Audience Development

In line with a very familiar tree-related philosophy, does art exist if there is no one around to see or hear it?

Audiences are a crucial part of any artist’s life, and while art exists as a form of self-expression and fulfilment it is always a fantastic feeling to have it received and enjoyed by as many people as possible.

In classical music, audience development is an area in which marketing staff are constantly working hard to conquer. In the major areas of orchestras, opera and ballet there is the ongoing concern about audiences literally dying off; (however, I have also heard it said that there will always be a new group of 40 – 50 year olds looking for diverse areas of entertainment).

But for the small guys, it’s a different story.

I am going to share an experience I recently had, when presenting a concert where I was also performing. I am a percussionist and have formed a new duo for trumpet and vibraphone (with the ever-amazing Callum G’Froerer), called Cal Squared (clever, right?).

Cal and I had performed together many times but were keen to work on some existing works, as well as commission new pieces from composers in Western Australia. And when it came time to deliver, I believe that I did everything that the “arts marketing guide book” would tell you to do to market the concert successfully.

We had articles and listings in over five local papers and on the morning of the show, Cal and I went on local community radio to perform a snippet of what the audience could expect to hear.

We had also chosen an exciting venue to perform in, one of the new buildings in Northbridge that form the Central Institute of Technology (formerly TAFE), and were working with some of the students there for the production of the show.

Invitations had been sent to all of the executive staff there and the students were also emailed about the gig. I even used a poster service to put up our posters in all of the hip and happenin’ areas of Perth, and we of course created the obligatory Facebook invitation.

I am not ashamed to say that there were a mere 39 people who finally attended this performance, which includes a few complimentary tickets too. I had hoped for 100, so this was a fair way below my expectations, and the thing that was, for me, the most disappointing, was that I knew every single person there. Not one new face from outside of the Perth music scene was in attendance.

Regardless, I would say that this concert was (in one way) a success; we both performed well (in my humble and completely unbiased opinion), we premiered five new works by WA composers, and we explored a new and exciting venue in Perth. What concerns me however, was why no one came, and I am still trying to figure out what else I could have done to get the word out there more.

My initial thought would be that there wasn’t actually enough information about what a listener was going to hear. I decided against putting the word “new” in the description on the poster, opting for Music for Trumpet and Vibraphone. Perhaps something more detailed would have been better? The media release was also short and to the point. There is a lot to cover in any media release and you have to think about what will catch the eye of the reporter too. If you can give them an angle for a story you stand a much better chance of getting some coverage.

What this does though, is limit the amount of information that can be disseminated about the actual event, (I was too busy regaling my readers with stories of how Cal and I used to get mixed up whilst studying at WAAPA). With so much sound-bite-style information available to us these days, everything has to be snappy and immediate or people get bored. This makes it very hard to sell something that could need some more explaining. An extra page of notes or key facts can be really helpful, (and this was something which we used at the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra to give background information). In retrospect, I should have offered notes with my media release!

I still think that one of the main keys to audience development is to make a performance interesting and entertaining. If you do this, and even if only a handful of people show up the first time, word of mouth should help you the next time round. The other key ingredient in the arts is persistence. As an artist you just have to keep putting yourself out there, and everything else is just a bonus.

Of course there are no right answers to any of the questions I have put out there. Innovation and creativity are a must, but I have to stress that is also important to never shift away from your artistic integrity – and don’t be tempted ask audiences what they want, instead give them what you’ve got!