Nothing beats the live experience
July 2023
Cultural Participation MonitorWave 9 | Summer 2023
This research is from The Audience Agency's nationwide longitudinal (ongoing) panel survey of changing views about participating in creative and cultural activities through the recent and ongoing crises, and beyond, the Cultural Participation Monitor.
Themes
While attending 'live' cultural events in person is everyone's strong preference, when it comes to alternative modes of engagement, watching from home, either streaming online or on TV, appeals more to all groups than doing so at the cinema, though both options are more popular among younger audiences.
Modes of Engagement
Across all artforms, ages and Audience Spectrum groups, people prefer to consume their arts and culture events live and in-person, followed by home (online/on TV) and then cinema screenings least.
The cost-of-living likely plays a part here, with people feeling like, if they can't be fully immersed in the live events, then they'd rather just watch from home via one of their subscriptions, than pay for a middle-ground experience in the cinema.
A slightly more nuanced picture appears when we break responses down by age:
- People under the age of 45 are significantly more interested in both home and cinema viewings than their older counterparts, especially if the entertainment has a musical component or feels contemporary.
Experiential Preferences
A couple of other interesting points emerged from the data about why, where, how and with whom people like to consume their culture. Age, as we are seeing across all aspects of engagement, plays a very significant role here:
- 59% of those aged 16-24 say that they would rather attend live cultural events with similar aged people, a preferential distinction that steadily declines as age increases.
- Similarly, 41% of those aged 16-24 want to be an active participant in how they interact with culture, which also steadily declines as age increases.
This is especially interesting in the context of younger audiences being far more relaxed about traditionally divisive audience behaviours, as it suggests something of a disconnect between older audiences' perceived desire to attend with a broad range of people, and their lack of tolerance for the changing ways in which that wider cohort wants to be able to participate.
How people perceive themselves and their relationship with creativity doesn't always correlate with how actively engaged they are with formal arts and culture.
- Cultural super engagers, Metroculturals, are the only Audience Spectrum group whose sense that "art and culture is an important part of who I am" is greater than their self-identification as a 'creative person' - although both are strongly held beliefs by this culture-centric segment.
- Experience Seekers, Supported Communities and Kaleidoscope Creativity meanwhile all stand out as particularly agreeing with the statement "I see myself as a creative person", despite the latter two having the lowest engagement levels with traditional culture.
- And Kaleidoscope Creativity in particular stand out as the group most open to and keen for audience participation to be welcomed at an event, which opens up a clear potential pathway through which to access these traditionally low engaged communities.
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Watch nowOther findings from Wave 9 | Summer 2023
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Audiences prefer live events to digital
This report uses data from wave 9 of the Cultural Participation Monitor (CPM) to understand the extent audiences engage with live versus digital events, finding that:
- All audiences prefer live events, followed by at home viewing and then watching at a cinema screening.
- Lower engaged segments are more open to viewing at home and at the cinema compared to higher engaged segments.
- Younger people are more open to all viewing platforms and artforms compared to audiences aged 45 and over.
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Audiences prefer live events, but how much varies by artform
Data from the CPM suggests that the more popular an artform is the more open audiences are to viewing it in different formats other than live. This report presents insights into how the popularity of an artform and the initial audience interest can determine how engaging people find non-live events for a particular artform.
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Audience preferences on venues' values
Social and environmental issues are at the forefront of much news about the cultural sector recently: cancellation of fossil fuel sponsorships; repatriation of museum artefacts and decolonialisation of collections and displays; demonstrations of support for Black Lives Matter; the emphasis on environmental action in Let’s Create and National Portfolio funding, to name but a few topics. But where is the voice of the audience in these discussions?
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Younger audiences prefer more relaxed behavioural codes
Younger people are generally more tolerant of all divisive behaviours at live events, though some activities are universally off-putting (smoking/vaping, talking on the phone), while being 'allowed' to do others (eating, drinking, taking photos) actually makes people of all ages keener to attend.
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Cost-of-Living is hitting lowest engaged groups hardest
Cost-of-living fears still soar above receding Covid concerns as the driving factor behind declining attendance, though less so for settled suburban groups - meanwhile the already least engaged audiences continue to be most affected, compounding the existing inequality gap in cultural consumption.
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Social issues and climate concerns matter to audiences
People (especially younger ones and better off families) say that they care whether venues share their own social and environmental values - particularly when it comes to the Climate Crisis - and that they are more likely to attend if organisations take an active stance on these issues.
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The cost-of-living crisis and audiences’ attendance
The cost-of-living crisis continues to expand and impact individuals in the UK. The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 6.3% in the 12 months up to September 2023 according to the Office for National Statistics. It is affecting many individuals’ daily lives and is having an impact on engagement at cultural and arts events and on organisations’ income, at an already difficult time.
