Ticketing

A theatre in Plymouth says a year of allowing audiences to decide how much they pay for performances has made its productions more accessible.

Barbican Theatre's Pay What You Decide (PWYD) scheme offers audiences the opportunity to pay whatever they feel an event is worth, even if that is nothing, and was implemented across 52 shows in the 2021/22 financial year.

According to the theatre’s Impact Report, 3,103 PWYD tickets were issued during 2021/22, generating an income of £17,224, resulting in an average yield of £9.

The theatre says 61% of its new audience was made up of under 35s non-arts attendees, with more than 25% of customers stating that the scheme was the reason they booked.

Marketing & Communications Manager Jo Cann said feedback from audiences had been “incredible,” with the scheme “making a huge difference to who can attend and benefit from the experience of culture and live events”.

“We have spent a great deal of time making sure the language used to communicate how Pay What You Decide works is both accessible and transparent and it’s genuinely so great to see how this has really worked for us and our audiences.” 

A new museum and gallery membership scheme in Tyne and Wear has launched as part of efforts to attract people "back to culture".

Local museums and galleries in the area say they have been struggling to return to pre-pandemic visitor levels after a drop in numbers of up to 50% at some venues. The new scheme covers 10 galleries and museums run by Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums. 

The venues offer free entry, but admission is charged for special major exhibitions. Under the new tiered membership scheme, visitors can purchase an annual membership that includes free entry to ticketed exhibitions, invitations to special events and priority booking.

Membership fees will be used to fund the running costs of venues including Laing Art Gallery, Hatton Gallery and Discovery Art Museum, Shipley Art Gallery and South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, as well as two Roman forts and a steam railway.

Performing arts and entertainment union Equity says the Edinburgh Fringe should compensate performers over the absence of the official app at this year’s event.

The Edinburgh Fringe app is widely considered to be vital for generating ticket sales. Earlier this month, an open letter from the Live Comedy Association, signed by over 1,600 performers, promoters and venues, condemned the Fringe Society for a lack of transparency over it's decision to withdraw the app.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society CEO Shona McCarthy has since apologised, adding “we really should have better communicated that the app would be one of the casualties of our financial constraints this year”.

Equity has acknowledged the Fringe’s apology but says partial refunds should be given to those who registered for the event before the announcement the app would be unavailable.

“This would be an important goodwill gesture and help repair the damaged relationship with performers at this year’s Fringe,” said Equity’s Organiser for Comedians Rob Lugg.
 
“The removal of the Fringe app could impact ticket sales as well as accessibility for disabled audience members. 

“This is concerning as two years of Covid restrictions have hit our members hard, and with an out of control cost-of-living crisis, the biggest threat to the future of the Edinburgh Fringe is performers deciding that they cannot afford to take part.”

A spokesperson for West End play Cock says “dynamic pricing” caused tickets to be priced at up to £400.

The show came under fire earlier this week after tickets were priced as high as £400, plus a £60 booking fee, on the production’s official booking system.

With the show’s 13-week run set to end on 4 June, a spokesperson for producers Elliot & Harper said “the remaining premium ticket sales are based on supply and demand”.

They also confirmed 15% of all tickets had been sold at £20, with a daily lottery offering £20 tickets at every performance.

Cock is being staged at the Ambassadors Theatre, one of the smallest venues in the West End.

On Wednesday, theatre consultant Carl Woodward noted tickets priced in excess of £300 on Monday were now priced below £200.

Government reforms to prevent ticket sale scams may be insufficient to create lasting change if they are not enforced, an expert says.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is being granted new powers to enforce consumer legislation, including the ability to fine businesses 10% of their global turnover for breaking consumer protection laws.

The CMA is expected to use its new tools to combat touting and fraudulent ticket sales.

But Adam Webb, Campaign Manager at FanFair Alliance, told Access All Areas the government had failed to respond to specific recommendations submitted by the CMA eight months ago. 

Without legislation to tighten rules around secondary ticket sales, the reforms won’t guarantee lasting change, he said.

“Unless there’s a willingness to take enforcement action against rogue companies, the impact of these new powers is likely to be negligible”, he added.

National reporting centre Action Fraud estimates that ticket fraudsters duped 4,982 victims into spending £3.8m in the 2021-2022 financial year – an average loss of £750 per victim. 

Craig Mullish, Detective Chief Inspector for the City of London Police, said reports of ticket scams for festivals and sporting events rose when Covid restrictions lifted last summer and have grown further this year. 
 

Seven Stories, the national centre for children's books, is making entry free for good.

The museum removed admission fees on a trial basis in February and received record visitor numbers - 7,500 in a single week.

Since free entry aligns with its overall engagement strategy, it has decided to keep the model permanently.

CEO Wendy Elliott said attendance at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne site now far exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

"It was fantastic to see so many new visitors enjoying our galleries and events, from our region and further afield.

"Our goal is to put stories at the heart of every childhood, no matter what background or place you grow up in, and in order to do that we need be as accessible as possible to as many children as possible."