MThe Arts Fuse is pioneering independent arts journalism for the digital age. And arts lovers are engaged.
Launched in 2007 by Editor in Chief Bill Marx, artsfuse.org now has 30,000+ monthly visits, 5,000+ articles, 2,000+ email subscribers, 6,000+ Facebook fans, 4,500+ Twitter followers — and they’re all growing daily.
We’re helping to create a new eco-system for arts journalism, with a small army of 60+ writers, editors, and photographers. We celebrated our 11th anniversary in the summer of 2018.
Without printing presses, delivery trucks, production studios, or satellite dishes to deliver our editorial content, our expenses are very low. Most of our revenue goes to the magazine’s writers as well as maintaining the site’s infrastructure. We feel strongly that arts writers and critics should be paid for their work — creating thoughtful and intelligent reviews, previews, commentary, and interviews.
Why do readers want and need the kind of high quality editorial coverage The Arts Fuse provides? Because we are an indispensable part of the area’s cultural ecology: a trusted, independent, and edited news source that looks at the arts through a critical lens.
How do we remain up and running and independent? Our business model draws on revenue from several sources; including support from readers (we raised more than $15,000 from them over the past 12 months!), grants (we’ve already received grants from Mass Cultural Council and Mass Humanities with additional applications pending), major donations, and underwriting/advertising.
To date, our advertisers/underwriters have included Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, Boston Ballet, Boston Baroque, Boston Book Festival, Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, Boston Women in Media + Entertainment, Blue Heron Choir, Central Reform Temple, Coro Allegro, Emmanuel Music, From the Top, Future of Music Coalition, JP Music Festival, John Coltrane Memorial Concert, Moonbox Productions, New Repertory Theater, and the Newport Jazz Festival. We thank them all for their support!
We have been based in Somerville from the beginning, proudly covering arts across the Metro-Boston area and beyond. Nothing creative is outside of our reach — or beyond our critical scope. We cover rock, pop, folk, jazz, blues, dance, first-run and independent films, the fine arts, author readings, and theater. Paying attention to overlooked artists and small companies is also a large part of our mission; we want to bring those who are marginalized to the attention of our loyal and culturally savvy readership. We celebrated our ninth and tenth anniversaries with successful Fusicals, a slam bang awards show dedicated to paying homage to those who are not “the usual suspects” in the arts. The event featured local musicians and artists who are on the creative cutting edge.
The Arts Fuse‘s readers come to our site because they love the arts, culture, and entertainment. They are passionate about experiencing the full range of arts experiences available in the greater Boston area. Based on recent surveys, we know that our average readers attend concerts, theatre performances, readings, and dance recitals at least a couple of times every month. In the bi-weekly Coming Attractions column, our critics spotlight the best on the cultural scene — it is one of the magazine’s most consistently popular features.
Recent data from Quantcast (a web company that aggregates and analyzes data about Internet users to help advertisers know who they are reaching) indicates that many of our readers are young, affluent, and passionate about the arts and culture. These Quantcast demographics represent readers from across America and internationally, though they also reflect readers in Greater Boston and New England.
The Nitty Gritty — Advertising/underwriting costs per week: $100-$50/banner, $75/medium rectangle, $50/small rectangle. If you are interested in committing to a full season or year, we also have discounted rates available.
Have a question or want to get started? Contact Matt Hanson (artsfuseads@gmail.com) or Deanna Costa (dmcosta@bu.edu) for more information on our writers, readers, past advertisers, reader testimonials, and reasons why your organization should advertise/underwrite on The Arts Fuse.
— Bill Marx, Editor in Chief, The Arts Fuse