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 Changing Audiences Panelists: Philip Bither, Ben Cameron, Mark Rosenthal, and Elizabeth Streb Moderated by Steven D. Levine The following white paper is drawn from the remarks of the panelists and moderator for this session, along with the questions and responses from members of the audience. This document is intended to reflect the variety of viewpoints offered during the discussion, and to frame broadly the issues discussed; it should not be taken as a formal statement of opinion by the panelists. Arts audiences are "changing." This is said so regularly that it's almost a cliché: audiences are graying or they are dwindling; they are more demanding and less engaged; they have more choices available to them and are less loyal. Any devolution among audiences looks even starker in relation to the continued growth of new technologies, which are further personalizing and compartmentalizing entertainment, and reinforcing a society of instant gratification. Ideally, art may be both an individual and a communal experience. But in a society where people can filter in only the ideas and information that they want—and ignore everything else—the group artistic experience can fragment, to the detriment of society and to the communal and interactive dimensions of the performing arts especially. However one chooses to characterize it, the phenomenon of changing audiences is definitely happening. For both the performing and visual arts, organizations and the arts professionals who lead them must find ways to better assess and address the problem. Plus Ca Change The last half-century has been an expansive one, particularly for the performing arts. By some estimates, the number of not-for-profit theaters has grown from twenty-three to over eighteen hundred, spread out across the country (rather than being clustered in New York or other major cities), and attracting as many as thirty-two million audience members a year. These are young and mostly successful organizations. Nonetheless, among the (performing) arts there is a pervasive sense of peril and upheaval, an anxiety that threatens to overshadow their accomplishments in the face of three trends:
Know Thyself—And Others In an era when consumers have increased flexibility and opportunity, and face greater competition for their attention and money, it is imperative for arts organizations to understand what drives their audiences. Sometimes, organizations make changes based on an intuitive sense of the market: for example, a theater in Seattle might naturally think to add a coffee bar to its lobby. Too often, however, arts institutions—many chronically under-funded for basic operations—make decisions about their marketing, outreach, audience development, and even programming, with minimal information about the true nature, interests, or needs of their changing and evolving set of participants. Most successful businesses achieve and maintain their position in the market by combining innovative, valuable products with an understanding of the consumer obtained through ongoing market research. This is particularly true of firms targeting younger generations—kids and young adults who are inundated with information, but have developed more finely-tuned skills at processing that information and making decisions about what they (think they) want. Despite the high cost of such research, this is an area of increasing priority for arts organizations, where valuable product alone is likely no longer enough to sustain artists and the non-profit presenting companies that help bring their work to the public. For instance, while most arts performances draw one-time audiences, some theaters are now experimenting with "repeat offender" programs: encouraging people to return again and again—for free—provided that they bring additional, paying attendees with them. This kind of outreach taps into the "digital" experience audiences can get elsewhere, repeating different programs at will. Similarly, some organizations have found that younger audiences—increasingly accustomed to different modes of entertainment—won't sit through performances that they do not immediately understand, or stay in spaces where they cannot feel comfortable. They have sought to make accommodations in order to attract and sustain this next generation of attendees, drawing on new technologies or design ideas, from simultaneous translation devices to wireless internet access in lobby areas, or moving from traditional rows of chairs to less formal seating arrangements. Changes such as these can preserve the quality of the arts while recognizing the evolving environment in which the arts are presented. Don't Label Me Furthermore, younger audiences seem to be less bound by the labels and definitions of their parents, not just in their politics but in their search for entertainment. Genre-crossing virtually defines popular culture: singers who are rappers who are actors who are dancers who are fashion-designers who are producers are no longer the exceptions they once were. While it was radical for The Beatles to take on these different roles, it is not only normal but, in fact, expected that the artists of today will be able to appeal to their audiences in as many realms as possible. Yet the arts are, by and large, still working with and communicating within more strictly-defined artistic boundaries. In order to understand and reach new audiences, arts organizations may have to move away from the carefully-cultivated lines drawn between disciplines and institutions, and to rethink the traditional boundaries between artistic, social, and civil organizations. Or, arts institutions may just need to make a more compelling case for the value of aesthetic quality and artistic excellence, in the face of an ever-expanding entertainment multiplex. That may mean sacrificing some ability to expand the audience base—and the financial support that usually accompanies it. Either way, the change in audiences is real; what have yet to be determined are the corresponding changes in the arts organizations that seek those audiences. For citation, please reference: http://berkshireconference.org/content/2005-changing.cfm
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