2 years ago, when ChatGPT was had only been released to the public for a few months, I decided to put it to the test. Could it program a whole orchestra season? Even though it was the early days of consumer AI, I was surprised it managed to do it, even with the odd issue. Now, with new models available and 2 years of improvements, I decided to see if it could do any better. 

Venues and arts organisations have made great progress in making their spaces and performances more accessible. But, as an industry, we’re not the best at talking about it. Most of the time, we end up using language that feels more suited to a funding application than something that would resonate with our audience. However, the Royal Ballet and Opera have found a great way to share these stories… by working with influencers.

The whole internet is built around search engines. If we’re being honest, that means it’s built around Google. For years, businesses have adapted and worked hard to be featured higher up Google’s search results. There is now an entire industry devoted to helping you with the joy of Search Engine Optimisation. The thing is, search on the internet as we know it is changing, and it’s something we need to be ready for.

Season launches are everywhere! I’ve already written about the best season launches of 25/26, those leading the way with great marketing, connecting with audiences, and standing out from the crowd. (You can give that a read here)

But even though season launches should be one of the most exciting things an orchestra or arts organisation does each year, many miss the mark and end up with dull, formulaic marketing. Boring montages, not highlighting the experience, forgetting about the audience, and being devoid of emotion. 

So, in this blog, we’re taking a light-hearted look at some of the worst season launches of the year to demonstrate what not to do, and hopefully provoke some change for next year.

It’s that time of year again, season launches are everywhere! They should be one of the most exciting things an orchestra or arts organisation does each year, but often they miss the mark and end up with the dullest marketing. This is something I’ve already written about, and last year, I decided to highlight two orchestras really getting it right.

This year, I’ve decided to shine a light on more organisations getting it right, as well as those still getting it wrong, starting this week with the best season launches of 25/26.

Now, this isn’t about the artistic content of the season. But how they’ve marketed their season launch, connected with audiences, and stood out from the crowd. So, in no particular order, here are some of the best season launches of 25/26.

New figures from RAJAR (Radio Join Audience Research) show the audience figures for Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, and Magic Classical…

Ok ok, the title is kind of clickbait. This blog is actually going to be a deep dive into a piece of work I did with the Leeds International Piano Competition. It’s going to involve some strategy and a fair bit of data, so I needed something to grab your attention and make it interesting. But, before we get into the nerdy stuff that I will love, here are the headlines of what was achieved in 6 months with zero marketing spend.

• 20,003% increase in monthly video views

• 1.5 million video views per month across all socials

• 55.5% increase in total followers

A year after this project, the strategy and the impact of socials saw the Leeds International Piano Competition increase the audience of the competition from 6 million to 10 million.

OK, so there’s all the sexy headlines done. It’s time to break it all down to see how it worked and what other arts organisations could learn from the success.

It’s rare to see orchestras take bold steps to modernise, especially with their branding. But the London Mozart Players have done just that with an amazing rebrand. Just like “Prince” and “Madonna”, they are now a mononym – “Players”.

I’ve written a lot about orchestras and classical music organisations failing to make the most of the digital world and being rubbish at social media. But there is one orchestra that is really leading the way with their amazing social media channels. It may not have the biggest budget, a large-scale media team, or a world-dominating brand, but it has low-key been consistently putting out THE BEST social media content in the industry…

I regularly get adverts from orchestras and other classical media accounts when I go on social media. Over the last year, I’ve been bombarded by a new trend. A type of advert that is truly, astonishingly terrible.

I’m not talking about something complex where the strategy behind the advert isn’t working. I’m talking about bad adverts that create broken posts that would never be clicked on. They are as effective as the orchestra setting its marketing budget on fire. These, are terrible Instagram story adverts.

Now, Instagram stories are a great way to engage with your existing audience, connect to new people, and push events as they have the feature to include a link. But to be effective, these need to be engaging, interesting, and bespoke. As people consume Instagram adverts at speed, they also need to hook people’s attention. The adverts I’m talking about are far from this. Take a look…

I’ve had my eye on the Philharmonia’s Virtual Reality projects for a while now. Starting back in 2014, these immersive installations allow for audiences to turn up, put on a headset, and be transported inside an orchestra. These installations have been round the world, reaching 30,000 people at events ranging from the Rio Olympics, to SXSW, to WIRED Japan.

So, back in September, the Philharmonia had a new installation at the Southbank Centre featuring a new 360 video for their Nordic Soundscapes series, I thought it was about time to go and experience it and see what all the fuss is about.

I’ll confess, despite this being digital, innovative, and all about bringing in new audiences, I’ve always been a sceptic. VR headsets are expensive, creating bespoke software is complicated, and you’re asking people to leave their house and come to you instead of meeting them where they are. Surely it would be better to focus on creating digital content that gets to people’s phones?

Well, the good news is… I was wrong.

For a long time, X/Twitter has been a vital part of arts organisations’ marketing and social media strategies. What made early Twitter great, made it the perfect place for “event” based organisations. Instant, heavily focussed on news, updates, connecting organisations and customers, and interacting about shared experiences, it provided something unique that Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube could not.

X/Twitter also become something of cultural significance that other social media channels could only dream of. During the 2010s, there was a trend for news channels just to read out people’s tweets on air and claim them as news (see the 2016 USA election for the epitome of this). Even if you weren’t on X/Twitter, you knew that it was important.

Update 4/10/24 - BBC Radio 3’s Instagram is now back - but it’s still not being used: https://www.instagram.com/bbcradio3/

BBC Radio 3 isn’t exactly famous for being at the cutting edge of social media. However, under the radar this month, BBC Radio 3 has deleted its Instagram account entirely… and it’s more confusing than you think. 

Despite starting Instagram early, it had stopped using its account in 2014. Then, as the world went online during the COVID pandemic in 2020, Radio 3 deleted all their previous posts and replaced them with a single message saying:

"We're not updating our Instagram account at the moment but please join us on Twitter and Facebook - just search for 'BBC Radio 3'".

Season launches should be one of the most interesting announcements an orchestra makes each year. I’ve long been fascinated by why orchestras haven’t made the most of this opportunity and how they could do it better (Season launches are boring… but they don’t have to be)

This year there have been two that have stood out as something special amongst the mass copy-pasting of “we are delighted to announce our 24/25 season”.

So, this year I thought I would do something a little different and celebrate the good, while doing a mini breakdown of what makes them special.

I’ve recently been rewatching “Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League”. I was struck by just how many similarities there were to the world of orchestras. Both facing the challenges of live attendance, unlocking the true value of their product, and bringing about change in a world where the core fans don’t want it.

I was at a conference this year and heard an industry leader say something at the end of a talk on the future of classical music that is my number one pet peeve.

“Of course, digital will never replace live concerts”

I’ve heard countless variations of this, all said in a self-congratulatory tone as some incredibly profound point that pats us all on the back for doing something special. A mic drop moment to rapturous applause. And yet, it is totally reductive.

There’s a problem in the classical music industry. One that impacts organisations’ strategies, output, and how they connect to audiences. It affects all, regardless of their size or location, and yet it’s something that is rarely spoken of. This problem is digital illiteracy in arts leaders.

If we’re being honest, when it comes to marketing in the classical music industry we all look and sound the same. Whether it’s the same copy-and-paste “delighted to announce” text, unimaginative event posters, or slide show season announcement videos, very little differentiates us from each other.

I was once working with an orchestra on a big digital project and as part of it, we managed to arrange for a bit of a rebrand at no extra cost. The orchestra had made a strong commitment to accessibility, and the designers pointed out that the existing brand colours were not accessible and could be improved easily. However, the orchestra decided not to change them because they had previously spent money on a focus group to choose the old colours.

Despite being presented with a better option at zero extra cost that helped them achieve their goals, they refused to change and stuck with their bad decision. Why? One answer is the “Sunk Cost Fallacy”.

Taylor Swift is a cultural phenomenon. Whether it’s her plane journey to the Superbowl overshadowing the game itself, or the economic impact of her Eras Tour on cities being so significant that she’s mentioned as a specific factor in a recent Fed report in the U.S.A, she is impossible to miss. But where did all this incredible attention from fans, audiences, and pretty much everyone come from?