Attracting an audience Options

[Yet another muso]

Thoughts on how to make the series get a reliable audience:

1. The lunchtime idea is a good one, but it does depend on the area. There are for example plenty of series in London that get smaller audiences than you currently do, but there are simply too many churches doing concerts in London and not enough audience to go around. In many other areas, if there is only one such series in the area it tends to do very well for audiences.

2. What about refreshments? If you are doing lunchtimes, you will inevitably end up with lots of retired people in the audience. Often if lunch is also provided it becomes a more attractive proposition as a regular outing. A series I play in sometimes only started up a few years ago and quickly built up a regular audience of 60-80, as it has become like a club for them.

[maggiemay]

I don't think there is anything wrong with your prices.

We tend to do better with lunchtime recitals, in general, than evening ones. A focused series of evening recitals by well-known pro performers a couple of years ago made a loss.

I agree with the person who thought 7pm was a bit early. It depends on area, but I'd think 7.30 more likely. Or, time it early evening, before people eat, say 6, and keep it fairly short.

Easier said than done, maybe, but keep at it and try not to be discouraged.

[BerkshireMum]

I think advertising is probably your biggest problem. Try to get fliers to groups that are more likely than average to be interested - local choral societies, orchestras, bands and churches are a good bet, particularly churches which are usually open to the public and will display a poster. We've been to several concerts in strange towns simply because we've seen a poster/flier in a church we've looked round. You could also ask churches to feature your concerts in their magazines. If there are similar concerts on in other parts of the town from time to time, target their audiences either with fliers on the door (which most organisations would let you do free)or by asking for an advertising space in their programme (you would probably have to pay for this).

As a member of the 50-60 group, I'd say that "What's on" magazines and radio are not the places where I'd look for concerts. I'm not on Facebook either. If I'm at a loose end I might do more of a search, but if you want to attract my attention, a nice flier which I can pick up somewhere is the best bet. Have you tried using a photo of the church interior as background for your posters, and pointing out that it's an opportunity to see it "in the flesh"? Lots of the concerts we saw advertised in Prague last year did this, and it's very tempting! An A-frame with a poster and TONIGHT splashed across it outside the venue on the day of the concert (not just the evening) should catch people's attention and might bring them out in the evening.

Well done for trying, and for ignoring the cynics. OK, it might not bring people out in their hundreds, but surely it's better to try setting up a cultural event than to sit at home saying it would never have worked anyway. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[sbhoa]

I don't think there is anything wrong with your prices.

We tend to do better with lunchtime recitals, in general, than evening ones. A focused series of evening recitals by well-known pro performers a couple of years ago made a loss.

I agree with the person who thought 7pm was a bit early. It depends on area, but I'd think 7.30 more likely. Or, time it early evening, before people eat, say 6, and keep it fairly short.

Easier said than done, maybe, but keep at it and try not to be discouraged.

It's the north of England. If Yorkshire is anything like the other side of the Pennines 6 would be just about the time people would be eating. It's about the latest meal time in our house.

[balu114]

You make assumptions about facebook users, Balu!

Maggiemay, it is an assumption! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And I made that assumption based on my experience.

I know there are lots of computer literate, tech-savvy pensioners (I know a couple of them) but most of them in that age group (among people I know) aren't on Facebook and even if they are on FB they hardly sign in or log in to look for events in their neighbourhood.

What I meant was, for this type of event, facebook should not be the primary marketing medium. Like Tenor Viol wrote flyers, local press etc is the way to go.

[sbhoa]

You make assumptions about facebook users, Balu!

Maggiemay, it is an assumption! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And I made that assumption based on my experience.

I know there are lots of computer literate, tech-savvy pensioners (I know a couple of them) but most of them in that age group (among people I know) aren't on Facebook and even if they are on FB they hardly sign in or log in to look for events in their neighbourhood.

What I meant was, for this type of event, facebook should not be the primary marketing medium. Like Tenor Viol wrote flyers, local press etc is the way to go.

Since when was 50-60 pensioner. If it was I could get a railcard......
FB and this forum are my home pages.

I don't look for events on facebook though. The only ones I see are those posted by friends which may be more the norm?

[balu114]

You make assumptions about facebook users, Balu!

Maggiemay, it is an assumption! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And I made that assumption based on my experience.

I know there are lots of computer literate, tech-savvy pensioners (I know a couple of them) but most of them in that age group (among people I know) aren't on Facebook and even if they are on FB they hardly sign in or log in to look for events in their neighbourhood.

What I meant was, for this type of event, facebook should not be the primary marketing medium. Like Tenor Viol wrote flyers, local press etc is the way to go.

Since when was 50-60 pensioner. If it was I could get a railcard......
FB and this forum are my home pages.

I don't look for events on facebook though. The only ones I see are those posted by friends which may be more the norm?

Oh dear!! I did not say 50-60 are pensioners.... I meant the tech-savvy people I was mentioning were pensioners! Both in their 70s but use facebook like pro.

I am in my late 20s and I am not on Facebook, but I know I am an exception!!

[Dulcet]

keep at it - it takes time to build up an audience...

[Floss]

Matthew - I think you're doing really well my love, and it can only get better from here on in, because some of these ideas are fab!

We'll definitely try to get another feature in the press (we've had one already!) and on the radio - I've got a bit of experience in that area and we have some good contacts too!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Seer_Green]

For four years, I ran a series of Saturday lunchtime concerts at a city centre church - I learnt quite a lot doing it, but not sure how, if any of it would work for you. We ran them on alternate weeks from the beginning of June to the end of September. The last one in September was usually an evening 'series closer'. Audiences ranged from 3 to 100+.

Firstly, it was clear these needed to be a lunchtime (1pm) concert rather than an evening one. We just wouldn't, in that area, have generated any audience making it an evening concert. We made it clear that each concert lasted about 30-40 minutes, so it was easy for people to pop in in their lunch hours etc.

Performers were mainly drawn from people I knew, so my pupils, the pupils of other teachers, friends etc. As the venture went on, it was clear that in general, people weren't that bothered who the performers were or what they were playing - it was more the case that it became a regular 'event' in their diary (as I suppose people go to series' of organ recitals etc.). That, of course, isn't to say it's not important who you've got performing...

Rather than sell tickets, we simply took up a retiring collection at each concert. This tended to make anything between ?25 and ?250 depending on numbers; probably more than we'd have got selling tickets. I'm afraid to say that in my experience, a lot of people won't come to something if it's billed as raising money for church funds, particularly if they have no association or interest in the church. It was very clear to us that the fundraising element, whilst important, had to be a secondary consideration. The main thing was that we were providing something in the community where people could meet and be entertained. The compromise we came to in the end was the divide the money between church funds and a charity nominated by whoever was performing in the concert. This worked quite well because getting charities involved (particularly local ones) does add another dimension, and potentially draws in people for the audience who come simply because it's supporting the charity. Quite a few of the charities were happy to come and put up a stall or display in the church to promote their work; you also get the added bonus of extra publicity.

A big issue these days is that people are not keen on going to things in churches for fear of being converted or suchlike! I think we have to accept that a lot of people feel this way; this means that even though it's not a religious event, they are put off by it simply being in the church. We partly solved this by having a bookstall (yes...shock horror...selling things in the church!) in the church porch. It was a superb way to get people in the door in a non-threatening way (I know you're not threatening, but people do feel threatened by the church). Of course, once you've got them in, then it's easier to tell them a bit more about the concerts, give them a leaflet etc.

We discovered (not until the fourth year I hasten to add) that the draw was very much the continuity of the series. People wanted (a) a programme at the start of the series listing all the concerts, and (b) a reminder at each concert when the next one was. We found this was a good way to get people to make it a regular date in their diaries. After a while, they started to bring others and it progressed from there.

Publicity is a tricky one - we did flyers, posters, radio plugs, notes in the local paper etc., but to be quite honest, most simply came because they were passing and there was something on. That's probably not so much the case where you are, but there's definitely an argument for 'getting out there' to distribute flyers (stand in the street) as well as just putting them up.

These things do take a long time to build up, and you may have to accept small audiences and low incomes to start with. I the end, we supplemented the concerts by having the church open to visitors between 11am and 3pm on the days there was a concert. We 'piped' recordings of previous concerts out into the street as an 'advert' prior to the concert starting and the bookstall was there throughout. Occasionally, we were able to get other things going on in the church such as a craft group giving demonstrations.

Not sure any of that's any use...!

[saxophile]

A number of other posters have mentioned a lot of the things I was going to say, so my tuppence-worth is:

- I'd go either with the retiring collection (split between church funds and a charity works well in our experience) or no charge / a MUCH reduced price for children. If you had a family of 4 wanting to attend, for example, your ticket prices would come in at 22 pounds - which probably isn't seen as realistic by many families for 1 hour's entertainment, particularly if the kids are largely only there because the parents would like to attend. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Our local craft festival only charges for adults, and as a result there are lots of families who attend.

- definitely go with refreshments, and make sure the fact that refreshments are provided is publicised at least as much as the content of the programme!

- multiple performers rather than just a single recitalist (eg a choir; a pupil concert for local music teachers; maybe ask your local music centre if their ensembles would like to perform? Ours has done a number of benefit events over the past couple of years, and it does mean you get all the parents along for starters.)

- if it's in a church (and supporting church funds), see if your local diocesan website or magazine will publicise it. York Diocese does, for instance.

- think carefully about the programme. A mix of more popular pieces - eg stuff from musicals, for choirs - may appeal more to those who have never heard of Scriabin, for instance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[Seer_Green]

- think carefully about the programme. A mix of more popular pieces - eg stuff from musicals, for choirs - may appeal more to those who have never heard of Scriabin, for instance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Yes, good point. We fell down on this a couple of times with a concerts given by pupils of another teacher. I thought I'd made it clear that there needed to be a good balance in the programme of well-known, less well-known, tuneful, easy on the ears etc. (i.e. 'this' is the sort of audience we get!) but when it came to it, we got two whole sonatas (I'm afraid some of the audience just left!)

[Tenor Viol]

An awful lot can depend on the local community. One local village is extremely supportive of anything going on and we regularly manage to fill the church and get a decent income, which we split with the church.

A local town (triple the population of the village) is the complete opposite. We struggle to get the parish to engage and audiences are very modest - over 120 is spectacular, whereas the village usually gets 200 - 250 quite easily.

The man difference is that in the village, there's a group round the church who put work into supporting events and they drum up support. In the town, there isn't that level of support in the town (this may not have been helped by a rector who insisted on doing everything himself - new one starts soon).

[mwl1]

Thank you very much indeed for all your help. I think next year I might say that admission is free but with a retiring collection, with the proceeds to be split between the church and a nominated (local, perhaps) charity. That way, the charity could help promote it, more people would come and the charity people themselves would probably come to represent the event in their honour (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Clarimoo]

Try to get the soloist to stand near the collection plate and chat to people as they leave. No-one likes to be seen as stingy by people they admire. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)