AI For Arts Marketing

You’ve almost certainly heard of AI by now and the myriad tools available (free and paid) that can help do everything from writing emails to chatting with website visitors. You may have even tried out some of them like ChatGPT.

I’m always interested in how technology can help us run better marketing campaigns, so I’ve been testing and cataloging some of the options that are available. This first post in a series of three is going to be dedicated to how we can use an AI tools to better communicate with our patrons. Today, we’ll start with taking a look at ChatGPT.

Let’s get started.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the most popular and perhaps most versatile of this new generation of tools. It can generate just about anything when prompted.

For example, I asked it, “What is vibrato?” and it told me this:

Vibrato is a musical technique commonly used by singers and instrumentalists to add expressiveness and depth to their performances. It involves a slight and rapid variation in pitch, typically achieved by oscillating the pitch around a central tone. This oscillation creates a pleasant and shimmering effect that adds richness and warmth to the sound. Vibrato is achieved by subtly alternating the tension and release of the vocal cords or by manipulating the pitch with the fingers on a stringed instrument. It can be adjusted in speed, depth, and intensity to suit the musical style and emotional interpretation of a piece. Vibrato is widely used in various genres of music, including classical, jazz, pop, and rock, and is considered an essential tool for creating nuanced and expressive performances.

Pretty good, right? I’m sure you can connect the dots to the numerous uses for this type of content.

Simplify Messaging

AI tools like ChatGPT can also help with simplifying language so that it is approachable for new audiences. Keep in mind that this isn’t “dumbing it down”, but rather removing any barriers that we may unintentionally create by using unnecessarily complex language.

For example, I grabbed some descriptive copy from an orchestra’s website for an upcoming concert:

Few mass settings pose more questions of listeners than Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. A fervent meditation on faith and doubt, the piece spans moments of ecstasy and angst, soaring beauty and near-operatic theatricality. [Maestro Smith] leads this rarely performed score with a thrilling quartet of international singers and the [My Town] Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

This is a good example of succinct descriptive copy but it is a bit academic and, dare I say, fancy. It uses the term “near-operatic theatricality” which is certainly geared for someone who is a classical music fan and would understand what “operatic theatricality” is. It also starts with the phrase “mass settings” which assumes that the reader knows what a mass setting is in classical music.

So, I copied and pasted it into ChatGPT and gave the prompt: “simplify this” and this is what it generated:

Beethoven’s Missa solemnis is a powerful and thought-provoking composition that raises questions about faith and doubt. Led by [Maestro Smith], the [My Town] Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, along with a talented quartet of international singers, deliver an exceptional performance of this rarely heard masterpiece. Prepare to be moved by its range of emotions, from moments of ecstasy to moments of angst, showcasing the beauty and theatricality of the piece.

With just a very simple prompt, it created a much more approachable version that eliminated the jargon in the first version.

Create Summaries

AI is also quite useful for creating summaries of long form content like program notes. To demonstrate this, I copied and pasted the Wikipedia page section about the musical structure of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and it generated this:

The Kyrie movement follows a traditional ABA′ structure. It starts with grand D major chords, contrasting with a soft response. The first section features humble choral writing, while the Christe section incorporates contrapuntal vocal textures. The vocal soloists and chorus share the thematic material, with the soloists shining in the Christe Eleison section.

The Gloria movement explores shifting textures and themes corresponding to different portions of the Gloria text. It extensively explores 3/4 time and concludes with a fugue on the text “In gloria Dei patris. Amen,” followed by a recapitulation of the initial Gloria text and music.

In the Credo movement, a recurring chord sequence sets the stage for modulations. The word “Credo” is sung repeatedly in a two-note motif, aligning it with the tradition of “Credo Masses.” The Credo rushes through the text, featuring poignant modal harmonies, expressive heights in the Crucifixus, and a remarkable a cappella rendition of the “Et resurrexit.” The movement culminates in a thrilling fugue on “Et vitam venturi saeculi.”

The Sanctus movement follows classical proportions until the entry of the solo violin, representing the Holy Spirit descending to earth.

The Agnus Dei movement begins with a plea of “miserere nobis” sung by the men’s voices in B minor. It transitions to a bright D major prayer of “dona nobis pacem” in a pastoral mode. After fugal development, martial sounds dramatically interrupt but eventually give way to repeated pleas of “miserere,” leading to a close.

These movements showcase the structural and expressive elements of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, featuring diverse textures, themes, and vocal techniques.

Right off the bat, it created a much more succinct version of what was originally rather complex text.

Conclusion

As you can see, AI tools like ChatGPT can be extremely useful when it comes to messaging. You likely won’t use the prose that comes directly from ChatGPT word for word in your marketing materials, but it is often a great starting point.

In addition to what we’ve talked about here, ChatGPT could also be used for:

• Writing email newsletter content
• Creating shortened versions of descriptive copy
• Summarizing composer/artist background and biographical information
• Generating blog posts
• Writing program descriptions
• Creating social media posts
• Simplifying website content

Do you already use ChatGPT? If so, share in the comments below!