The thin end of the wedge

With much change afoot in the arts sector it’s a challenge to know where to begin in highlighting nuggets of information that can be overlooked when you are busy getting on with delivering great art in the turmoil of cuts.

Running a music venue, I’m drawn to the news that the licence exemption for charities playing recorded music is shortly to come to an end (p2). As local authorities slash budgets and bring to an end discretionary rate relief for charities, this will be another blow to the third sector at a time when it is charged with delivering The Big Society agenda.

PPL asserts that the change gives performers and record companies the freedom to choose who they donate a proportion of their earnings to. Perfectly right and proper, but pity the small charity with little visibility which has to compete with big charities and big advertising budgets. In fact, it never ceases to amaze me how many artists coming through our building question why an organisation that delivers 350 concerts and 250 education projects a year is a charity… “But you don’t look after sick children or kittens!”

The PPL’s move is just part of a wider grab-and-run culture running riot in the music sector at the moment in response to the collapse of the record industry. Additional PRS costs look set to be an outcome from a recent consultation to find ways of generating more revenue for composers.

News revealed in the Sunday Times this week
of artists and venues maximising returns from ticket sales on the secondary ticketing market surely adds to the perception of take, take, take.

I’m all for being entrepreneurial as an arts manager: organisations are healthy when they operate in a mixed economy and don’t rely solely on public funding. Indeed, several years ago we deliberated hard about why we should hold back from putting our own tickets on eBay when they were going for up to 5 times the face value we had sold them for. Now we face a regular battle with promoters insisting we hand over a percentage of our tickets for third party resale – guess who’s taking a cut and who’s missing out?

It’s interesting when promoters ask how we manage to sell difficult shows where others struggle. The only explanation is sophisticated marketing enabled on the back of our extensive customer data. Selling tickets isn’t just a simple transaction; it’s the start of a journey with our customers and one where investment in marketing – not just ticketing – is essential. Changing or choosing ticketing systems is far more complicated than it might first appear. As a long-standing campaigner for more choice in ticketing systems available for arts organisations, it’s good to see more innovation and the opportunity to drive down costs for audiences. Now more than ever, we in the arts need to ensure marketing intelligence remains at the heart our organisations and protect our greatest asset – customer data.