This time the grumbling comes from Boston where the world renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra is experiencing a severe backlash from its patron subscribers regarding their steep ticket price increases. According to an article by Geoff Edgers in the March 10th edition of the Boston Globe the BSO has raised ticket prices by as much as 80% for next year’s season. Subscriber’s reaction has been, to put it mildly, less than enthusiastic with 35 canceling their subscriptions…
Ticket Prices
Ticket Price And Competition
Reader Response: A Student’s view on ticket price
It’s funny how quickly we forget what our lives were like in our younger years. Recently I’ve been criticizing the industry for high ticket prices that exclude many young patrons. Several orchestra administrators have written in to remind me that their orchestras (as do most) offer student rush tickets for around the cost of a movie ticket. Although I did point out in the earlier article that these tickets have restricts and are few in numbers, I forgot how absolutely frustrating and demeaning an experience obtaining those tickets can be…
Reader Response: Talk is cheap, tickets aren’t
I received quite a few responses from orchestra managers challenging my point of view regarding the recent article about orchestra ticket prices . One of which came from Curt Long, the Executive Director for the Dayton Philharmonic…
Talk is cheap, tickets aren’t
Audience development is a big issue in this industry. Attendance is down, younger patrons are harder to attract, and subscription series are getting increasingly difficult to sell. In addition to all of the cultural, social, and marketing issues involved with this problem, I think a widely overlooked area is the cost of single tickets… Kennedy Center Director, Michael Kaiser coined the phrase “rich white guy” when describing today’s stereotypical orchestra patron, and he’s …