What Venues and Artists Are Looking For in 2023

The results are in!

We surveyed artists and venues in our pilot area to find out what they’re looking for, what they need most, and what’s giving them anxiety going into 2023. See what they told us below — starting with five highlights:

• Biggest headaches: Show makers struggle with software integrations and trying to get audience insights
• Biggest worries: Low audience turnout and lingering COVID-19 issues are causing concern
• Most wanted features: Analytics and sliding scale fees are in-demand for indie show makers
• Top promo channels: Artist/venue websites, email, and Facebook are relied upon more than other digital/social channels
• On the rise: Alternative venues are more familiar and increasingly of interest to artists and presenters

Empty seats and pandemic rebound

While live events are back in favor, audiences at-large haven’t quite returned to pre-pandemic levels. Soft ticket sales and uncertainty about COVID-19 trends remain top of mind for venue operators, promoters, and artists. Low turnout was the biggest concern in our survey, with 80% of respondents citing it as a primary concern, with artist safety (77%) close behind and COVID protocols around audience safety and the risk of a winter COVID surge logging 73%. Other worries for live performance in the new year include rising costs due to inflation (50%), staffing shortages (39%), and the threat of a recession (35%).

Ticketing features: Analytics and sliding scale fees

When asked what features they want most in a ticketing platform, analytics and sliding-scale fees tied for top choice with 65% of respondents for each. Front-of-house management tools, discount codes, and the ability to embed ticket sales into a website were tied for second at 58%; half of respondents want fast payments (50%), and nearly half (46%) value the ability for buyers to add a donation at the point of purchase. CRM features and support for live event streaming each showed up on 30% of respondents’ wish lists.

Getting the word out: Websites, email, and Facebook

Websites and email are still pretty universal as primary vehicles for promoting shows, with 93% of respondents saying they rely on them. Organic Facebook promotion came in close behind at 86%, with organic Instagram posts not far behind at 77%. Paid Facebook and Instagram ads are used by 62% and 50% of our survey participants, respectively. Only 27% of respondents say they use organic Twitter, and none favor paid Twitter posts. Flyers (38%) and physical mail (27%) are still in the mix despite overall trends toward digital promotion, and 7% of respondents had begun using TikTok as a promotional tool.

Co-production and alternative venues are common

70% of respondents identified themselves as co-producers of live events, and the same number say they’ve used alternative venues in the past. Looking ahead, 23% say they’re open to using alternative venues in the future. Among concerns about using alternative venues, the most prevalent concern was parking (65%); other common concerns included ADA access, weather, venue size, ability to attract patrons, and restrooms (all around 50%). Lower ranking concerns included legal compliance (35%) and COVID protocols (30%), with security (25%) and ability to influence ‘the vibe’ (20%) rounding out the slate.

We can haz integrations?

No surprise, most respondents say they use a dedicated web (70%) and email platform (78%) to promote live events. In the email domain, Mailchimp was the clear favorite at 77%, with Constant Contact preferred by 11%. Web tools are more of a mixed bag, with more than a third of respondents favoring WordPress over second-place splitters Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly. 35% of respondents use a Customer Relations Management (CRM) platform; Quickbooks (58%), Microsoft Office (54%), and Google’s G Suite (42%) were the most commonly used software products overall. One out of three respondents said integration between different digital tools was their biggest software frustration, while 27% pointed to manual data entry, audience insights, and training as sore spots.

… So what?

We do surveys like this one to stay on top of what artists and presenters need. We’ll be using results to prioritize the Gobo backlog as 2023 unfolds. The more we listen to you, the better Gobo can be. If you want to share your thoughts on these topics — or something we missed — drop us a line anytime at support@gobo.show.