Calculative practices and socio-political tensions: A historical analysis of entertainment, arts and accounting in a government agency

Abstract

The article examines entertainment, arts and accounting practices of a national arts council that funds arts organisations and artists. It does so by investigating the first 25 years of annual reports of the Australian Council for the Arts (1973-1996), using media reports to triangulate the data. Set against a background of socio-political change, the study explicates the differing treatments of entertainment and the arts, as political parties come in and out of power, national policy shifts, and macro-economic changes occur. Guided by legitimacy theory, analysis of narratives and budgets as calculative practices in annual reports illustrates how the nexus between entertainment and the arts changes over time, with the emphasis or value placed on entertainment diminishing relative to the arts. We conclude that the arts council has become the ‘arts council for the performing arts’, calling into question moral, pragmatic and cognitive legitimacy of the arts council.

Balancing perspectives on performance: “Measurement from the inside” and “measurement from the outside”

“…Subsidized arts organizations, both at local and national levels, are regulated by policies emphasizing “hard” evidence and instrumentalism (Rentschler, Lee, & Subramaniam, 2021). The centrality of accounting practices to government funding decisions (Donovan & O'Brien, 2016; Rentschler et al, 2022; Rentschler, Lee, & Fillis, 2021) has escalated tensions between “creativity” within the arts and cultural sector and “control” by government.…”

‘It was pop that was making the bread’: Accounting and musical space at Abbey Road studios

“…Accounting influences the creation of the cultural products that mark our existence yet little remains known about the extent of accounting's influence in this regard (Hopwood, 1994; Jeacle, 2021). Research motivated by this notion, however, has attempted to rectify this by considering the historic role of accounting in entertainment (Jeacle, 2021; Rentschler et al, 2021) including popular music and classical music (Balluchi et al, 2021; De Loo and Davis, 2003; Jacobs and Evans, 2012; Miley and Read, 2017; Smith and Jacobs, 2011). These articles represent welcome forays into the relationship between the creative, ‘magical’ practices commonly associated with the creation of music alongside the perceived restrictions that accounting would have on such practices (Negus, 1995).…”

Artists versus arts council: A longitudinal analysis of brand legitimacy

“…Thirty-one years of annual reports were the primary data source for this study, enabling a longitudinal evaluation using images and text (Potter & Rentschler, 1996;Rentschler, Lee & Subramaniam 2021). We began by qualitatively analyzing the cover and internal images of the annual reports, including brand images and logos, and their development over time, and illustrations of changes in design influenced by branding and related images, in addition to associated text.…”

“…The media wailed that 'there is no unified voice for artists,' disempowering them in the funding stakes (Travers, 2013). The number of arts organizations funded was the lowest, two over three phases, demonstrating the shift to a more corporate approach supporting only selected major arts organizations which promote excellence in the arts and respond to ACA practices (Rentschler, Lee & Subramaniam, 2021). However, the number of artists funded increased in Phase 3, potentially due to the organizations in which they worked being defunded, requiring artists to fund themselves.…”

“…As a form of communication, branding helps to create new juxtapositions and meanings (Williams, 1982), as well as institutional legitimacy of a pragmatic, moral, or cognitive kind (Suchman, 1995). Legitimacy provides a buffer against institutional failure (Di Maggio & Powell, 1991), it is a means of obtaining support of stakeholders, such as artists (Lee, Fraser & Fillis, 2018;Lee, Fillis & Lehman, 2018;Rentschler, Lee & Subramaniam, 2021), and boosts recognition of the brand in the wider community (Alexander, 2021;Bourdieu, 1993). If an organization and its customers are aligned and share the same values, then it is possible for branding actions to revitalize the organization, its products and services (Lash & Urry, 1994).…”