Do We Have An Audience Problem?

As competition for attention intensifies, audience behaviour is changing. Many people are still willing to spend significant money on major events, festivals or stadium shows, are they attending smaller gigs across the year? We see a difficult environment for emerging artists, who rely on smaller, regular and more curious live and online audiences to build sustainable careers.

Looking beyond music, the discussion will ask what audience development really means today. How are people discovering new culture? What barriers are emerging talent facing and how can we nurture new audiences? What can music learn from other sectors about building sustainable, diverse and engaged audiences?

The session will explore practical and policy solutions for artists, managers, venues, platforms, policymakers and cultural organisations working to ensure that new music can still break through.