A new international study of ticket sales, revenue and audience demographics for the performing arts shows a switch towards younger bookers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘Two Years On’ survey, conducted by TRG Arts and Purple Seven, looked at the sector in North America, the UK and the Republic of Ireland in 2020 and 2021.
Growth was greatest among Generation X and Generation Y in the UK and US respectively, with a dip among those aged 55-75.
In the UK, Baby Boomers – those born between the mid-1940s and mid-1960s – remain the largest generation, but the proportion of bookers has fallen by 3%. The greatest growth since 2019 has been in Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1980.
In the UK in 2021 there was a higher proportion of all ages of bookers under 60, but the average age of bookers was just 1.0 year lower in 2021 (56.4) compared to 2019 (57.4).
Geographically, the South West of England and Northern Ireland performed substantially stronger in 2021 than Wales, Yorkshire and the North East of England. Large presenting theatres in the sample performed substantially better than large producing theatres in 2021.
Jill Robinson, TRG’s chief executive, said: “Before this latest twist in the story of the pandemic, it was clear that demand was very strong in the UK and some regions in the US, which is heartening news for the sector.
“Was this demand coming from new audiences? Yes, in the sense that the majority of bookers were booking for the first time. This is not new behaviour in the post-COVID world: in 2019 and before we would have expected new bookers to be the largest segment for most venues.”
In the US, the Plains and Southeast performed substantially more strongly in 2021 than the East, while music venues recovered better than theatres.
In the US in 2021 there was a higher proportion of all ages of bookers under 50, but the average age of bookers was just 1.3 years lower in 2021 (55.2) compared to 2019 (56.5). Baby Boomers remain the largest generation, but the proportion of bookers has fallen by 3%. The greatest growth since 2019 has been in Generation Y, those born between 1981 and 1996.
While there are small reductions in the proportion of all household income bands over $75,000, the median income band remains $75,000-$99,999 in the US.
The data from 385 organisations (128 in the US, 12 in Canada, 228 in the UK and 17 in the Republic of Ireland) represent a majority of theatres, but there is also a representation of arts centres and orchestras. The COVID-19 Sector Benchmark tracks sales on a daily basis from the box offices of both funded charities and commercial arts organisations.
The full study of ‘Two Years On’ is available for free download here.
David Brownlee, Purple Seven’s managing director, said: “Our analysis shows that there has been some shift in the average demographics of bookers in 2021, but this has been minor. Most bookers on both sides of the Atlantic continue to be over 50 and comparatively wealthy.
“As we see that consumer confidence appears to be returning in 2022, we can hope that we see the strong demand witnessed in the UK repeated in other territories. We will welcome a very high proportion of new bookers to our venues, as we have always done. What we cannot expect is a major shift in demographic to younger and more diverse audiences.”
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