IJAM Volume 2 Number 3 (PRINT)

EDITOR’S NOTE

In our previous issue, the article entitled “Arts Management: A New Discipline Entering the Millennium?” asked the question: Can arts management be regarded as a new discipline, given the theories developed in this area of study in recent decades? Our view is that if it cannot yet be called a discipline, it is at least possible for us to speak of a major subdiscipline.

The current issue includes two articles that shed new light on this discussion. One examines the distinction between management and arts management, and the other the role that science or marketing plays in the distribution of cultural and artistic products.

Management and its subdisciplines developed by means of empirical studies and theoretical examination. The knowledge acquired by studying management phenomena allowed researchers to propose models and theories whose possible applications were then debated.

The domain of arts and culture is no exception to this rule. Those involved in arts and cultural organizations often turn to academics for solutions to their problems; and those doing research in this area observe managers and their methods, then develop models and theories based on these empirical data.

Over the past 30 years, a large number of empirical studies focusing on the arts and culture have been conducted and various theoretical texts have been published. However, we believe that much theoretical work remains to be done and that this avenue of exploration will never be exhausted. So we are pleased that our Journal serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and concepts, and thus contributes to the evolution of cultural management and its subdisciplines.

François Colbert
Editor