What Venues and Artists Are Looking For in 2024

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 2024. See what they told us below — starting with five highlights:

• Biggest headaches: Too many fragmented tools and too much manual data entry are bogging folks down.
• Biggest worries: Budgets are being squeezed by low audience turnout and rising inflation rates.
• Most wanted features: Better front-of-house management topped this year’s list.
• Top promo channels: Paid Facebook promotion is up year-over-year, while Threads struggles to get traction.

Artists are meeting audiences where they are.

One of the most exciting trends we’ve noticed is artists venturing out to find their audiences in unique and unexpected places. Imagine settling in for a pop-up performance in a cozy living room, or a secret show in an unassuming warehouse space. These alternative venues offer a more intimate and immersive experience, allowing fans to connect with artists on a whole new level. It’s a win-win situation: artists get to showcase their craft in unconventional settings, and fans get to enjoy a one-of-a-kind live performance.

Empty seats and inflation: A tough combo

While live events have definitely rebounded since the pandemic (with many of our clients boasting sold out shows and runs), audiences at-large still aren’t at pre-2020 levels. 73% of respondents told us they’re worried about ticket sales, with 60% mentioning rising costs due to inflation. Concerns about COVID-19 and public health were down to 33% (from 73% the prior year), and angst over staffing shortages was down to 20% (from 39% last year), indicating that event producers feel like they’re moving from pandemic to endemic, if not already there.

Front-of-house management is front-of-mind

The most requested feature this year was front-of-house management, with 60% of respondents flagging it as an important priority. Analytics, sliding scale fees, embedded views, email marketing integration, and fast payments all effectively tied for second, with each requested by 40-46% of event makers. When asked what they were looking for in a front-of-house management experience, a staggering 93.3% of respondents said they were looking to optimize the overall speed of transactions. Patron lookup (80%) and comp or guest management (73%) were next on respondents’ lists.

Facebook and email are still leaders, but other channels are emerging

Websites, email, and Facebook 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%. However, organic social appears to be increasingly less effective, with more respondents turning to paid Facebook (61%, up from 54% year-over-year) and Instagram (73%, up from 46%) to reach their audiences. Also indicating a return to more in-person activity, the number of respondents saying they use flyers nearly doubled over the last year, up to 60% from 34% the previous year.

Alternative venues are common for independent artists

74% of respondents either had already performed or produced at an alternative venue (47%) — or are open to performing or producing at one in the future (27%). ADA access was the number one worry (69%), with unreliable weather, parking, and ability to attract audiences coming in at 37-40% as secondary concerns. Over the last year, we’ve built out support for warehouse, park, house shows and the like. We’ll be sharing some of those details soon. In the meantime, just know that we’re here for artists wherever they want to perform.

They want one tool, not a dozen

According to this year’s respondents, the number one pain point for anyone trying to put on a show is too many tools. 47% of respondents want to juggle fewer platform tools. Manual data entry was the next-worst offender, with 34% of respondents saying it’s a burden. The rest of the world has streamlined tools bespoke to their industry. Why isn’t this true for live events?

… So what’s next?

We’ve made a habit of conducting this survey every year to stay on top of what artists and presenters need most. We’ll be using results to prioritize the Gobo backlog as 2024 unfolds. Stay tuned for announcements directly related to this year’s findings in the coming months. 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.