Baltic 2.0 | Baltic 1.0 | Toolbox | About/Our Vision

For Artists & Managers | For organisations

Concept

The Baltic Artists in development is a multilayered process with many different perspectives that is constantly open for new directions, and seeks to find, innovate, produce and communicate knowledge. Not only by its final product but perhaps mainly from the collaborative process it self. In this concept we focus mainly on two perspectives, the participant perspective and the organisation perspective. Both include a perpetual learning process aiming for sustainable innovation. For the participants, musicians and D.Y.I managers it is to learn, adapt and implement how to truly be independent by accumulating music business knowledge, broaden their network, implementing a strategic work process and participating in a collaborative creative process.

For the organisation it is about having a bifocal lense on the grassroots of music business and the emancipation of its stakeholders, as well as growing a stronger organisation that are open for change and also to have an international outlook that rests on “Design thinking” and constant innovation. This can only happen if there is an on going research process that aims to understand the needs and dreams of all stakeholders involved in the process. It needs to by fed, in this case, by a constant dialogue between music business grassroots, governmental organisations, the industry and in the next step higher education.

Musikcentrum Syd have been implementing design thinking as a go to method for the development of the organisation and the projects within. By inviting international partners and guiding them into a new kind of mindset and strategic development through participatory design has not only changed the mindset of people in the organisations, but the organisation it self have been taking steps towards a transformation in the direction of a participatory design process with all involved stakeholders. This is especially the case with the governmental organisations that most often have a top down driven organisation that moves slowly towards transformation, where as NGO´s tend to be more flexible in adapting and implementing new methods and tools.

Methods

• A community experimental zone of bottom-up driven innovation

A first step is to set up a creative experimental zone with a variety of stakeholders from the music business, including the participating organisations, together with the participants i.e, managers and musicians, and facilitate a multi-stakeholder collaborative process with innovation driven methods and tools . In order to create innovation the participants need to build an understanding of the context. So for the participants,the organisation and other stakeholders, i.e industry, the first phase is exploring, learning and sharing to create a common understanding. This is where we are right now!

• Music business Hub - Digital plattforms and physical meeting places

The second step is to establish the organisational structure and bring in more participants and other stakeholders. Then consolidate the community and deepen individual relations. This relation building can help find mediators outside and within the community. Individuals that can function as mediators who can explore and give access to new partner domains and open doors for both participants and organisations. This is where we want to go.

• Innovation driven methods and thinking frameworks

Thinking frameworks to prototype in the next step

PROCESS

Three step process with participants

• Creative workshops - Research and define a problem and create solutions or suggestions for the participants own work process

• Tallin - Music industry “know how” lectures and talks combined with informal meetings and a concert/showcase

• The plan was to organize an event with live music and seminars but the pandemic came in the way. Instead we chose to bring in experts on digital marketing that held online seminars and individul sessions with participants

Creative collaborative digital tools

MIRO

Before the pandemic we did have to make use of digital tools for meetings and real time collaboration but it did even more so serve as a catalyzt when we had to cancel the whole physical part of the Poland session. By using MIRO we could work togehter and visualize our on line workshops. MIRO also served as a new way to explore how to collaborate in a digital environment. So, when all goes back to “normal” we will continue to work with digital tools such as MIRO.

organisation DEVELOPMENT process - new ROLE OF ORGANISATION

The process also included a learning process for the three stakeholder organisations. Through reflective and idea generative workshops with participants we developed a base structure of service, both physical and digital aspects, that created a new role for the Baltic organisation, the coworkers and for Musikcentrum Syd. These new roles and strategies took the form of:

• Intermediator of knowledge relating to the music business discourse

• Producer of knowledge relating to the music business discourse

• Develop knowledge bank plattform and manage content

• Research, interprate and communicate the latest cutting edge innovation relating to music industry

• Looking for new partners - Briefing new partners

Diagrams for structuring digital learning content

OUTCOME

It is important to understand that to create innovation one have to enable the base organisations to understand the creative methods and tools and to induce a mindset that the process is sustainable in a longt term. This mindset should be the basis of further collaborative processes and help the organisations to find new partners and to really design their organization in such a way that the members feel included in the process.

• Implementing methods and tools that serve as a basis for sustainable innovation

• Establishing an “Experimental zone” i.e a lab for innovation in the music business by its participants and its participating stakeholders

• Developing a learning process for both participants and organisations

• Producing and managing content for future learning

• Building a website plattform that serves as a digital base for participants and organisation