Digital platforms and the entertainment. A marriage to do

The harsh months of the pandemic have spurred many art forms to explore the digital world to fill the voids of the long days spent indoors during the months of isolation, demonstrating the public’s hunger for culture and at the same time opening up new scenarios for the entire live performance sector. Streaming and digital technologies are capable of overcoming the physical limits of space and time, reaching a wider audience than can physically fill or reach a theatre, and allowing the anywhere, anytime, any device fruition that has long characterised audio-visual distribution. Examples of digital platforms breaking into the performing art business are Nexo+, characterised by its cultural slant, and ITsART, a streaming platform participated by the State through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. It is essential, at this stage, to develop strategies to deal with digital culture that include not only the transposition of traditional cultural industries onto the web but also allow the preservation and encouragement of digitally born cultures that include small realities that would find it difficult to emerge in an analogue environment.