Recently we’ve been helping clients and colleagues work through their plans for the necessarily hybrid virtual/live seasons that lie ahead. One of the biggest conundrums for everyone is how to fold subscribers into this model without putting the income they represent at risk. Perhaps, though, we are all asking the wrong question. Perhaps the real question is how to create a structure that will bring in that same income, and finally reinvent the subscription model?

Don’t get me wrong. Arts subscribers have much more value than the money they represent. They bring not only loyalty and commitment but also openness to experimentation. Despite our collective grumbling about the conservatism of the ‘subscriber base’, I have found this to be fundamentally misrepresentational. These are often the audience who are most willing to leap into the unknown with you, support your most challenging work, and stick by you even when you haven’t had the best season.

However, the model we’ve developed and clung on to for decades is not going to work in a post-COVID world. Even if we think our programming can return ‘to normal’ in a season or two, our audience base and the way in which they want to interact with us is likely to look fundamentally different. And that includes our most committed subscribers. Older audiences may never feel comfortable sitting shoulder to shoulder with a stranger again. Other audience members may have lost the disposable income they once had or left your city for good during the pandemic. On the flip side, your virtual programming may have reached an audience who have never walked into your venue, and have certainly never considered subscribing to your organization’s in-person offerings. It may have even given you a fan base on the other side of the country or the other side of the world.

My point being: if there was ever a time to rethink your programming and ticketing model, this is it. And if you are looking at making changes, here are three things to consider:

Is Virtual Programming here to stay?
For many organizations, the next season or two will most likely include some element of virtual delivery of programming, and most companies – after months of offering free digital content – are now turning their attention to how to monetize digital content. A few colleagues we’ve spoken with are modelling a monthly membership model that will allow for access to virtual programming while transitioning members into general admission in-person performances when venues are allowed to reopen. A model inspired by Netflix essentially, that works for both virtual and in-person programming, and may become a model for performing companies now and into the future. After all, as Netflix, Hulu, and a million other content platforms have proven, the concept of subscription is on the way up when detached from the in-person offering.

Should Subscriptions look more like Memberships?
It may also be the case that we find audiences become so accustomed to virtual programming – and we find significant new audiences there – that organizations decide to maintain virtual programming as a supplement to the in-person experience. In addition to a Netflix-style model, are there levels of membership that allow virtual-only or a combination of in-person and virtual programming access? Alternatively, does in-person programming become the premium offering to be priced accordingly?

Can we Help Reduce the Risk in Returning?
The final consideration is how we can go about supporting those audience members who make the decision to return to our venues. For most of our audiences, the notion of an upfront subscription is now too risky – both financially and in terms of personal safety. Rather than trying to fit our audiences back into the old boxes of subscription, CYOs, and packages, we should consider giving them more control over how they interact with us by offering more customizable and flexible ticketing options that they can take up as they become more comfortable about returning to our venues. Hand in hand with this, we should be thinking about how to recognize loyalty over time, and reward our audiences as they start to take the journey with us.

It's always daunting making big changes to models that have become engrained. But, in 2020, we’ve been given the opportunity to disrupt the model and start over, and find models that not only serve our organizations but put the needs of our audiences front and center.

Rani Haywood is a Senior Consultant at Tom O’Connor Consulting Group. TOCG is a New York City-based arts consultancy offering strategy, assessment, executive search, and leadership coaching services to organizations across the US—all with a focus on audiences and revenue outcomes. For over fifteen years Rani has held senior marketing roles at an array of performing arts and cultural organizations in Australia and the United States, including at The Metropolitan Opera, Roundabout Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company.