Home Page

2025 Arts Revenue Trending Down Even As Attendance Trending Up

September 9, 2025

by:

Joe Patti

SMU DataArts released their National Trends study for 2025 in the last couple weeks. At first there is a brief flicker of optimism when you read that earned and contributed revenue is returning to pre-pandemic patterns until you realize that refers to the ratio of earned to contributed revenue. Overall revenue has fallen below pre-pandemic levels.

Expenses are lower too, but that is due to reduction in personnel expenses. There was some good news for artists in that payments to them didn’t drop as much as overall personnel expenses. But unfortunately that seems to indicate organization staffing got cut back quite a lot. Indeed, SMU DataArts noted staff counts have dropped to their lowest point in six years.

On the other hand, attendance is growing even as programming is being cut back.

Our data shows a continued downward trend in the average number of distinct programs per organization, from 150 in 2023 to 83 in 2024. These findings indicate that arts organizations may be making strategic reductions to their programming while focusing efforts on attracting and retaining more attendees for each program.

Source

It is somewhat encouraging to think that arts organizations are starting to do a better job of marketing and retaining audiences. There is some hope that some arts organizations may have a strategy that will enable their recovery. I would be interested to learn what steps organizations had taken to achieve that. I would be just as interested to learn that audiences are so eager to participate in these offerings, the arts organizations didn’t have to make much effort. (I am sure that is true in some communities, but unlikely true in general.)

My preference would be to stop reading on that page because the last section of the summary shows more organizations are running deficits or have an ever shrinking gap between revenue and expenses as well as dwindling reserves with which to cover deficits.

Finance, Fundraising, State of the Arts

No Comments

Being Clear About Who It Is For

September 8, 2025

by:

Joe Patti

Seth Godin recently made a post on the question of “Who Is It For?” as a measure of the success of an endeavor. He says that while the concept of “maximizing shareholder value” is often cited, he has never met anyone who has adhered to this precept long term before finding it an empty measure.

I am a little skeptical that he is naive enough to think there are plenty of people who are completely comfortable employing that as a central operating philosophy.

He cites the example of a doctor who is focused on meeting patient needs and managers who reward employees for good customer service as instances when investing extra time is expensive short term, but can result in long term successes.

Godin goes on to detail a familiar debate in the arts world–the question of whether to produce works that engage the interest of visual and performing artists or works that will garner commercial success. He uses the example of visual artists and symphony musicians wanting to do challenging work which hones their craft and follow a creative path and the “audience is just one way to achieve that.”

He contrasts that with”

Others are eager to play crowd-pleasing programs, discovering that audience success rewards them even more than their own definition of artistry.

Source

He doesn’t make judgments about which is the better approach. Rather he says that often the stated values can conflict with the values that are actually practiced which can create confusion and inhibit the effectiveness of the organization. (My emphasis)

The conflict, in any organization, is a challenge. We’d like our team members to use their best judgment, to find the satisfaction they seek in their work. But what happens when these definitions of success don’t align?

Too often, management simply conceals what they really seek, or lies about it. If “employees are our most important asset” then why not act that way?

Let’s be clear about who it’s for and what it’s for. It makes decision making more productive and communication and measurement far more effective.

Source

Audience Relations, Leadership, Management Philosophy, Marketing/PR, Working In The Arts

No Comments

What Will Transit Cuts Mean For Philly Theater Audiences

September 3, 2025

by:

Joe Patti

Funding cuts for Philadelphia’s transit system known as SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) is causing a lot of concern around that city. SEPTA runs both trains and buses. I have seen a lot of concern expressed by parents and schools about how students are going to be able to get to school.

I also recently saw an article discussing concerns theaters in the city have about how the cuts may impact attendance at performances. A survey by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance revealed a number of attendees either drove or took public transportation. Difficulty parking was identified as a major barrier to attendance and now there is a concern that lack of public transportation may become an issue as well.

As the technical report shared by the Alliance shows, 58% of people in the region drove to the theater venues, while 22% take public transportation, and 20% walk. The Philadelphia-only numbers are a little different — 39% of the city’s theater audiences drove to performances, a comparable 30% took public transit, and 32% walked.

The surveyed audience skews older: Most respondents were between 58 and 77, while only 7% of audience survey respondents and 11% of public opinion respondents fell into the Gen Z (18-25) bracket. Gen Z respondents named cost and the lack of transportation are the two biggest barriers to their participation.

Source

The article notes that most respondents were white, a small number were Black. Latine and Asian participation in the survey was nearly non-existent.

I wanted to point out that while transit cuts potentially impacting 30% of audiences living in Philadelphia, the fact that 32% of people walk to performances says something about the walkability of the city and the distribution of theaters relatively close to residential areas.

Arts Facilities, Audience Relations

No Comments

Not Easy To Provide Cultural Experiences To A Nation’s 18 Year Olds

September 2, 2025

by:

Joe Patti

Via a LinkedIn post by Rainer Glaap, I was disappointed to learn that Germany’s KluturPass program is being discontinued. (In German but most browsers can translate pretty well.) The program provided passes to 18 year olds that could be used to attend theater performances, cinema, purchase books, etc. The hope post-pandemic was to get young people out participating in cultural activities while also boosting the cash flow to cultural industries.

A number of European countries created similar programs which I have written about over the last five years or so.

The KulturPass program has been criticized for being a poor use of funds and has had funding cut a few times. Recently it was apparently determined the government doesn’t have the authority to fund the program.

The reason for this is an assessment by the Federal Court of Auditors, according to which the federal government lacks constitutional authority to finance the project. Based on this assessment, the non-partisan Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer, sees little chance for the culture pass. “From now on, we will intensify other projects to promote culture for young people,” Weimer said.

Source

According to another piece on the Politik & Kultur site to which Rainer linked, the implementation of the program was a little rough due to some young people not having the required Internet access and difficultly communicating the availability of the program due to privacy laws.

In a post Rainer made in 2023, he noted there were some pretty big hurdles to using the pass to purchase theater tickets. Apparently you could only use the pass through a central ticketing platform rather than reserving tickets directly with the theater. From what I understand, book stores had some of the best sales volume through the use of the app. It also sounds like a person would get a voucher rather than actual tickets.

Rainer wrote:

“However, anyone unfamiliar with the intricacies of booking may initially struggle to find the right price category and discount, both at Eventim and in the theater’s online shop..”

Source

The writers at Politik & Kultur suggest that the program should be provided more time to work out the kinks and a commitment to more consistent support. They note that the parallel program in France started in 2021 and reaches 60% of 18 year olds (KulturPass got off the ground in 2023)

Arts in an Age of Technology, Audience Relations, Building Public Will For Arts And Culture, Government Relations

No Comments