I make no excuse for coming back to the same topic for three weeks on the trot. I think decisions at every level from central government to individual cultural organisations over the coming weeks and months will have a major impact of the sustainability of the sector and the public’s opportunities to enjoy excellent cultural experiences.
This week let’s look at the issue from two different perspectives. First, international. Americans for the Arts is the US version of the NCA. They publish a very useful annual ‘Index’ of the state of the arts that includes lots of individual indicators on the health of the sector. Their latest data is for 2008. Like the UK, individual giving and Foundation funding was down that year. As we’ve seen, in England in 2008 (despite the recession) the West End broke all records and earned income and attendance for ACE’s Regularly Funded portfolio also surged ahead. This rosy picture was not mirrored in the States.
Attendance at Broadway Shows: down. Attendance at Touring Broadway Shows: down. Attendance at Live Popular Music: down. It wasn’t all bad news, but there was a clear downturn for most artform areas.
Second perspective: free entry. Had a fascinating conversation this week about the experience of a major national museum that has recently opened new galleries. You might expect attendance to ‘free’ museums to rise in challenging financial times. It certainly has at this museum where the new gallery has seen them break attendance records. With greater attendance they expected greater earned income from their catering and retail. What was more of a surprise was that their spend per visitor increased too. This growth from earned income will make their 3% in-year savings a tough but more manageable process. Their experience proves an increased focus on developing audiences and maximising earned income can have major benefits even where the culture on offer is free.
All the indicators seem to point to something special happening in the Cultural Sector in the UK at the moment. The right, well-marketed product seems to be finding a ready audience who are prepared to prioritise spending on cultural experiences. We all know that public expenditure has to be curbed, but major cuts from central and/or local government to the cultural sector will not only threaten individual wellbeing and community cohesion, they’ll could also end and reverse the growth in the one sector where we seem to be world leaders.
We know times are tough and there are incredibly difficult decisions to be made. But when it comes to culture, any inclination to ‘defend the quality of the product’ over trying to attract and retain current and new audiences will be ultimately self-defeating. At the moment we seem to have a virtuous circle of world-class culture being supported by increasing audiences . Unless politicians, funders and cultural organisations maintain and increase their focus on both the product and the public, the circle will be swiftly broken.
David Brownlee, Chief Executive, Audiences UK
Comments
Working in the US last year on Project Audience, it was chilling to see the effect of the recession on arts organisations, because corporate philanthropy and personal giving was down, the public had less disposable income, and the Foundations had less income to give to Culture because their endowments and interest were down too. Organisations were giving their staff "payment holidays", cutting or reducing seasons or programmes, and changing the way they did things.
BUT a survey of arts organisations showed most were increasing their spend on marketing. Apparently, many had relied in good times on the fact that the audience they got was "enough" so there was not pressure to achieve increased attendances or develop audiences. But when the audience became more important as a source of income, they invested more in marketing. If there was a challenge, it was suddenly gearing up to try and achieve large increases in attendances when the general trend was down.
And quite obviously, it led to a surge of interest in collaborative approaches to developing audiences. Hence Project Audience.
Could arts organisations in the UK be equally complacent that during the supposed "boom" years their audiences were "enough", so that actually they now need to increase marketing spending to attract audiences in difficult times?
Roger
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