BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
independent arts foundationboomers or bust: addendum 2
Arts industry perceptions and attitudes
Report prepared by Vincent Burke Consultancy Services
for Independent Arts Foundation & Office for the Ageing (SA)
Date: August 2014
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
BOOMERS OR BUST
Older audiences, arts & entertainment
AT A GLANCE SUMMARY
Overall contention: Boomers and older people are more cautious about their spending – not cashed up – their attendance at arts & entertainment events likely to decline
Main focus in arts audience development is on attracting the young – not enough being done to attract new older audiences or retain loyal attenders – despite average earnings for 65+ age group being less than earnings for under 35 age group – it’s a social equity issue
Key findings:
- 13% of current population aged 65+ - will double by 2024 – Boomers constitute 27%
- Big increase in boomers living alone – especially female – high divorce rate
- Most older people stay in own home – less than 10% in aged care – risk of isolation
- Growing reluctance to go out at night – anxiety about driving, public transport
- Overall cost a big factor – ticket prices, add-on costs, transport/parking, eating out
- Decline of groups market also a factor in declining affordability
Government ageing policies focused on “active ageing” and social inclusion – arts attendance a positive antidote to social isolation – need for strong social networks
IAF commissioned extensive household and online research which showed:
- 35% of seniors market (retirees) attending less often – 26% attending more often
- cost singled out by 75% as main reason for decline plus family commitments
- 48% cite additional costs; 33% transport anxiety; 22% going out at night alone
- growing aversion to committing to season subscriptions (72% reluctant)
- social interaction a strong drawcard to attend arts events - only 7% attend alone
- 67% argue for better discounts for seniors who are not on pensions
- whilst many unenthusiastic about attending with a group, 41% had done so
- 58% perceive cost saving as key benefit of group bookings
Overall conclusions of project:
-need to creatively address costs of arts attendance for all older people
-need for more attractive terms and rates for groups of older people
-need to avoid language that patronises older people
-today’s older audience member is tomorrow’s potential arts benefactor
-every empty seat represents lost box office revenue
IAF urges the performing arts industry to consider the data in this report, and to take note of the initiatives being taken elsewhere (US & UK) to attract older people to be regular attenders.
Section 1Introduction
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
1.1The Independent Arts Foundation (IAF) is a non-profit membership organisation, established in 1991. Its role is to support the development of the arts in South Australia, particularly young, emerging artists, writers, actors, performers and musicians. It organises a year-round program of events for its members, using its surplus income to support young artists.
1.2In 2012, the IAF sought to ascertain whether, as supporters of the arts get older, and despite retirement offering more time for cultural enrichment, their attendance declines. It embarked on a major research project – funded by a grant obtained through Office for the Ageing SA - to discern older people’s attitudes and perceptions relating to arts attendance, and to what extent these may have changed with age. The aim of the project is also to develop ways to encourage older people to attend arts and entertainment events regularly by making it easier and more affordable.
1.3IAF’s primary aim is to develop ongoing arts attendances, but this project is also based on widespread recognition that arts participation is one of the activities which enable older people to avoid social isolation. Getting out of the house is vital for the health and wellbeing of people, as they age. This project aims to establish how best to achieve such outcomes.
1.4Whilst IAF had some ideas of how to go about achieving these outcomes, it was determined to test them fully through extensive research, including:
- desk research of how these issues have been addressed elsewhere
- discussion with representatives of arts organisations and promoters
- consumer research
- We have produced a report based on extensive consumer research, which included a proposal to the arts and entertainment industries. We also produced a report comprising desk research of ageing trends in Australia, the impact of ageing on arts attendance and the response to similar trends overseas, notably the USA and UK.
- This report (an addendum to the main report) is based on consultation with the arts industry: commercial and independent theatre producers who present national touring productions and the local arts industry in SA.
- IAF believes older arts consumers need advocacy support in relation to this issue, and seeks to encourage the arts and entertainment industries to pay more attention to the needs and expectations of their older supporters.
- Much of the marketing and audience development by arts organisations is directed at attracting younger people to the arts, and IAF totally supports this. It is indeed one of its own key objectives. However, IAF believes that arts organisations should attach equal importance to retaining the loyalty of those who have supported them over the years in so many ways.
- Vincent Burke Consultancy Services (former marketing executive of Adelaide Festival Centre) was commissioned by IAF to coordinate this project. The services of McGregor Tan Research, SA’s leading market research organisation, were used to conduct the consumer research.
- A Steering Committee was established by IAF to oversee this project, comprising arts advocate Frank Ford AM, Chair of IAF; Greg Mackie OAM, formerly Executive Director, Office for the Ageing, and Deputy Chief Executive, Cultural Development, Department of the Premier and Cabinet; and Tina Turci, a long-time arts administrator, former executive of Country Arts SA and currently a serving board member of IAF.
- Clarification of scope and terms used in this report:
- This project embraces the arts and entertainment, i.e. popular shows and concerts as well as cultural activities.
- In referring to arts participation by older people, IAF refers solely to attendance at arts and entertainment events, and not to participation in arts activities which may constitute a form of therapy.
- The hardest task has been to choose the right terms to describe the target market of this project. Words like old, older, seniors, the aged, the ageing etc are widely used by other organisations and in reports. IAF hopes its consultations will help resolve this dilemma.
- Once the IAF’s main report and proposal has been submitted to the local arts and relevant Government agencies (along with the separate reports recording our research and exploration of related issues), IAF will continue to advocate for the older age group in our audiences and will encourage the arts industry to work together to address the issues we have highlighted.
- The report and its three addenda (consumer research, arts industry perceptions and literature research on trends relating to the arts and ageing) are contained on the IAF website:
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
Section 2Executive Summary
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
An overview
The following pages contain a distillation of data and statistics relating to the arts and entertainment industries, drawing on official reports from national bodies such as the Federal Government and Australia Council for the arts.
We have extracted from several reports the data of direct relevance for the purposes of this project, although it has to be said there has been limited attention to the changing composition of the arts audience, and still less focus on the older age groups within the audience.
Throughout this project, we have noted that the main focus of marketing and promotion for many arts organisations has been directed at attracting young people to attend. IAF has stressed it totally supports this – it is indeed a key objective of the IAF itself to support young and emerging artists – but at the same time IAF stresses the need to attach equal importance to retaining the older arts audience.
This project has been financed by Office for the Ageing SA, because IAF has pitched it as a way to encourage older people to remain socially interactive (vital for their health and wellbeing) by attending arts and entertainment events with other like-minded people. Our pitch to the arts industry is based partly on social equity, but mostly on our belief that attracting older people is vital for the long-term health of the arts and entertainment industries.
This report also contains summaries of the many conversations we had with representatives of the arts and entertainment industries, both nationally and at a local level. We were gratified by the willingness of the people we interviewed to participate in these interviews and by their general reaction to our proposition.
We were especially pleased that, by and large, there was a recognition that arts organisations need to work together on this issue. There was little evidence of any self-focused protective attitudes on their part, and the IAF is very pleased that we received positive encouragement to proceed with this project, along with expressions of support from those we interviewed.
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
Section 3Arts industry data and interviews with representatives of arts and entertainment industries
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BOOMERS OR BUST! PROJECT
3.1The arts industry in Australia
3.1.1According to the ABS, based on a survey conducted in 2009-10, “67% of adult Australians attended the Cinema at least once in the 12 months prior to interview, making Cinema the most popular cultural venue”. This was followed by zoological gardens & aquariums (37%), botanic gardens (35%) and libraries (34%), popular music concerts (30%), art galleries (26%), museums (25%), theatre, musicals, opera & other performing arts (16-17%), dance (10%) and classical music (9%).
3.1.2The data highlights females significantly outnumbering males in attendance at arts events, and there is quite a disparity in terms of attendance patterns according to age.
3.1.3The data also focuses on frequency of attendance. It is noteworthy that nearly half of those who attend theatre performances do so only once a year, with only 12% saying they go five times or more a year. Similar figures emerge for musicals and opera (55% once a year) dance performances (56% once a year) and other performing arts (64% once a year) with only 6% attending five times or more a year. This confirms our general perception that a hard core of attendees buy the bulk of the tickets.
Creative Australia
3.1.4It was timely that the Federal Government published Creative Australia early in 2013, its National Cultural Policy based on widespread consultation for over a year. It dealt with public funding of arts organisations and related issues, principally the role and modus operandi of the Australia Council.
3.1.5There is little of direct relevance to the Boomers or bust project in Creative Australia, save for a number of wide-sweeping comments and observations which are supportive of the underlying purpose of this project.
3.1.6For instance, one of the five “equally important and linked goals” aims to:
….strengthen the capacity of the cultural sector to contribute to national life, community wellbeing and the economy.
3.1.7This comment by the Prime Minister in the Introduction is of interest to us:
The policy…. explicitly aims, as a matter of equity, to make the arts more accessible to all Australians.
3.1.8In its outline of its “vision for Australia’s cultural sector”, the following observations and exhortations are relevant:
Culture is more than the arts, but the arts play a unique and central role in its development and expression.
Creative Australia now recognises the centrality of creativity and culture across the whole of society.
More than ever before in communities all around Australia, people are engaging with arts and culture – making, commissioning and participating in a wide range of activities.
Pursuing this shared vision of fostering artistic excellence, facilitating community engagement and commercial opportunities will be a priority.
3.1.9The framework for this will include “partnership across all levels of government…. under the creation of a National Arts and Culture Accord”.
3.1.10The policy document seeks to define creative expression as follows:
Whether it is through the interactive or recorded media or whether it is through drama, documentaries, comedy, music, dance, design, visual art, writing or traditional cultural practices, society benefits when it is empowered to share stories.
3.1.11Among the many courses of action to implement its policy direction, this document advocates universal arts education in schools throughout Australia and the introduction of similar incentive schemes to those already provided for in sport to encourage young people to have a wide experience of arts activities and opportunities.
3.1.12There is a strong focus on new technologies, such as online delivery, with particular emphasis on the opportunities it provides musicians, bands and musical ensembles to reach audiences. The document lays much emphasis on the economic benefits of the arts and culture to Australia’s health as a society and on its prosperity.
3.1.13Creative Australia asserts that the cultural sector “generates more revenue and employs more people than many other essential industry sectors, including agriculture, electricity and gas”, and that it “adds value to many other important areas from education to manufacturing, tourism and construction”.
3.1.14It illustrates the value consumers attach to the arts by highlighting that in 2009-10, Australian households spent 4% of their income – more than $19 billion – on “arts and cultural goods and services”. The report maintains that the country’s future wealth will hinge on the development of ideas and creativity, and stresses the need to “explore and develop new financing and investment opportunities that reflect the diverse nature of the sector”, and further elaborates this point as follows:
Creative Australia aims to help ensure the cultural sector - incorporating all aspects of arts, heritage and the creative industries – has the skills, resources and resilience to play an active role in Australia’s future.
3.1.15A section of the report is devoted to the need for arts organisations to create a partnership with the private sector with a view to generating more financial support through sponsorship and philanthropy. The report proclaims:
“…. the private sector is an essential source of funds, investment, volunteers, sponsorship and mentors for the cultural sector.”
3.1.16In January 2013, the Federal Labor Government established Creative Partnerships Australia as a new agency to create “a new culture of giving, partnership and investment by bringing donors, business, artists and cultural organisations together”.
3.1.17Whilst it is innovative as a policy document for its embrace of new technologies and its encouragement to arts organisations to capitalise on these recent opportunities, there is limited reference to the consumer benefit from all this. Having outlined the various changes in the role of the Australia Council and in the way it will operate in the future, with “an enhanced focus on artistic excellence” the report states its belief this will “foster an Australian arts and cultural practice demanded and enjoyed by audiences locally and around the world”.
3.1.18A further reference to reaching audiences is made within a section that is primarily devoted to developing career pathways and cultural leadership skills for artists. In describing its forward agenda in this area, the following paragraph appears:
The need to innovate, to remain globally competitive and to reach new audiences will continue to challenge the arts and cultural sector. Responding to these needs will continue to be a priority for the Australian Government. The Government’s policy settings will need to recognise a diverse and technologically enabled sector and audience base.
3.1.19There are other occasional phrases, such as the need for “a coordinated program of funding for arts access, development and national touring”, “the health benefits of arts and culture” and “the public value of cultural investment”. The Executive Summary of this policy document concludes with a brief commitment:
Using the suite of statistical series developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Centre for Culture and Recreation Statistics, the Government will track changes in the economic value of the arts, creative industries and cultural heritage, as well as in participation in the arts. The Centre will also use a range of more qualitative measures, including through new research in measuring the public value of cultural investment.
3.1.20In the body of the report, when discussing the role of the artist, there is a general comparison with the world of sport when referring to the importance of sports fans.
So too with the arts. There is a need to nurture the most able – those with the passion and ability to strive for the highest achievements – while at the same time providing opportunities for those who want to be informed audiences, and for those who wish to dabble or simply enjoy the show.
At the heart of our culture people are reading, writing, drawing, painting, singing, performing, designing, uploading videos and tweeting – expressing what it is to be human through stories, music, pictures and performance.
Artists and creative practitioners and professionals are at the heart of the cultural economy.
3.1.21The report sets out a forward agenda relating to the need to foster a desire for Australian content on TV and other electronic media. It highlights the need for “Australian artists and those who invest in them….. to embrace new technologies, to find ways to communicate with their audiences and to expand Australia’s cultural landscape”. It asserts that it will be critical for the Government to “investigate new measures of support to maximise delivery” more flexibly.
Audiences will drive change and, by doing so, will become more central to the way content is conceived, created, discovered and accessed.
3.1.22The report almost eulogises the potential impact on children as future audiences.