In recent years, the arts, and in particular public sector arts organizations, have faced considerable changes as a result of shifting patterns of cultural consumption, new technologies and administrative processes. Based on extensive field research, this book explores the changes in arts organizations that have been driven by the crisis of the welfare state and the privatization of public entities. It presents a critical analysis of the tensions between managerial rhetoric and professional practices that characterize the arts sector, and questions the extension of managerial rhetoric for the very survival of arts organizations.