Shows
The Scene RoomRuth Hartt — Flipping the Script on Arts MarketingSend us a textThe arts sector has seen a steady decline in audience attendance over the past four decades. Yet many organizations continue relying on traditional marketing strategies that speak primarily to insiders—those already familiar with their art forms—rather than reaching new, curious audiences.Ruth Hartt is challenging this paradigm with a forward-thinking, audience-first approach to arts marketing. With a unique background as both a professional opera singer and a business innovation expert, she introduces Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen’s influential “jobs to be done” framework—a groundbrea...2025-06-0528 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersTransform your arts marketing without spending a single pennyThe arts sector has relied on product-centric marketing for decades. This might have worked before the internet, but our world has changed profoundly in our lifetime. In today’s digital, global, customer-controlled world, the product-centric approach has become, at best, ineffective, and, at worst, a total turnoff.
If you want the kind of change that will actually move the needle, stop driving away potential patrons with egocentric marketing that ignores them, and start centering the customer.
It’s a pivot that has allowed countless industries—for-profit and non-profit—to unlock impressive growth.2024-04-0213 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersA Path Forward: Unpacking the NEA's 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the ArtsOne of the biggest hurdles arts leaders face right now is driving organizational change. And one of the most crucial elements required for successfully driving change is a shared sense of urgency around the need for change.
In this episode I share stats from 40 years of NEA surveys that may help you in your crusade to start shifting the way you do things at your arts organization.
To download the slide deck on audience trends from 1982-2022, go to https://www.cultureforhire.com/1982
For more information on the upcoming course, go to http://www.cultureforhire.c...2023-12-1221 min
Music (ed) MattersBonus Episode #23 - Ruth Hart and Empowering Small-Budget Arts Leaders and the Urgency for ChangeThis conversation covers the recently released 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts from the NEA. The decline in arts audiences from 1982 - 2022 as well as an upcoming workshop series designed to empower small-budget arts leaders to drive meaningful change in 2024 with relevance strategist, Ruth Hartt. Ruth Hartt leverages interdisciplinary insights to champion the arts, foster inclusivity, and drive meaningful change. Known for merging powerful perspective shifts with actionable insights, Ruth brings a unique blend of experience to her work as a relevance strategist for arts organizations.Currently serving as Chief o...2023-12-1242 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: New Bedford Symphony Orchestra's Dave Prentiss and Terry WolkowiczThe New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, led by Dave Prentiss and Terry Wolkowicz, has been on a remarkable journey powered by a profoundly customer-centric approach.
The orchestra's deep commitment to forging connections through innovative educational programming and meaningful outreach has helped them double their budget over the last 8 years—while also increasing their concert offerings by 60%.
Most notably, this approach also led to a 23% increase in attendance for their first post-pandemic season.
If you need practical strategies for increasing engagement, forging connections, fostering a sense of belonging, and expanding the reach of you...2023-10-2657 min
Music (ed) MattersEpisode 169 - Ruth Hartt - Culture for Hire [an ACDA Advocacy & Collaboration Committee Curated Episode]Meet Ruth—former opera singer, “compassionate truthteller”, relevance strategist, and arts champion. Her company, “Culture for hire,” addresses the eye-opening perspective shift for arts orgs - it’s not about you! In this conversation, “The Business of Choir” Co-Author, Alex Gartner joins as co-host as we talk to Ruth about how we can all approach arts marketing and our arts orgs - no matter what kind of “arts” we are involved in - to start being essential! Learn more about Culture for Hire: https://www.cultureforhire.com/Learn more about Ruth...2023-09-0547 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: Dominic Moore-DunsonAn award-winning choreographer, professional dancer, producer, teaching artist and speaker, Dominic Moore-Dunson believes that the future of the arts sector depends on arts organizations becoming community organizations.2023-07-1733 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: Spoleto Festival USA's Renate RohlfingJuilliard-trained pianist and board-certified music therapist Renate Rohlfing is passionate about creating projects that use musical and creative resources to solve challenges, process grief, enhance connections and empower communities affected by violence.
In this episode you'll learn about how she is drawing on the power of music to help her patients heal—and how art can be a powerful vehicle for building relationships with your community.2023-04-2320 min
The Offstage MicGrowing New Audiences through Customer-Centric Arts Marketing with Ruth HarttMarketing that focuses on the art or artists is no longer effective for sales. Instead, marketing that focuses on the customer grows sales revenue.That's because today, audiences “hire” organizations to solve a problem, meet a need, or do a job they need done in their life. This is the premise of Jobs to Be Done Theory, developed by Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen.In this episode, Clayton Christensen Institute Chief of Staff Ruth Hartt joins Aubrey to talk about the Jobs to Be Done framework through an arts marketing lens.Ru...2023-03-1440 min
The Trending CommunicatorHow to Become a Customer Champion - A Job to be Done with Ruth HarttFor this very special milestone, the 100th episode of The Dan Nestle Show, Dan has the great honor to chat with Ruth Hartt, a classically trained opera singer and music educator, now Chief of Staff at the Clayton Christensen Institute (a think tank dedicated to improving the world through Disruptive Innovation) and founder of Culture For Hire, a platform she uses to help arts organizations rethink their purpose and reinvent themselves by understanding their customers. Drawing examples from the world of music and art, we learn how Ruth is applying Jobs to Be Done theory to become a t...2023-02-271h 11
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: Wichita Symphony's Holly MulcahyJoin me for an inspiring conversation about rebuilding audiences and growing relevance with Holly Mulcahy, arts innovator and violinist extraordinaire. We talk about embracing the Outsider's perspective, growing emotional bonds to your organization by creating community, and a signature drink called The Blue Electra.
Concertmaster, soloist, and founder of Arts Capacity—a nonprofit that brings the healing power of music to prison inmates—Holly is tirelessly building bridges into the world of classical music, and I know you'll be inspired by her thinking.2023-02-0331 min
Product Quest PodcastEpisode 31: Retrospective 2022In this special episode we review all the guests we interviewed on the show this year and reflect upon what we learned, what we liked and the questions we wished we had asked!
This episode turned out to be much longer than planned, so here are the timestamps if you want to jump to a particular guest:
01:40 Ruth Hartt
15:50 Lance Bettencourt
25:04 Ronan and Jane
31:20 Indi Young
40:14 Jim Kalbach
53:00 Dan Adams
1:05:30 Beat Walther
1:13:00 Jan Schmiedgen
1:22:00 Katerina Kozludzhova
1:25:10 Murat and Francesco
1:31:17 Michele Hansen
1:41:45 Lindsay Zaltman
1:54:50 Min Basadur
2:04:30 Gerry McGovern
2:11:20 Giorgio Pauletto
2:19:50 Tim Macarthur
2:24:10 Joe Leech
2:32:00 Ian Kerr & Jason Frasca
2:37:15 Sergei Ikovenko
2:46:20 T2023-01-023h 03Product Quest PodcastEpisode 31: Retrospective 2022In this special episode we review all the guests we interviewed on the show this year and reflect upon what we learned, what we liked and the questions we wished we had asked!
This episode turned out to be much longer than planned, so here are the timestamps if you want to jump to a particular guest:
01:40 Ruth Hartt
15:50 Lance Bettencourt
25:04 Ronan and Jane
31:20 Indi Young
40:14 Jim Kalbach
53:00 Dan Adams
1:05:30 Beat Walther
1:13:00 Jan Schmiedgen
1:22:00 Katerina Kozludzhova
1:25:10 Murat and Francesco
1:31:17 Michele Hansen
1:41:45 Lindsay Zaltman
1:54:50 Min Basadur
2:04:30 Gerry McGovern
2:11:20 Giorgio Pauletto
2:19:50 Tim Macarthur
2:24:10 Joe Leech
2:32:00 Ian Kerr & Jason Frasca
2:37:15 Sergei Ikovenko
2:46:20 T2023-01-023h 03
Podium TimeHow to fix your concerts and marketing, with Ruth HarttRuth Hartt is an arts marketing genie! Join us to discuss how we can fix our concerts and our marketing to be more welcoming to the outsiders that we desperately need. Insider audiences are too small, and we don't know how to attract classical music outsiders to our concerts. So how do we get new people to listen to classical music?Through "The Art of Gathering" and "Jobs to Be Done Theory," Ruth Hartt has developed principles for attracting, welcoming, and changing new audiences for the better.1:47 Why classical music organizations are s...2022-12-0550 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersRethinking purpose: A real-life rebranding for a Boston choral ensembleYou've heard me say this over and over: To reclaim its relevance and rebuild its audiences, the arts sector must pivot to an approach that centers the customer.
If you've been wondering, "But what does this actually look like in real life?" this episode is for you.
It's a hot-off-the-press brand pivot, culminating in a complete website overhaul, that will show you how to start the shift from traditional egocentric arts marketing to the more effective customer-centric approach.2022-10-2816 min
The Disruptive Voice99. Rebuilding Arts Audiences Through Customer-Centric Engagement: A Conversation with Ruth HarttWhen you receive a brochure in the mail from your local symphony or visit a website for your regional orchestra, what do you typically see? You’re very likely going to read flowery language about the beauty of the art and the skill of the artists, accompanied by photos of the conductor and the musicians on the stage. You probably won’t see the audience or how the experience might impact them. The arts sector, however, is in the midst of an audience crisis – and the time has come for arts organizations to stop ignoring their customers. In this episode...2022-10-1832 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: Classical Uprising's Emily IsaacsonIn this episode you'll hear from Emily Isaacson, founder of Portland's Classical Uprising, about how her org is rethinking what classical music concerts should be in 2022, with a tenacious focus on community and approachability. We'll be exploring these ideas through the lens of Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering.2022-08-2631 min
A Sherpa's Guide to InnovationE111: Ruth Hartt - An Opera Singer Walks Into a Think Tank and Meets a TheoryBen & Jay dig again into Jobs to Be Done, this time from a fascinating perspective with Ruth Hartt, Chief of Staff to the President at the Christensen Institute and creator of Culture for Hire. Ruth, a former opera singer and vocal teacher, is passionate about bringing customer-centric innovation to arts marketing. Classical music audiences have declined nearly 50% since 1997. Hear how Ruth applies Jobs to Be Done theory to help arts organizations reverse this trend and expand their notion of their audience and how reach them. The Art of Relevance by Nina SimonAll Things Twit...2022-08-1046 min
PIVOT: Customer-centric marketing for arts leadersInnovators in the Arts: Perth Symphony's Bourby WebsterIn this episode you'll hear from Bourby Webster, founder of the Perth Symphony Orchestra, on how the PSO has redefined their purpose and reinvented the audience experience. The result? The PSO has rapidly become one of the largest arts organizations in Western Australia, regularly performing to capacity audiences. 2022-07-2934 min
The Stay Amazing ShowEpisode 76: Jobs to Be Done Strategies with Ruth HarttWith a distinguished career in classical music and Opera as a singer and vocal coach, Ruth Hartt has witnessed the struggles those organizations face to retain and grow their audiences. Ruth is also the the Chief of Staff for the Christensen Institute, a non profit, non partisan think tank. Ruth has used this knowledge to help classical music businesses grow through the Jobs To Be Done methodology.
"People don't buy because of who they are. People buy because of who they want to become."
In classical music especially, much of the marketing data doesn't address...2022-05-0538 min
Product Quest PodcastEpisode 2: JTBD and the arts with Ruth HarttIn this episode we take a deep dive with special guest Ruth Hartt into Jobs-to-be-done and how she applies it in the arts.
Ruth regularly blogs at https://www.cultureforhire.com , be sure to follow her on Twitter @ruth_hartt or find her on LinkedIn for constant insights and surprises for JTBD marketing in the artworld.
Referenced on the show:
Innovator’s Solution, Clayton Christensen
Competing Against Luck, Clayton Christensen
Demand-Side Sales, Bob Moesta
Art of Relevance, Nina Simon
Nina Simon Art of R...2022-04-111h 18Product Quest PodcastEpisode 2: JTBD and the arts with Ruth HarttIn this episode we take a deep dive with special guest Ruth Hartt into Jobs-to-be-done and how she applies it in the arts.
Ruth regularly blogs at https://www.cultureforhire.com , be sure to follow her on Twitter @ruth_hartt or find her on LinkedIn for constant insights and surprises for JTBD marketing in the artworld.
Referenced on the show:
Innovator’s Solution, Clayton Christensen
Competing Against Luck, Clayton Christensen
Demand-Side Sales, Bob Moesta
Art of Relevance, Nina Simon
Nina Simon Art of R...2022-04-111h 18
CHANGE YOUR TUNEPLAY YOUR PART with Daniel MeyersDaniel Meyers is a bass player, music administrator, and professional fundraiser who currently manages donor relations and annual giving at the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. Before moving into fundraising, Daniel performed regularly as a substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and he was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.QUOTES“I was playing with orchestras that were “the end goal” if you’re searching for a career as an orchestral musician, but I wasn’t finding the connection and focus on the audience and that focus on the audience. That’s what I care about.”...2022-03-1350 min
Dave Wakeman's The Business of Fun PodcastRuth Hartt teaches me to use the "Jobs to Be Done" theory.My guest today is Ruth Hartt. Ruth shares some really great arts marketing lessons on LinkedIn and on Facebook. I'm planning the world's first pod-ference, a podcast based conference, for the world of tickets and entertainment focused on recovery strategy. I need your help. If you could spend a minute or two letting me know what you like about the pod, what you need from the pod-ference, and who you'd like to hear from...that'd help me a lot. Ruth is great. We talked about the decline of arts audience. We talk about the power of talking to...2022-02-0152 min
How To Teach Music with Jessica GrantE017 Part-Singing with Georgia NewlinGeorgia Newlin shares a wealth of information about the Kodály approach and developing part-singing skills with your students. I loved getting to hear her thoughts on the part-singing modules and how we can continue to keep ourselves curious and challenged as educators. Georgia A Newlin is an independent Music Education Consultant. She has taught in early childhood and public school music positions for fifteen years and at the collegiate level for sixteen. Currently, Georgia is called upon as a conductor for choral festivals, as a clinician for choral workshops, reading sessions, and intermediate grade methodology, as w...2019-04-1652 min
Black-Eyed N BluesHotel Coral Essex | BEB 353Playlist:
Forward Motion, I’ll Understand,
The Scones, big Blue Planet,
Kelly Richey, Afraid To Die,
Willa Vincitore, Just Ain’t The Same,
Sarah Grace And The Soul, What I Came For,
The Spear Shakers, I Went Down Easy,
Andras Jones, Natalie Wood Said,
Charley Crockett, Here Am I,
Benny Turner And Cash McCall, Money,
Seth Rosenbloom, Heartbreaker,
The Trevor B. Power Band, Future Plans,
Vin Mott, Give Me Cornbread,
The Dee Miller Band, Back In The Saddle,
Ina Forsman, Genius,
Chris O’Leary...2019-01-172h 16Black-Eyed N BluesRoll the Dice | BEB 271Playlist:
XY Eli, Red Shoes,
Ryan Hartt & The Blue Hearts, Real Prince Charming,
Brandt Taylor, Robbed Me Blind,
Hash Brown & The Browntones, Poultry Queen Boogie,
Roberto Morbioli, I’m In The Blues,
John Latini, Pull Me Up,
Billy Price, This Time I’m Gone For Good,
Billy T Band, Trouble,
Monster Mike Welch And Mike Ledbetter, I Can’t Stop Baby,
John Primer & Bob Corritore,Big Leg Woman,
Mr. Sipp, Knock A Hole In It,
Balkun Brothers, Backdoor Man/ Five To One,
Vintage 18, Diamonds Are Option...2017-04-192h 06