Why Forbes Is Paying Attention to CM Culture Management—and the Economics of Culture

CM Culture Management was recently featured in Forbes in an article examining the return on investment of culture and the structural realities behind brand–artist collaborations. The coverage signals something important: culture is no longer being discussed as an abstract value or a communications tool, but as an economic system that either works—or quietly fails.

That distinction matters.

At CM Culture Management, our work begins where most cultural conversations stop. We are not interested in celebrating creativity without interrogating the conditions under which it is produced, distributed, and sustained. The question is not whether culture matters—we all know it does: we like beautiful clothes, captivating scenery, and classy architecture. The question is whether it is being managed.

Culture Is Not a Vibe

One of the central themes highlighted in Forbes is that creative value increasingly outpaces the systems designed to protect it. This is not unique to brands or marketing. It is the defining condition of the cultural sector.

For decades, the arts have operated under a paradox: extraordinary talent, global demand, and institutional prestige—paired with declining real wages, chronic inefficiency, and fragile career paths. These are not moral failures. They are design failures.

CM Culture Management approaches culture as an operating system: a set of rules, incentives, workflows, and economic assumptions that determine outcomes regardless of intent.

What CM Culture Management Actually Does

Our work is often misunderstood as advisory or symbolic, but it is insanely practical and fundamental.

1. Repositioning Artists as Economic Actors

Artists are routinely expected to function as independent contractors without being given the tools required to survive as independent economic units.

We address this directly by equipping artists with:

• Financial literacy relevant to international careers
  
• Contract comprehension and negotiation capability
  
• Cash flow and risk management skills
  

This is not about commercializing art. It is about preventing systemic exploitation through ignorance.

2. Reducing Structural Waste in Cultural Institutions

One of the least discussed failures in cultural organizations is capital destruction disguised as tradition. “You just spent maybe a tenth of your annual budget on a stage, and you’re just throwing it away,” Dr. Makridis said.

We encounter cases where:

• Bespoke stages are built for single productions and discarded
  
• Significant portions of annual budgets are consumed without reuse planning
  
• Decisions are made for prestige rather than sustainability
  

CM Culture Management intervenes at the design stage—introducing lifecycle thinking, reuse strategies, and economic accountability without compromising artistic intent.

3. Treating Culture as a Measurable Asset

Culture influences productivity, retention, innovation, reputation, and long-term organizational resilience. Yet it is rarely governed with the seriousness applied to other strategic assets. “There’s just better decisions that can be made. And so we are trying to show how it can be done,” Dr. Makridis said.

Our work reframes culture as:

• Something that can be designed, not hoped for
  
• Something that produces returns, not just meaning
  
• Something that must be aligned with governance, finance, and leadership behavior
  

Why This Matters Beyond the Arts

What Forbes surfaced is not an arts-only problem. The same dynamics now appear in brand ecosystems, creator economies, and corporate culture more broadly:

• Value creation without proportional protection
  
• Symbolic support without structural backing
  
• Short-term optics replacing long-term systems
  

The arts simply reached this breaking point earlier.

CM Culture Management exists to translate those lessons into repeatable, scalable frameworks for organizations that claim culture as a competitive advantage.

Culture does not fail because people do not care. It fails because no one was accountable for how it worked. That is the gap CM Culture Management was built to close.

CM Culture is thrilled to announce the release of “O Holy Night,” the first single from Living Opera’s new album Radio Days: The Golden Age of American Song. Featuring soprano Soula Parassidis and tenor Norman Reinhardt, the project marks a new phase in their recording and touring strategy under CM Culture’s management. Distributed through Universal Music Group, the single opens a campaign designed to position operatic voices within a broader contemporary entertainment market.

Creative Team and Artistic Direction

Produced by Grammy nominated songwriter Jeff Trott and arranged by Oscar winning pianist and orchestrator Patrick Warren, Radio Days brings Parassidis and Reinhardt’s international stage experience into a setting shaped by American song and early broadcast traditions. The album blends classical technique with the storytelling and orchestral language of the radio era, creating a sound that appeals to both classical and non classical listeners.

Why O Holy Night Leads the Release

“O Holy Night” was chosen as the debut single because of its historic significance in American media. On Christmas Eve 1906, inventor Reginald Fessenden broadcast what is widely recognized as the first radio program from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. During that transmission he performed “O Holy Night,” surprising ship operators who expected only Morse code. The moment revealed radio’s capacity to carry music and human expression across distance, setting the stage for how audiences would experience sound in the decades that followed.

Connecting to American Musical Heritage

By opening the album with “O Holy Night,” Living Opera draws a direct line from that first broadcast to the evolution of American listening habits. The release connects a familiar work with a landmark moment in the nation’s cultural and technological history, framing Radio Days as both a musical project and a tribute to the early forces that shaped American entertainment.

Looking Ahead

Timed in advance of the United States two hundred fiftieth anniversary, Radio Days will continue with additional singles and a national performance series suited for orchestras, festivals, broadcast partners, and civic events. Presenters, producers, and industry partners interested in booking, licensing, or collaboration opportunities may contact CM Culture for materials, availability, and project information.

A new milestone: Living Opera is distributed by Universal Music Group.

CM Culture Management is proud to mark this milestone for our client Living Opera. With this development, Living Opera continues to grow as a creative studio that brings classical performance into conversation with contemporary sound and creative storytelling.

Living Opera’s Creative Direction
Living Opera develops original recordings, multimedia projects, and live performances that blend classical technique with modern artistic approaches. The studio focuses on work that connects music, narrative, and culture for audiences across generations.

New Music on the Horizon
The first single arrives on November 28 and comes from Living Opera’s upcoming project Radio Days. This release introduces a new series of recordings that explore the musical landscape of the early American broadcasting era ahead of the US250 celebrations in 2026.

About CM Culture Management
CM Culture Management represents artists and creative ventures that bridge classical performance and contemporary media. Through strategic development, production support, and brand building, CM Culture helps artists expand their reach while maintaining their full artistic vision. We are thrilled for Living Opera and can't wait to see what this new chapter holds!

Living Opera Launches a New Chapter: A Digital Home for a Global Vision

Living Opera unveils its new website and Foundation, marking a new phase in its mission to make the impossible possible. The platform now unites its work across music, education, research, and philanthropy in one place, celebrating five years of growth and looking ahead to the next chapter of artist-led innovation. Founded by soprano Soula Parassidis and tenor Norman Reinhardt in 2019, Living Opera began as a conversation about how to create a new internal culture for classical musc. That conversation has become a movement spanning stages, studios, and classrooms worldwide.

A Foundation for the Future

The newly formed Living Opera Foundation transforms a vision into structure. It provides a home for initiatives that unite creativity and purpose, including the Kristin Okerlund Masterclass Series, which mentors young artists and honors one of Living Opera’s most cherished collaborators, the Eric Wilson Prize, recognizing artistic integrity and leadership, and the Circles network, a model for sustainable, community-driven performance. Each initiative is guided by the same principles that have defined Living Opera from the beginning: service, purpose, story, and excellence.

Music, Media, and Meaning

Living Opera Media expands the organization’s storytelling through recordings, podcasts, and film. Upcoming projects include Radio Days: The Golden Age of American Song, celebrating the music that once brought families together across the airwaves, Muse of the Golden Throne, a revival of rare art songs inspired by the poetry of Sappho, and Behind the Curtain, a podcast revealing the real lives of artists who make today’s culture possible. Each project shares one goal: to make art accessible without losing its depth and to show that classical music continues to speak with power and relevance.

Building the Culture They Want to Live In

As Living Opera enters its next chapter, the message remains constant: beauty endures when it is built with purpose. The new website invites audiences, partners, and patrons to explore how the organization blends tradition with innovation, art with data, and performance with community. What began as two artists seeking meaning in their craft has become a global network proving that excellence, generosity, and sustainability can coexist.

Visit www.livingopera.org to learn more.

The size of the classical music sector might appear modest at first glance. Statista estimates the global classical music market, including ticket sales, recordings, and digital platforms, to be valued at approximately $281 million in 2018 in the United States and Europe combined.

But to limit our understanding of the market for art and culture to traditional definitions like these is to overlook a vast and evolving landscape of what is possible.

Art and culture extend far beyond the concert halls and opera theaters. In fact, much of the classical community grew out of house concerts in the United States and Europe! By redefining our potential misconceptions of what classical music looks like, we uncover a much larger and more dynamic ecosystem—one that positions artists as central players not only in entertainment, but also in education, community building, and even corporate innovation.

The global art and entertainment industry is much bigger. PwC forecasted that the Media and Entertainment industry is expected to grow to $3.4 trillion by 2028, encompassing everything from film and streaming to live events and experiential platforms. Visual arts, theater, and immersive experiences are increasingly blurring the lines between traditional and new media. By considering classical music as part of this larger creative economy, we begin to see its potential to resonate with wider audiences and contribute to diverse industries.

For example, collaborations between classical musicians and digital platforms have led to exciting innovations, such as live-streamed concerts, virtual reality (VR) performances, and algorithm-curated playlists on Spotify and Apple Music. These formats not only expand access to classical music, but also integrate it into broader consumer habits. (For a future post: streaming platforms provide very little remuneration for artists, so they are not sustainable.)

Through our work with Living Opera, we have explained how artists can step beyond traditional venues to redefine their roles. In education, musicians are becoming advocates for interdisciplinary learning, bringing creativity into STEM fields to foster problem-solving and innovation. Community engagement programs leverage the power of music and art to address social issues, from mental health initiatives to urban revitalization projects.

Consider how orchestras now partner with corporations to provide immersive experiences for employees or how art installations appear in unexpected places like airports and hospitals.

This expanded view of the market for art and culture also repositions the artist. No longer confined to roles as performers, creators, or curators, today’s artists are entrepreneurs, digital innovators, and thought leaders. Agencies like ours aim to empower this evolution, connecting artists with nontraditional opportunities that align with their talents and aspirations. (And my research has also shown that artists who acquire some entrepreneurial training are able to command higher wages in the labor market.)

In a world where creativity is increasingly valued across all sectors, the market for art and culture is defined not just by traditional ticket sales or box office revenues but by its capacity to inspire, educate, and innovate. By thinking outside the box, we can redefine what it means to be an artist and explore the boundless opportunities within this ever-expanding market.

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The question for the classical music community is not “will it be relevant in the 21st century?”, but rather, “who will help carry the torch?” Classical music endures because it has withstood the test of time, inspiring people across generations and establishing a standard for artistic excellence. This era is no different in its potential; what has changed are the economic, social, and political circumstances that shape our reality.

Unfortunately, the current trajectory of the sector is unsustainable. The classical music industry is facing systemic challenges that threaten its long-term viability. My research has revealed that the income gap between artists and non-artists – even after accounting for differences in age, education, race, and other factors – has widened significantly. Between 2006 and 2021, this gap grew from -15% to -30%. Furthermore, the economic return on earning an arts degree has become, on average, negative; most arts graduates never recoup their educational investment. Compounding these challenges, my research also finds that opera companies are grappling with financial instability. Their net operating incomes have stagnated or declined, while the cities they serve are experiencing significant population shifts that impact their audience base.

These empirical findings, drawn from U.S. data, carry a cautionary message for European artists and arts institutions as well. The global interconnectedness of the arts means that these trends could have far-reaching implications beyond national borders.

The pressing question is: What do we do differently?‍

At CM Culture Management, our philosophy is straightforward: Artists must thrive. Thriving means more than artistic fulfillment; it’s about holistic success. If artists are not actively engaged and able to showcase their talents, they are not thriving. If they cannot financially sustain their careers, they are not thriving. While these statements may seem self-evident, they highlight glaring gaps in the current system.

We believe in expanding the possibilities for artists and the institutions that support them. The pie can get bigger. Our unique network and capabilities empower us to think beyond conventional, zero-sum strategies. Instead, we focus on innovative solutions that prioritize long-term growth and sustainability for the entire classical music ecosystem.

The future of classical music will be shaped by those who dare to think boldly, act decisively, and prioritize the well-being of the artists at its heart. By doing so, we ensure that this timeless art form continues to inspire and resonate for generations to come. Welcome to CM.