Introductory description

This module will provide an overview of the theory and practice of audience development for the theatre sector. Over the course of the module we will look at general audience development theory, explore issues of 'audiencing' and the creation of cultural value. We will also look at the relationship between artist and audience, and explore this in a range of relevant contexts incluingcommunity theatre, co-creation and online. We will specifically focus on audience development as a tool in organisational change and in sector development.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1 Introduction to the module and assessments. • Introduction to the module and assessments. • Reading List overview. • The principles of audience development • The history of audience development in the UK • The challenges of selling art experiences as products. • Overview of the arts sector.
Week 2 Audience development as a practice • Overview - what we know about audience development techniques? • Current sector focus. • What is changing • Commonbook briefing
Week 3 Audiencing. • What does it mean to be in an audience • Styles of engagement • Preparation for the Group Presentation.
Week 4 • Identity and belonging. • Who does art belong to? • Diversity in audiences and arts • challenges and opportunities of decolonisation of the sector • Challenges to authentic access
Week 5 Organisational change • Thinking about how real change is made. • Not for the Likes of me – authenticity and audiences. • Building audience relationships. • Key concepts,
Week 6 Reading Week
Week 7 Cultural Value • Thinking about the impact of arts experiences. • The role of arts in communities. • Focus on Creaive People and Places • Module review
Week 8 Assessment: Online audiences • Exploring digital engagement through a range of lenses • Frameworks for planning online engagement. • Exploring access online • Futurecasting
Week 9 Assessment: Group presentations.
Week 10 Audience development in practice • Case study examples. Session co-created with students.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

•  By the end of the module, students will be able to understand a range of concepts of audience development and their application in arts organisations.
•  By the end of the module, students will be able to understand the function and application of practical tools of audience development and processes of strategic development, tactical planning and evaluation.
•  By the end of the module, students will be able to evaluate the nature of arts audiences in the subsidised and commercial theatre sectors and understand the notion o ‘audiencing’ in the context of creation of work.
•  By the end of the module, students will be able to understand the relationships between the needs of the audience, within the framework of an arts organisation, and make critical and informed analysis of principles of organisational change.
•  If in their third-year, students will demonstrate an advanced understanding of their work through the provision of an abstract that encapsulates the key arguments of their commonplace book.

Indicative reading list

Essential
Cashman. Stephen. Thinking BIG!: A guide to strategic marketing planning for arts organisations Arts Marketing Association, 2010. culturehive.co.uk/resources/thinking-big
Hill, Liz. Creative Arts Marketing 3rd Ed Routledge, 2018.
O’Reilly, D and F. Kerrigan, editors, Marketing the Arts: A Fresh Approach Routledge, 2010.
Arts Council England Let’s Create, 2020 www.artscouncil.org.uk/letscreate
Recommended
Online Resources
Audience Finder www.audiencefinder.org
Audience Spectrum www.theaudienceagency.org/audience-spectrum

CultureHive – http://www.culturehive.co.uk
Creative People and Places (https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/creativepeopleandplaces)
Arts Marketing Association (AMA) - https://www.a-m-a.co.uk/
Arts Professional - http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk
The Audience Agency - http://www.theaudienceagency.org
We Shall Not be Removed - https://www.weshallnotberemoved.com/

Arts Marketing
Bernstein, J S. Arts Marketing Insights: The Dynamics of Building and Retaining Performing Arts Audiences. John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Boorsma, M, “A strategic logic for arts marketing: Integrating customer value and artistic objectives”, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2006. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10286630600613333
Griffin, Caroline. This Way Up: a flatpack guide to marketing Arts Marketing Association, 2007 culturehive.co.uk/resources/marketing-planning-3
Kerrigan, F. Arts Marketing Routledge, 2004.
Audience Development
Bollo et al., European Commission final report: study on audience development – how to place audiences at the centre of cultural organisations, Brussels, European Commission, 2017
Hadley, Steven Audience Development and Cultural Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
Kawashima, Nobuko. “Audience development and social inclusion in Britain”, International Journal of Cultural Policy vol12, 2006 doi.org/10.1080/10286630600613309
The Audience Agency. “Creating an audience development plan”, The Audience Agency, 2020. www.theaudienceagency.org/resources/guide-to-audience-development-planning
Walmsley, Ben. Audience Engagement in the Performing Arts: A Critical Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Market Information - General
Active Lives Survey www.artscouncil.org.uk/participating-and-attending/active-lives-survey
Office for National Statistics - www.statistics.gov.uk/
Local Statistics - ONS Local Statistics
The Audience Agency. Segmentation Made Simple. 2021, www.theaudienceagency.org/resources/guide-segmentation-made-simple.
Marketing and Arts Marketing Journals
Arts Marketing (e-journal) Emerald Group Publishing
Journal of Arts Marketing (JAM) published by the Arts Marketing Association (www.a-m-a.co.uk/jam)
Sector publications
Morton Smyth, Maddi. Not for the likes of you: Document A How to reach a broader audience and Document B Success Stories. ACE, 2004. www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/not-for-the-likes-of-you-how-to-reach-a-broader-audience/
Further reading
Access
Fancourt, Daisy and Louise Baxter. "Differential Participation in Community Cultural Activities Amongst Those with Poor Mental Health: Analyses of the UK Taking Part Survey." Social Science & Medicine, vol. 261, 2020, p. 113221, doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113221.

Miller, Andrew. “Freedom’ for the Fit, Worry for Disabled Audiences – Is This What Theatre Wants?” The Stage, 19 Jul. 2021. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/freedom-for-the-fit-worry-for-disabled-audiences--is-this-what-theatre-wants
The Guardian, “'Access Is a Human Right': How Deaf and Disabled People Are Transforming Theatre.” Guardian News and Media, 27 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jan/27/theatre-access-actors-writers-directors-theatres-accessibility.
Torregiani, Anne. “Win-win for disabled arts-lovers and the sector”. Arts Professional in partnership with Audience Agency, 2021.
Audience Research
Coupland, Rishi, and Patricia Riddell. “Applying Neuroscience and Psychology Frameworks to Theatre Audiences.” National Theatre, Apr. 2019. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/sites/default/files/neuroscience-theatre-report-final.pdf.
Hand, Chris “Do arts audiences act like consumers?” Managing Leisure, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1080/13606719.2011.559088
Fancourt, D, C Garnett, C, N Spiro N, West, R and D Müllensiefen. “How do artistic creative activities regulate our emotions? Validation of the emotion regulation strategies for artistic creative activities scale”. ERS-ACA, 2019. journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211362
Mak, H, Coulter, R. and D Fancourt. “Does arts and cultural engagement vary geographically? Evidence from the UK household longitudinal study”. Public Health, 185, 2020, pp.119-126
The Audience Agency and Outdoor Arts UK. Outdoor Arts Audience Report.The Audience Agency, July 2018, www.theaudienceagency.org/asset/1637#:~:text=Outdoor%20Arts%20audiences%20represent%20a,arts%20are%20low%20cultural%20engagers
Wombell, Rebecca Hardy. “How Are Audience Segmentation Models Adapting for the Post-Lockdown Museum World?” MuseumNext, 19 Oct. 2021, www.museumnext.com/article/audience-segmentation-models-postlockdown-museum
Covid recovery
The Audience Agency “Willingness to attend”, The Audience Agency, 2022. www.theaudienceagency.org/evidence/covid-19-cultural-participation-monitor/willingness-to-attend
Mclyntyre, Andrew. "Part 1: We Can Do Digital, Can We Do Strategy." Culture in Lockdown 16 April 2020. www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/culture-in-lockdown-part-1-we-can-do-digital-can-we-do-strategy/.
Nelson, Nesta. "Engaging New Audiences and Building Resilience During a Pandemic." June 2020. Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy, www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/engaging-new-audiences-and-building-resilience-during-a-pandemic/.
Digital
Aebischer, Pascale, and Rachael Nicholas “Digital Theatre Transformation: A Case Study and Digital Toolkit.” University of Exeter, Oct. 2020. ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/123464
Arts Council England, et al. “From Live-to-Digital: Understanding the Impact of Digital Developments in Theatre on Audiences, Production and Distribution.” Arts Council England, Oct. 2016, www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/From_Live_to_Digital_OCT2016.pdf
Dale, B., “New NFTs Will Let Virtual Museum Show Art Across the Metaverse.” The Defiant, 2021 thedefiant.io/museum-metaverse-nfts-interoperability/
The Economist. “National Theatre Reached a Global Audience during Lockdown.” The Economist, 2020, economicsofcreativity.economist.com/for-the-national-theatre-all-the-worlds-a-stage.
Ellie, P. ”Bringing Music to People with Live Streaming – Sailortown Regeneration’s Digital Story.” 2020 Available from: www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/bringing-music-to-people-with-live-streaming-sailortown-regenerations-digital-story/
Ivanova, V. and K Watson. “Future Art Ecosystems: Art x Metaverse. [online]”, Future Art Ecosystems, 2021 p.71. futureartecosystems.org/FAE2_ArtxMetaverse_digital.pdf
Lee, J. and S Lee. “User participation and valuation in digital art platforms: the case of Saatchi Art” Emerald Insight, 2021. www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EJM-12-2016-0788/full/html
Misek, Richard. “What Next For Digital Theatre? – The Pandemic and Beyond.” The Arts and Humanities Contribution to Covid Research and Recovery, 30 Nov. 2021, pandemicandbeyond.exeter.ac.uk/blog/what-next-for-digital-theatre-2
Moffat, K. “A quick guide to social media for the arts” Substrakt, 2021. substrakt.com/journal/a-quick-guide-to-social-media-for-the-arts/
Sutcliffe, C. “Is the metaverse really the new frontier for marketing?” The Drum, 2021. www.thedrum.com/news/2021/05/26/the-metaverse-really-the-new-frontier-marketing
The Audience Agency. “Digital Hybridity” The Audience Agency, 2021, www.theaudienceagency.org/evidence/covid-19-cultural-participation-monitor/digital-hybridity
The Audience Agency. Analysis | Act 2: The Audience Agency has analysed data from Indigo’s Act 2 Survey to understand ‘regular and frequent’ audiences’ reactions to digital cultural content. The Audience Agency, 2021 theaudienceagency.org/evidence/digital/act-two-survey
Watson, K. “How could the metaverse effect the way we operate and support digital practice in museums?” V&A, 2021. www.vam.ac.uk/blog/digital/how-could-the-metaverse-effect-the-way-we-operate-and-support-digital-practice-in-museums
Welch, Kathryn. The Role of Digital Engagement in Place-Based Projects. Creative People and Places, 2019. www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/lockdown-learning-2-the-role-of-digital-engagement-in-place-based-projects/19.
Diversity
Arts Council England (ed) Navigating Difference, Arts Council England, 2006 www.culturehive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Navigating-Difference.pdf
Cameron, Dawn How diverse are we, really? Creative People and Places, 2021. www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/report-how-diverse-are-we-really/
Engagement
Arts Engaged. “Engagement Essentials: Community Engagement is Not Giving Them What We Think They Want.” Arts Engaged, 2021. www.artsengaged.com/engagement-essentials
Walmsley, B “Co-creating theatre: authentic engagement or inter-legitimation?”, Cultural Trends. 22(2), pp.109-118, 2013. doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2013.783176

Subject specific skills

Audience development for theare

Transferable skills

Problem solving Communication (verbal and written) Teamwork and working effectively with others Information literacy (research skills) ICT literacy Citizenship (local and global) Inter-cultural learning and diversity awareness Professionalism Organisational awareness