by Damian Bazadona | Sep, 2023 | Medium: At the time I was reading the article, over 500 people had commented. And those comments were heavy, descriptive, and passion-filled. Most commenters self-described as theatre patrons and had deeply held perspectives on what they believe was happening in the world of the performing arts. As I read and scrolled, it was like being in a real-time focus group.
3 comments:
I am continually amazed at the wide range of uses for AI. This author was able to conduct market research just by copy, pasting, and setting a task for AI software. Beyond the incredible AI use, this article is interesting because, as a primarily backstage worker, I rarely if ever think about the subscription option for tickets. But it makes sense that avid theater goers are wanting to see a change. Time is becoming more and more valuable, so it is less likely that patrons will commit to seeing an entire season of shows they may not enjoy. (Although this is a risk of theater and part of the experience for some, but I digress.) I find the number one theme regarding dissatisfaction with programming and content to be interesting but understandable, as well as a difficulty audiences will face for a while. Art is often a result of the time we are in and the experiences of the maker, so the struggles we have faced in the past years will be reflected onstage for a long time to come.
I found this article very fascinating. My mother and I have been in northern Michigan for the past four years, away from any significant performing arts besides the institution I was attending. In May, my mother moved back to the Dallas area when I started attending college here. Since my mother got home, she has been attending a show every weekend in the Dallas Arts District. She has been so excited to be around art again. So, it is interesting to see the difference regarding how Covid has impacted people's lives. I can understand how COVID perhaps made people more comfortable viewing art in their homes and how that could discourage people from going out and re-engaging in art like they used to. However, I also think it is important to acknowledge the people who are now more engaged in art than they ever have been because the pandemic is officially over and they are jumping at the chance to engage with art like they used to.
I found it very interesting how AI could be used for qualitative analysis, in this case, analysis of online patron comments. Additionally, I found it interesting how so many of the responses valued risk taking, innovative, and social/cultural works. Especially, since so many theater audiences are the older donating crowd that I would think would prefer the classic “safe” works. Our industry has the chance to make a big change right now. I personally have never subscribed to a theater season's works. Like many other young audience members, I need the flexibility to buy single tickets, and frankly, cannot afford to spend money on shows that do not peak my interest completely. While I believe the subscription model still has a place in summer stock settings where “classic” shows for pretty cheap prices are being produced, unless existing with a lot of audience flexibility, I don’t really see my generation investing in ticket subscriptions. Overall, I’m glad that current ticketing models are being rethought out and marketers are looking at audience opinion.
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