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Attendance Rates and Ticket Sales

September 27, 2022

With articles from Artnet (July 2022) and The New York Times (August 2022) revealing a continued decline in attendance relative to pre-pandemic levels at US arts and cultural institutions, we want to learn about the state of attendance and subscriptions worldwide. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on overall attendance rates, single ticket and membership/subscription sales, direct mail campaign, and ongoing COVID-19 protocols that may be impacting returning audiences. Highlights from the survey include:

  • The majority of arts organizations' audience attendance rates, subscription/membership numbers, and single ticket sales are all currently below pre-COVID levels. 

  • While most COVID-19 safety protocols are not required anymore (e.g., outdoor masking and negative COVID test), 27% of arts organizations still require indoor masking.

  • Looking at recent direct mail campaigns — specifically for selling tickets — a plurality of arts organizations have higher costs than sales.

  • This year, half of museums and cultural organizations have made changes to membership pricing and one-third of performing arts organizations have made changes to pricing tiers.