Sponsorships for the Arts

After waiting in line for hours, some fans sang, some screamed and others simply bobbed their head along with Elvis Costello's music as the singer took the stage in Hollywood earlier this summer.

But he wasn't performing at one of Los Angeles' famed music venues -- instead, hundreds of his fans had crowded against racks of albums inside of Amoeba Music, a giant record store which hosts frequent in-store performances.

Surprisingly, as many music and book retailers have shuttered in recent years, a number of stores -- like Amoeba -- haven't seen their sales fall at all.

How have they managed to do that? The book and record stores that have survived are playing up their roles as community centers that serve as unique cultural spaces rather than just a place to buy a quick CD or magazine.

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/article/not-just-sales-amoeba-music-booksellers-stay-afloat-getting-creative_5387


Events like this at independent stores are a obviously a marketing effort to generate more traffic, corporate sponsorship on a smaller scale. But an event like this also provides the opportunity for the artist to generate a following, and for the community to support their local musicians, writers, and artists. So it's a low-cost (unless you buy something) way to advocate for the arts. A win-win situation??