Audience Growth Resources

Updated January 2023

Pandemic audience trends vary widely across the U.S. Some orchestras have experienced little to no decline in ticket sales between the 2019 and 2023 seasons, many are seeing a 25% drop in ticket sales, and some as much as 40%. Those seeing less decline are more likely to be based in states where in-person performance was not interrupted by the pandemic.

Despite the differences between individual orchestras, what is clear is that audience preferences and priorities have profoundly changed. As a result, the orchestra field will need to think differently: meeting audiences where they are today – with new approaches to presentation, programming, marketing, and customer experience – will be critical. We hope the resources below and on the audience diversification resources page will inform the work ahead.

Audience Statistics

Benchmark your orchestra’s audience data: sign up to participate at no cost in the TRG Arts’ Arts & Culture Benchmark, offered in partnership with the League.
At a national level, intentions to attend an orchestra performance are just slightly higher for 2023 than they were for 2022, as competition from travel, vacations, and movies is set to increase, read more from IMPACTS Experience.
In the period immediately after lockdowns – when many cultural organizations saw audience gains due to pent up demand – the orchestra field was losing audience members faster than it was gaining them: read more about the long-term trajectories framing current activity in this blog post from IMPACTS Experience.
Compare your orchestra’s 2022 ticket sales and revenues with those of your peers, and discover how marketing actions are translating into results with this report created in partnership with the Advisory Board for the Arts.

Audiences Attitudes Toward Attendance

Of the 78% of audience members ready to return to live performance, as of November 2022 60% had not yet seen a program they wanted to attend. Hear more about audience attitudes to returning – and not returning – from Alan Brown (WolfBrown) in the December 2022 Executive Briefing that draws on data collected in partnership with the League.
Hear more about “couch competition” from Capacity Interactive, and about the long-term trend towards staying home in the evening and at weekends from IMPACTS Experience.
Read about current barriers to attending an arts or culture event, associated with travel costs and scheduling conflicts, via IMPACTS Experience.
Despite the initiatives that some orchestras have put in place, many remained focused on engaging the same kind of people. Read more from IMPACTS Experience on audience shrinkage in the context of population change on a national level, and explore our Audience Diversification Resources.