Digital

A new £6m programme aims to equip the UK cultural sector with the skills to develop projects using immersive technology.

The three-year XRtists programme is a joint initiative from the arts councils of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The programme will begin in 2024, once a consortium has been chosen to run it. Applications are currently being invited from universities, independent research organisations, cultural organisations and creative businesses.

Plans for the programme include training and funding opportunities for artists and cultural organisations, including museums.

An annual industry showcase is also planned, which will support the "ongoing development and distribution" of immersive work.

The successful consortium will be expected to carry out research around new business models for immersive content.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England, said the programme will "draw on the wealth of creative talent across our performing arts, galleries, museums and other cultural organisations to unlock new ideas and applications for immersive technology, while developing skills in these powerful emerging technologies across the cultural sector”.

AHRC Executive Chair, Professor Christopher Smith, added: “XRtists will build on previous investments to unlock further innovation and economic growth and will bring the power of immersive technology to new audiences and partners.”

Most independent artists who promote their own music releases make a loss, according to new research.  

The research by Pirate.com, a global music studio hosting 350,000 artists worldwide, found that 75% of musicians who spend money on promoting releases don't make it back. 

Over 1,000 live musicians, producers, rappers and MCs from the UK and US were asked how they promote their music.

Of these, 91% said they did so without the support of a label or manager.

Of the musicians surveyed 54% said they use social media for self-promotion, with 56% of these using it everyday.

The research highlights the increasing need for musicians to create additional, visual content in order to promote their work.

More than half (56%) of music creators said they will make visuals for their next release.

Dan Davis, Head of Community at Pirate.com, said: "Making music in the social media age means constantly jumping on new promotional trends.

"However, making content is rarely free and new revenue sources for artists aren’t emerging at the same rate as new trends."

The Tank Museum has made museums history by attracting more than 100m views on its YouTube channel, which has more than 500,000 subscribers.

The military museum in Bovington, Dorset has had more views than any other museum in the world, surpassing the British Museum’s 61m total views.

The channel, which currently offers 427 videos, features expert staff members sharing their knowledge of tanks in the museum's collection, as well as mini-documentaries and footage from events.

The Tank Museum's head of marketing Nik Wyness said: “As a rural regimental museum, we see YouTube as an essential means of reaching a wider audience, helping us to fulfil our mission to tell the story of the tank and the people that served in them.

“YouTube has allowed us reach a global audience of tank enthusiasts and it’s as a direct result of this that we are now generating over a quarter of our annual turnover from non-visitors."

A digital theatre group is working with young people in Edinburgh to tackle the online radicalisation of masculinity and 'Incel' (involuntary celibate) culture.

Civic Digits will co-produce a new theatre production, 'Many Good Men', with the Edinburgh-based Stellar Quines theatre company, YouthLink Scotland, Zero Tolerance Scotland and Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Award-winning playwright Clare Duffy, Civic Digits’ Founder and Artistic Director, said: “We're planning to support two groups of young people to write and direct two new forum theatre plays about the radicalisation of masculinity online. It will be performed by professional actors at Hearts F.C. stadium.”

The project will involve working with groups of 15–to 18-year-olds in their communities and will be developed over the next nine months.

The performances at Tynecastle Stadium in Edinburgh will take place in December.

'Many Good Men' is one of 46 projects to receive a total of £1.6m in National Lottery funding in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards. 

Other funded projects include the 2023 editions of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and Edinburgh Festival Carnival, and this year's Open Studios Hebrides.

Paul Burns, Interim Director of Arts at Creative Scotland, said "a range of new and important stories will be told as part of the latest round of Open Fund awards". 

Artificial intelligence is a threat to the livelihoods of voice-over artists, performers' union Equity has said.

Liam Budd, Equity’s Audio and New Media Official, told The Stage that the development of automated digital voice technology is "a real concern for our audio artist members". 

He said areas most at risk are entry and low-level work, such as eLearning, interactive voice response and call-waiting work, which can make up a large portion of income for many voice-over actors.

Budd added: "We conducted a survey and 93% of audio artists who responded thought the development of AI technology posed a threat to employment opportunities in the performing arts sector."

He also said that the quality of contracts used to our engage members for AI work was "a huge problem". 

"Provisions are often very unclear about usage and simply request that the performer signs away their rights in perpetuity without explaining where or how their professional contribution may be exploited."

Equity has launched a campaign to lobby for legislative changes that will provide better protections for those working in the sector.