, was the rst stream-

ing app on the market specializing 100% on Chilean music. Founded

twelve years ago, the rm was a pioneer in offering digital distribution

alternatives for Chilean artists, developing an MP3 online store. Currently,

their catalog includes more than 130,000 songs, from more than 300

labels and 7,000 national artists. In 2021, the application was installed on

more than 10,000 cell phones in 32 different countries. Aside from some

additional functions similar to those of any commercial app, what makes

PortalDisc unique is its geographical mapping of the country, adding sec-

tions for each Chilean territory, and its genre tagging (Andean, Mapuche,

Rapanui, Chilota among others). This segmentation puts Chilean mu-

sic in perspective, with a distinctive narrative that takes into account

each region, style and sound, aiming at promoting the different cultural

manifestations that endure across the country. The platform offers a far

more generous deal for creators compared to those of the most popu-

lar streaming platforms. PortalDisc App pays 3.9 dollars for every 1,000

reproductions, while Spotify offers only one-third of that amount for

the same number of reproductions. Artists are also given the chance to

upload their own music, avoiding intermediaries, such as digital aggre-

gators. There is a free version of the app that allows users to stream up

to 50 songs per month at no cost. Premium memberships are offered at

a cost of $3.9 dollars per month or $39 dollars per year. The company

seeks to give fair treatment to artists and position itself as a platform to

promote local music, while supporting the development of the Chilean

music industry.

Pro Indie Music. Mexico

How to Support Professional Development

of Independent Musicians Using an App?

Pro Indie Music is a Mexican project promoting technology for the de-

velopment of independent artists, especially for those from the music

industry. Using machine learning and articial intelligence it provides us-

ers with relevant information to boost their careers. The app’s algorithm

51 measures and grades the artists’ development, recording and analyzing

the available data collected from their own social networks (number of

followers, interactions, time spent on them, and so on) and from other

working documents (portfolios, technical riders, and contracts, among

others). By storing the data provided by users, the system can make

direct suggestions, combining the results from other users of the plat-

form. ProIndie Music was, at rst, a hub where musicians could access

valuable information on the industry and its participants, sharing feasible

strategies for their professional development. Then, the platform went

from being a link between creators and festival programmers, manag-

ers, PR agencies and digital aggregators, to becoming a tool to assess

an artist’s career, providing concrete advice on how to achieve greater

impact. Starting with 35 users-artists, the latest version of the applica-

tion was launched on the market in April 2021, and by the end of that

year they had 540 active subscriptions across Mexico, and Central and

South America. Their membership system can be paid either monthly or

in annual installments. Additionally, the platform can offer tailored advice

on specic needs like how to release an album, which social networks to

prot from, how to take advantage of digital tools, how to better engage

with their audiences, and it even provides information about industry

trends, particularly about NFTs. In addition, access to their customers’

information allows the rm to target outstanding artists that know how

to engage with audiences, offering them specic contracts with strategic

partners and enhancing their development and market positioning.

Muse’s Simulation Theory: Virtual Experience. England

How to Transform a Live Concert into an Interactive Digital Experience?

Faced with the challenge of making live-streaming concerts more at-

tractive, the English band Muse teamed up with Los Angeles, California-

based company Stage Inc to create “Muse’s Simulation Theory: Virtual

Experience,” the online transmission of a show at the Metropolitan

Stadium in Madrid, Spain, in 2019, for a physical audience of 50,000

people. The concert was lmed using 6k 360 cameras. The stadium was

refurbished from a digital perspective, adding augmented reality items,

in order to properly project immersive reality videos. During the virtual

event, fans were able to interact by voice or text messages with other

attendees, to play with some interactive items or to purchase digital or

physical merchandise, including the digital clothing that the musicians

were wearing on the day of the concert. Users or avatars made their way

into the stadium just like in real life, however, once inside the venue they

52 were able to teleport to other sections of the stadium, choosing from 16

different points of view and at least three of them were on stage: facing

the singer, the bassist or from either side of the drummer. Each angle of

the 360º camera offered a panoramic view of the show from an unprec-

edented point of view. Downloading the app and watching the show can

still be done for free. The rm has used the Muse virtual experience to

launch Stageverse and publicize the platform. By September 2021, Stage

Inc. managed to raise $7.5 million of initial investment for the develop-

ment of virtual worlds, seeking to dominate the emerging market of live

shows in the metaverse.

Interspeciﬁcs. Mexico

How to Create Innovative Links Between the Performing Arts and Science?

Some institutions have identied creative disciplines—and stage per-

formances in particular—as an opportunity for interacting with techno-

logical advances. An illustrative example in the region is the collective

Interspecics, an independent artistic research studio founded in Mexico

City. The collective has been using sound to make air pollution visible

in urban environments like Mexico City, São Paulo or Bogotá. In 2021 it

was awarded with the Articial Intelligence (AI) AI Lab, SETI x AI, resi-

dency, for their Codex Virtualis project, which aims to build a systematic

collection of AI-generated hybrid organisms, emerging from speculative

symbiotic connections between microorganisms and algorithms. The

collective’s goal is to explain complex phenomena through sensorial

experiences, helping to understand them. They dene themselves as a

nomadic and experimental group working at the intersection between

art and science. Their research focuses mainly on sound as a means of

understanding the bioelectrical activity of different bacterial, plant, mold,

and human conglomerates. For that purpose, they use their “ontological

machines”, devices that combine hardware with creativity. The group also

gives priority to sharing knowledge at public workshops, such as B10S or

Music Makers Hack Lab, where they share the experience of their designs

and works, based on open-source technologies. According to them, ex-

changing knowledge aids the creation of larger user communities, broad-

ening their current learnings. Interspecics’ work has been carried out in

different countries like Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Chile,

Ecuador, the United States, and Canada. Presently, there are more than

three hundred artists and researchers in their database. 

53 Centro para la Revolución Tecnológica

en Industrias Creativas (CRT+IC). Chile

How to Promote Technological Development for Creative Industries in LAC?

With technology advancing at an exponential rate, our region runs the

risk of being left behind, unless it takes part in current technological de-

velopment and adaptation. Founded in 2021 in Chile, the Centro para la

Revolución Tecnológica en Industrias Creativas (CRT+IC), a project led

by the Fundación para la Revolución Tecnocreativa, a division of Bizarro

Live Entertainment and one of the most important Chilean mass media

entertainment companies. The project has the nancial support of the

Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO), an agency of the

Chilean Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, whose goal is

to promote the development of cutting-edge technologies by forming

experts in creativity and technology that can come forward with solutions

for the entertainment industry, enhance human capital, and trigger the

internationalization of Chilean creative industries. This project involves

a training program through workshops, seminars, and courses, bringing

technological skills closer to stakeholders, while opening a space for the

exchange of ideas between science,technology, and culture, supporting

the piloting and development of projects through residencies. Through

their Astillero Creativo program, supporting startups in the design of

commercial validation strategies, training of executive staff and tech-

nology licensing. Finally, they will promote the strengthening of projects

incubated at the center, aiding their success in searching for funds and

other means of nancing. During the rst stage they will focus on tech-

nologies like 5G, Digital Realities (Virtual Reality – Augmented Reality),

Articial Intelligence, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things. They are

targeting startups and SMEs from the following segments: music and

entertainment, audiovisual and publishing, video games and digital real-

ity, architecture, design, and urban studies. The center has also ofcially

announced a strategic partnership with the rm Epic Games, becoming

the rst and only certied training center for Unreal Engine in Chile. Their

goal is to promote new technologies, fostering knowledge and creating

solutions for the actual needs of the creative industries.

The pandemic might be the equivalent of the

prehistory of digital art and there is still much

to discover.

—Aurea Vieira, Manager of International

Relations at the São Paulo Social Service of

Commerce

Final

Observations

IV. Reexiones nales

55 Technological innovation is changing the means of creation, production,

promotion, exhibition, consumption, training, managing and even storing

music and other works related to the performing arts. The digital expe-

rience cannot be a substitute for in-person events, but it can be a great

ally in the sector’s development, helping in the creation of new business

models, engaging with audiences and achieving more efcient process-

es. The main challenge is to help music and performing arts profession-

als take part in technological development and monetization strategies,

boosted by new technologies. Below we reect upon possible routes of

action for these industries, as well as their role in economic reactivation.

1. The Performing Arts and Digital Economy

1.1 Technology helps to expand creativity. New digital technologies are

multiplying the ways of telling stories, thus expanding the powers of

creation. In the digital world, there are no frontiers between the audience

and the stage, encouraging artistic experimentation towards interactive

experiences.

1.2 The digital transition means new sources of income. Offerings of dig-

ital content will play a major role in supplementary nancial strategies in

the sector, with consumers taking a leading role in the production chain.

Audiences will no longer be passive and will play a role in processes from

which they were excluded before, particularly in nancing creative proj-

ects. To unlock this potential, professionals from the music business and

the performing arts will need training, and investment in developing ad

hoc platforms, while addressing legal and control mechanisms, so that

creators can be granted fair nancial compensation for their work.



1.3 Universal access to art. The digitization of music and the performing

arts is expanding access to artistic and cultural manifestations like never

before. To continue in this direction, creators will not only need the tech-

nical skills required to adapt their work and explore new technological

tools, but also to partner with other CCIs professionals and digital experts

to design experiences equal to in-person quality events.

1.4 Promoting training and socializing technological advances. Creativity

and imagination of musicians and stage creators can draw on new digital

tools, exploring unknown territory and helping socialize them, so that

more people know about them and use them. Developing initiatives that

foster technological development and specialized training will spread its

use in the sector.

56 2. Public Policies Favoring Digital Economy

2.1 Enhancing internet connectivity. Investments in digital infrastructure

must be a priority in order to prevent the region from falling behind eco-

nomically and socially in the global context.

2.2 Regulation of copyright and promotion of fair distribution of royal-

ties. Advancing initiatives on copyright regulation and improving collec-

tion of digital royalties will help protect intellectual property, generating

more revenue for musicians and performing artists in the region.

2.3 Fostering competition and monetization in digital media. Creating

laws and regulations that promote local production can trigger the

growth of the performing arts in the region, making them globally com-

petitive industries.

2.4 Expanding dissemination of local content. Streaming platforms spe-

cialized in local multimedia content are commercial outlets for original

productions that provide audiences with culturally diverse contents.

However, it is necessary to cope with market imbalances, either taxing

the main global streaming platforms and earmarking those resources

to produce local content, or by creating regulations that compel these

platforms to include in their catalog a minimum percentage of exclusively

local content productions.

3. Cultural Policy for Music and The

Performing Arts in the 21st Century

3.1 Ensuring public ﬁnancing for the sector. Public funding will continue

to play a central role in the development of music and the performing arts

in the region. And governments should guarantee earmarking exclusive

budgets for that purpose.

3.2 Modernizing ﬁnancial transfer systems. Public funding should be seen

as a production incentive, and should be made available for different

value chain actors. Next to creators, other key agents such as producers,

managers and digital developers are in need of seed capital; this capital

can come from expanded public resources and encourage public-private

investment funds, to strengthen the creation, production, marketing, dis-

semination, and circulation of products in the sector. This will make it

possible to unleash the economic potential of the sector, both in digital

and face-to-face scenarios.

57 3.3 Promoting and increasing private funding in the sector. To ease reli-

ance on public resources, it is necessary to increase private funding. There

are several tax exemption and tax reduction models available for rms

willing to support undertakings in the sector. But there is still room for

innovation. Research and Development is required to advance regulations

promoting sponsoring and patronage solutions tailored for the region.

More promotion and incentives will make rms aware of the economic

and social benets of investing in artistic and cultural projects.

3.4 Making the economic contribution of the scenic industries visible.

The recognition of the economic, political, and social value of the per-

forming arts as generators of jobs, wealth, and added value to the terri-

tories, involves preparing and disseminating reports with data that show

the contribution of these industries to the economy and society, which

will also help trigger public-private investments for the development of

the sector.

3.5 Recognizing performing arts professionals as formal employment.

Integrating performing arts professionals into social security schemes,

guaranteeing their access to public health services, or creating specic

regimes in employment or tax payment accounts will help reduce the

precariousness of the sector and recognize the status of the artist as an

integral part of the productive sector of society.

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