Audience development
Developing audiences for the arts embraces a wide range of outcomes – from increasing the frequency of engagement by existing audiences, to attracting first timers and broadening the range of people who attend, engage and participate. This could involve:
- attendance at a theatre, music or dance production,
- readership of a particular publication,
- visitors to an exhibition,
- purchases of the work of a visual artist or craft maker or
- participation in making any form of art.
We see audience development as a planned and targeted management process which involves programming, education and marketing (underpinned by research and evaluation) working together to deliver an organisation’s overall objectives. Although crucial to delivering financial objectives, effective marketing and audience development also ensure that arts organisations continue to be relevant to all the different communities of interest they serve.
Audience Development has the potential to develop the individual audience member’s confidence, knowledge, experience and engagement to meet his or her social, self-development, emotional and spiritual needs1. An audience-focused organisation is a successful organisation, where the relationship between art and audience is dynamic, meaningful and respectful – reaping rewards for the artist, organisation and audience member.
Email Audience Development
- to nurture an audience-focused management culture internally and in Scottish arts organisations
- to co-ordinate the provision of market intelligence
- to support a Scotland-wide network of regional audience development workers and initiatives, in partnership with local authorities and others
- to increase the skills base and marketing resources available arts marketers and organisations
- to maintain a national overview of audience development activity
The Scottish Arts Council published its first-ever long-term audience development strategy (also available in Word in the audiences publications area) in 2004, which outlines how we plan to deliver these aims over time.
On a day to day basis, a key aspect of our work is supporting and monitoring Scottish Arts Council-funded audience development projects being undertaken by individual organisations. We are also involved in keeping organisations up to date on the latest research, audience development tools and successful campaigns
For successful audience development to take place, we believe it's crucial to understand the needs and behaviours of the public. We are also focused on the importance of long term thinking around target audiences, including first time attenders.
We are also investing in professional training programmes to make sure that skilled arts marketers are in post across various arts organisations.
We will also continue to host the annual Scottish Arts Marketers Forum for over 100 delegates each Autumn.
- the launch of an audience development agency for Glasgow - Glasgow Grows Audiences. Working in partnership with Glasgow City Council, the new agency will act as a ’sister’ agency for Edinburgh’s The Audience Business
- support for 'Not for the Likes of You', a pilot initiative focusing on organisational change as a tool to audience development, involving 10 organisations across Scotland and delivered through Glasgow Grows Audiences and The Audience Business
- support for a regional online ticketing service for small, medium and large scale promoters across the Highland and Islands
- providing up-to-date information on existing and potential audiences for the arts in Scotland
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Did you know?
The Booth is a new online ticketing service for the north of Scotland funded by the Scottish Arts Council and developed by HI-Arts. The Booth sells tickets on behalf of event organisers across the region, and promotes theatre performances, gigs, festivals, sporting events, visitor attractions, courses and more. |
Contact Audience development by email
1. Morris Hargreaves McIntyre
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