audience development

Simon O’Hea from member group The Renaissance Choir explains how he set up Music in Portsmouth (MiP), a local classical music news and listings website designed to help connect music groups and to increase interest in regional events and music group.

You may not necessarily have the time or knowledge that Simon had to set up a resource like this but someone in your group might do. If you haven’t already, ask your members about their skills and interests and whether they could help, or might know a web developer. 

Our volunteers have been taking a look at member groups' social media to see how they measure up when it comes to engaging young people. Here are some tips they passed on to us that you might find useful.

Posting on social media can be overwhelming. What to post, when, how often, how much of other people's content should you engage with? A simple tactic to keep you on track is to follow the rule of thirds: promote, share, interact. After all, three is the magic number! 

Your local community is your biggest and best source of new contacts, whether that’s members, audience, sponsors or funders, patrons, volunteers or just general supporters. Many of our most successful groups are those who have a strong engagement with the people living and working in the surrounding area. But how do you build these relationships?

Collaborations between music groups can be hugely beneficial and a lot of fun for everyone involved. They are exciting projects with lots of challenges and opportunities that can take the enjoyment of being in, and running, a music group to the next level.

Sharon Moloney of member group Opal Flutes explains how teaming up with another group gave them an opportunity to experience repertoire that would otherwise be off-limits.

Research by Age UK has confirmed what many of us have long suspected: that cultural engagement is the biggest contributing factor to wellbeing in later life. Member groups often provide just this kind of opportunity for engagement, but may not be aware of the barriers that can prevent people from getting involved.