Magic of Music

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• Classical Music Consumer Segmentation Study (PDF)
• Appendix (PDF)
• Report (PDF)
• Summary (PDF)
• Tabs (PDF)
• Key Findings (early PDF)

We are pleased to share Audience Insight's final report on the Classical Music Consumer Segmentation Study, an analysis of how Americans relate to classical music and their local orchestras. We commissioned the work in partnership with 15 American orchestras as part of the second phase of Magic of Music, a decade-long, $10 million initiative to spark innovative ways of strengthening the relationship between orchestras and their audiences. A summary at the beginning synthesizes a great deal of information. The body of the report describes each of the various data collection efforts. In total, the study included interviews with more than 25,000 adults.

Many of the ideas developed in the study are relevant to arts organizations generally, not just orchestras and other classical music ensembles.

All of the study's findings, protocols and electronic data files are publicly available; archived in electronic format (as SPSS data files) at the University of North Carolina's Odum Institute for Research in Social Science.

About the Study

Orchestras are adrift in a sea of classical music consumers who rarely, if ever, attend live orchestra concerts. With more than 25,000 interviews with potential classical consumers and orchestra ticket buyers in 15 cities, the Classical Music Consumer Segmentation Study offers a sweeping view of an art form in transition and an orchestra field increasingly detached from its potential customers.

The study paints a detailed picture of how consumers fit classical music into their lives — listening to classical radio and recordings in their automobiles and homes, and attending live concerts in churches, schools and traditional concert venues.
Roughly 10 percent to 15 percent of Americans have what might be termed a close or moderately close relationship with classical music, and again as many have weaker ties. Across the 15 study cities, approximately one if four adults are
prospects (i.e., potential orchestra ticket buyers). But only half of those who express the very highest levels of preference for attending classical music concerts actually attend, even infrequently.

In a tactical level, the study produced a long list of ideas for new and refined marketing strategies. Subscription marketing, the study suggests, is an increasingly dysfunctional marketing paradigm that is often at odds with the goal of attracting younger audiences. From a strategic standpoint, increasing attendance — or at least staving off a decline in attendance — may require a loosening of the definitional boundaries around “classical music” and structural changes to the concert experience that recognize the underlying values and benefits that consumers seek from listening to classical music and attending live concerts.

Study Team

Audience Insight LLC
P.O. Box 423, Southport, Conn. 06890
Telephone 203-256-1616
Email: info@audienceinsight.com

Alan S. Brown, Project Director
Steven A. Wolff, Principal
Andrew J. Fish, PhD, Research Director
Mary Beth Fenlaw, Project Manager
Chris Lorway, Analyst
Erik Swenson, Analyst

Audience Insight is the research affiliate of AMS Planning & Research Corp.