Around four in 10 attendees at UK arts events in 2023 were first-time bookers according to new research.
The ‘Tomorrow’s Audience’ study, published by Indigo in partnership with Spektrix, looks at how audiences have changed since the Covid pandemic. The survey involved 72 performing arts organisations gathering 32,600 responses.
The report explores the profile and behaviour of first-time attenders to the performing arts. It also looks at what organisations can do to attract them and keep them.
Those arts organisations who participated found that 38% of attendees were visiting them for the first time. One in five of those visitors were had rarely or never attended arts events pre-Covid.
Opera and ballet saw the most newcomers at their shows (44%). Some 24% of theatre visitors were new to the arts.
Some 18% of new-to-the-arts audiences were under 35, compared to 14% of those only new-to-you (the arts organisation). 29% of new-to-the-arts audiences reported going out more often now than before Covid-19, rising to 37%of under 35 new-to-the-arts audiences.
Audiences returning at higher rate
Ticketing data provided by Spektrix showed that more than half of audiences in 2023 were first-time bookers. While audience retention had been declining long before Covid, 2023 saw new audiences returning at a higher rate than for at least seven years.
From the Spektrix figures, first-time bookers comprised 54% of all bookers, which it said is very close to an all-time high. Over the last decade, first-timers have consistently made up at least half of all bookers. However, that number was slowly reducing, from 55% in 2013 to just 50% in 2019.
Katy Raines, Indigo’s chief executive, said: “We want to empower the whole sector with an understanding of audiences. In partnership with Spektrix, we have been able to bring together long-term ticketing data trends, quantitative and qualitative audience insight from multiple organisations –and together we hope we can find ways to build a stronger sector.”
Julia Fawcett, chief executive of The Lowry, said: “Our future success depends on our audiences, and ‘Tomorrow’s Audience’ has offered us vital new insights. Armed with a deeper understanding of first-time audiences, we can do what we do best in our organisations: create ways to connect with people more meaningfully and introduce them to this wonderful world we are privileged to work in.”
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