As the performing arts sector navigates ongoing economic, technological and societal shifts, 2025 promises both challenges and opportunities. Leaders are integrating AI, prioritising sustainability and reimagining audience engagement and accessibility to shape a vibrant new landscape.
We spoke with leading arts professionals to uncover their predictions on how the performing arts are set to evolve
Jenny Thomas
Director of Marketing and Communications
Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)
From advocating post-election to adapting to climate change, the recent APAP|NYC 2025 Conference (hosted by APAP) provided a wide breadth of timely seminars, an ideal opportunity for industry leaders to exchange perspectives and collaborate on ways forward.
Here are 5 takeaways from APAP|NYC on what’s trending in 2025:
1. The ways people experience culture have changed. In the performing arts, we need to let go of what we were and figure out who we are going to be.
“Your job isn’t to get a new generation to love your institution. Your job is to become an institution that a new generation wants to love.” – Seth Godin, Best-selling author and entrepreneur
in “This is Strategy: Make Better Plans. A Conversation with
Seth Godin”
2. As advocates for the performing arts sector, we are leaning into the power we have as an industry and as the creators of the live experience.
“We have got to divide and conquer and when we’re dealing with companies like StubHub and Vivid Seats that are spending millions of dollars in each [US] state to defeat us. We need to band together, not only to share information, not only to sign letters, but also just to show the dramatic difference between those that are taking advantage of the people that come into our venues and all of us who are in this for the right reasons.”
– Stephen Parker, Executive Director, National Independent Venue Association (NIVA)
3. Collaboration and curiosity will become even more important to international exchange.
“It’s critical to keep our curiosity about each other and the world. It’s easy to talk about everything that’s difficult with international exchange. It’s very easy to get scared off and that’s where collaboration is key. There are people who know how to do that work and if you just rule it out because it seems hard, I don’t know that we’re doing ourselves any favours.”
– Adrienne Petrillo, Senior Programme Director, Regional Grants & International Exchange, New England Foundation for the Arts
4. In addition to looking at our own industry’s carbon footprint, the most important role the arts can play in climate change is as a place to gather community.
“Community is key. Climate change is the topic, but we are also discussing how we can contribute to the community and be relevant. It’s not parallel; it’s directly connected. Literally opening doors for people, not to just pay for tickets and come to see our shows, but in times of crisis. We have facilities, we have these buildings, and they can serve many other purposes. It’s something that we can do right now.” – Sofia Akhmanaeva, Marketing Manager, Carnegie Mellon University, Arts Management & Technology Lab
5. Health, wellbeing and access are becoming normalised within arts organisations. This trend will strengthen our industry as well as increase our relevance and impact.
Several sessions at the APAP|NYC conference explored these interconnected topics, ranging from addressing the urgent need for accessible performing arts spaces to ensuring the wellbeing of performing arts nonprofits. They also examined wellness strategies for staff retention and how to view their work through the lens of public health. Since we all benefit from inclusivity and health, it’s encouraging to see this trend gaining momentum.
To watch select sessions, visit our YouTube channel here:
bit.ly/APAPNYC2025Sessions_YouTube
To learn more about APAP, visit apap365.org/
Robert Baird
President
BAM! Baird Artists Management
Industry predictions for 2025:
Possible entry restrictions for foreign artists from specific countries.
Revised application forms yet again from USCIS.
Increased border scrutiny for all artists entering the
United States.
Even now there are restrictions on entry into the United States if you have visited certain countries recently, and this trend is likely to continue and be expanded under the new administration. As well, bans to entry may be extended to citizens from countries which the United States restricts.
USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), because of legislative changes, is required to adapt its application forms, and these changes are confusing and could cause unnecessary delays in obtaining visas. Normally, USCIS allows a changeover period where both the current and the new forms are accepted, but the last revision has a definite start date and anyone mistakenly using the previous form will have their petition application returned to them. This can only add to the processing times for visas which now run the gamut from two months (P visas sent to Vermont) to ten months (P visas sent to California, and for O visas, seven to ten months). And since the applicant has no control over where the application lands, the need for Premium Processing will affect tour budgets severely.
Finally, although crossing a border is never easy, it is likely to become even more difficult as border officials delve deeper into the backgrounds of foreign artists to determine whether or not there is anything in their travel history that would bar them from entry. O Brave New World!
To work with Robert Baird, visit bairdartists.com/
Aubrey Bergauer
Changing the Narrative
Industry predictions for 2025:
The current subscription model for arts organisations will continue to be tested. The subscription and membership economy are growing globally, now accounting for nearly 20% of all credit card transactions worldwide, yet arts organisations are seeing the opposite: subscription declines leading up to and especially post-pandemic. The institutions that embrace tenants of the modern subscription economy—such as opt-out renewals and a strong onboarding experience—will buck the industry trends and take advantage of the broader global subscription model dominance.
A splintering of audience development strategy. Some organisations will choose to better centre the customer and get serious about what the modern consumer needs and wants when seeking a classical music entertainment experience. Examples include updating the website to be extremely approachable, making ticket purchases and donations as easy and simple as possible (including fewer form fields and excellent mobile experience), and using digital content as a platform for educating audiences rather than mostly selling the next performance. Those organisations will see growth in their audiences. Other organisations will continue to dig in their heels, ignoring these newer essential best practices necessary in 2025, and will market largely the way they have been. Those organisations will continue to see audience attrition.
Traditional “tried and true” funding sources will continue to dry up. Corporate sponsorships in the arts have been on the decline for years and will continue to be increasingly difficult to obtain as corporations invest what’s now their marketing dollars (rather than a philanthropy budget) in channels with larger audiences, such as sports and social media. Similarly, government funding for the arts in the UK, Germany, the US and other countries has seen significant declines since the pandemic years, a trend we’ll see other countries follow. Arts organisations that become laser focused on cultivating and stewarding individual donors—where wealth has grown significantly over these same past few years—will have more success meeting their contributed revenue goals.
To work with Aubrey Bergauer and to discover more about Changing the Narrative, visit aubreybergauer.com
Mark Pemberton OBE
Arts Consultant
Industry predictions for 2025:
Continued real-terms cuts in public subsidy, alongside increased costs.
Increased casualisation of the workforce.
Continued improvement in gender balance.
It’s tough times for the live classical music industry in the UK. A continued freeze in the Treasury’s grant-in-aid for Arts Council England, alongside increases in fixed costs and Employers National Insurance, means the structural deficit inherent in the classical music business model is getting worse. And with talk of further public spending cuts, it’s not surprising the trends for 2025 are predominantly negative.
Arts Council England has the same amount to distribute to its National Portfolio Organisations in the 2023-26 funding round as it had in 2008-11, meaning there has been a real-terms devaluation of 40% in its investment. Alongside this has been comparable cuts to local authorities and the devolved administrations. But costs have risen during the same period, exacerbated by high inflation post-Covid. So arts organisations are facing a gloomy prospect for 2025.
An inevitable consequence will be job losses, with an increasing trend for permanent employees to be replaced by freelancers. This will impact orchestral musicians as well as managers. And pay will also be frozen and even cut. DCMS evidence already shows that culture is the one area of the creative industries that has seen a decline in pay, falling by 4.2% in nominal terms between 2016 and 2021, whilst those for the UK as a whole rose by 11.7%. That trend is going to continue.
But there is one positive we can celebrate. There has been a much-needed improvement in gender balance at leadership and artistic level, with more female CEOs, and female artistic directors and conductors, in our orchestras, opera and ballet companies. This welcome trend looks like it will continue in the coming year.
To work with Mark Pemberton, visit markpemberton.co.uk
Magnus Still
Founder and Lead Project Manager
StillArt Limited
Industry predictions for 2025:
Continued cuts in many places, but some position themselves as benefactors of the arts.
Stable audience numbers.
Job losses for many freelancers.
Raised ticket prices.
Progressive leaders will stand out.
The classical music world in 2025 will continue to be affected by the consequences of post-Covid recovery, ongoing geopolitical tensions and populist politics. Public authorities (cities and regions, but above all states and the EU) took on enormous debt during and after Covid to keep national economies rolling in turbulent times. Now, however, is the time to repay debts, or at least reduce spending. Consequently, many populations have voted for populist parties focused on cutting budgets. While inflation reached decade-high levels for a couple of years,
it has now stabilised.
For the arts sector, these cuts will have far-reaching effects despite the arts’ minimal share of total public budgets. While salaried musicians and administrators will typically keep their jobs, programming is likely to become more populist. Freelancers may face unemployment; vacant positions may remain unfilled and there could be fewer concerts overall. To compensate, many organisations will likely raise ticket prices.
Audience numbers are expected to stabilise as operations have normalised post-Covid. Organisations that have already recovered their audiences should maintain stable attendance. However, many institutions may underinvest in marketing due to budget constraints, potentially limiting their ability to attract
new audiences.
In this challenging climate, cities like Hamburg and Vienna may distinguish themselves as cultural benefactors. Just as during the Covid-19 pandemic, orchestras, concert halls, festivals and other classical music promoters have the opportunity to stand out by continuing to invest in people, innovative programming and audience development.
Just like the Covid year of 2020, 2025 will present an opportunity for brave and visionary leaders in the arts to make a significant impact.
To work with Magnus Still, visit stillart.com
Cath Hume
CEO
Arts Marketing Association (AMA)
The performing arts sector faces a rapidly shifting digital landscape. From ethical dilemmas in social media to the evolving role of AI, organisations must adapt to stay connected with their audiences.
Four key trends are shaping the future of the sector:
The X-odus will continue with more organisations reassessing their social media platforms.
AI upskilling to increase but lack of staff confidence could hold organisations back.
AI use begins to move from solely being about productivity to transformative.
Increase in people-first arts marketing.
Social media shifts:
The growing move away from X and other major social media platforms is a trend to take seriously due to the sector’s heavy reliance on social channels for audience engagement and marketing. More performing arts organisations will stop posting on X for ethical reasons due to the increase in extreme content it promotes. Meta scrapping fact-checkers from Facebook and Instagram in favour of unregulated community notes, and the potential sale of TikTok US, will see organisations grappling with tough decisions between having a presence on certain platforms and their core values.
The transition to new platforms is not without its challenges. Any shift from existing platforms (X aside) will have an impact on audience connections and sales. Bluesky has emerged as a popular alternative for arts, culture and heritage organisations to connect on, but its true test will be whether it can attract and retain a significant audience base. While this migration could fragment audience reach in the short term, it also presents an opportunity for organisations to realign their digital presence with their values and invest more time on comms channels with the best ROI.
AI integration and challenges:
AI’s hold on the zeitgeist is only going to grow. Organisations that develop clear policies and invest in staff AI literacy will be better positioned to reap the benefits of AI for marketing and audience development. Many staff and audience members are still apprehensive about the effects of AI. It’s important that staff are supported to have the technical understanding while also being able to apply critical thinking to their AI use—especially when considering ethics. Limited capacity and low AI literacy is likely to slow this transition so it’s important that a cross-organisation AI policy is in place to provide top-level guidance and safeguards for this work. Cultural leaders need to be taking their whole organisations on this journey and a policy provides top-level guidance and safeguards for this work.
At the Arts Marketing Association, we have created an AI policy template to help support organisations starting out on their AI journeys. There’s a lot of momentum around 2025 being the year of agentic AI for digital marketing, going beyond generative AI such as chat bots and tools, to building workflows run by AI assistants (or agents). The arts organisations who are placing emphasis on AI literacy are the ones who will be best placed to take advantage of this work.
People-first marketing:
The shift toward more people-first marketing fits perfectly with the performing arts’ greatest strength—the human connection of live experiences. As organisations continue to battle more extreme algorithms, the need to share content that is authentic and relatable will increase in importance in order to stand out from AI-generated content. The rising interest in memberships, subscriptions and fan engagement (exemplified by Talor Swift’s Easter egg-filled approach to connecting with her fanbase) shows how audiences want stronger bonds with arts organisations, creating opportunities for more personal, community-focused programming and marketing.
This trend is evident in the strategies of various arts organisations. The Royal Armouries, for example, has made its staff the stars of their TikTok channel, allowing them to authentically participate in viral trends like the Gen-Z takeover. Building on this people-centric approach, Rambert has crafted its community through the Rambert Plus subscription. This initiative offers content that showcases dancers’ stories to a growing fanbase, fostering a relationship strengthened by their commitment to replying to all social media messages.
These trends point to a future where digital innovation and human connection must go hand-in-hand. Getting this relationship right will be challenging but it has the potential to free up staff time to explore more sustainable, people-centred models for the performing arts.
For the link to Arts Marketing Association’s AI Policy Template, visit: culturehive.co.uk/resources/artificial-intelligence-ai-example-ai-policy/
Learn more about the Arts Marketing Association at
a-m-a.co.uk/
Anne Torreggiani
(on behalf of The Audience Agency team)
CEO
The Audience Agency
In 2025 we will be:
Getting up close and personal with audiences.
Making more noise—about climate change, free speech and other pressing issues.
Embracing AI agents while addressing concerns.
Learning how to ride the waves of change.
Better together and take the plunge on
strategic collaboration.
2025 is set to bring further turmoil, accelerating change across the political, technological, social and environmental spheres. This is likely to impact a cultural sector already stretched to breaking point, in a variety of ways.
Close to home, audience trends and behaviours will continue to be increasingly unpredictable and volatile. Our team always advocates a people-centred approach but this year in particular, they say, cultural organisations should increase their efforts to understand their audiences. Collecting more data, using it better and engaging in closer dialogue could make the difference between survival and not.
We also predict that more cultural organisations will step up and take a stronger stance on global crises. Our recent research shows both that audiences are looking to cultural organisations for leadership and that organisations are galvanised to take on that challenge. Expect an increase in creative and provocative responses to climate change, culture wars and concepts of free speech.
The sector will no doubt continue to have robust debates about the value of AI versus human creativity. However, we think smart cultural organisations will make real progress using AI and AI agents to help them do more with less, whether that’s managing information better, micro-targeting their content or facilitating knowledge exchange. Not surprisingly, we also predict that organisations who are good at change will be the ones that thrive. Look out for an explosion of interest in innovation practice, failing better and agile, user-centred change. In a similar vein, we also anticipate that a severe shortage of resources will create the burning platform that finally pushes some organisations into much-discussed but long-delayed strategic collaboration.
This thinking has informed much of our programming this year, with a major emphasis on horizon-scanning, collaboration and people-centred experimentation. First up is the next edition of our peer learning programme “Let’s Get Real” which will push the boundaries in harnessing AI.
To discover more about The Audience Agency, visit theaudienceagency.org/en
Yosaif Cohain
Vice President, Analytics
Capacity Interactive
Trend Prediction 1
AI will be the efficiency differentiator:
AI tools are the new spellcheck or autocomplete times a million and leveraging them will lead to newfound efficiencies and tasks once deemed impossible. Arts administrators must research the best tools for different jobs, upskill to properly utilise them and explore what’s both technologically possible and what’s relevant and necessary for their organisation. This journey will be challenging and rewarding (and AI consultants can help).
Critical to note: as we further adopt AI, we must maintain the artistic integrity of our work and not utilise AI in place of humans or creativity. AI should enhance, not replace.
Trend Prediction 2
AI will steal your site traffic:
As AI shifts the landscape, the way we search will, too. Google already utilises AI Overviews in search results, and more people will use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity as their default search engines. For arts organisations, this will mean:
Less traffic to our websites.
Less information gathering on our websites.
KPI shifts (the same purchasing volumes + fewer information gathering sessions = higher conversion rates).
A need to create website content that ensures AI bots pull accurate information (hours, parking) and lets us win on traditional search results pages.
Trend Prediction 3
Volatility in digital media will keep us on our toes:
Digital media news this year is already extreme, and we expect it to continue as the new Trump administration takes office. The US TikTok ban will drastically impact millions of users, creators and advertisers. Meta’s new policies around fact-checking and political advertising can seismically change the user experience, as well as the ROI advertisers have historically relied upon. Privacy regulations will continue to expand, and organisations will continue to struggle in responding and adhering to them. At a minimum, expect a lot of big “what-if” scenario planning to happen in 2025. Get a good partner to help you set the right strategy.
To discover more about Capacity Interactive, visit capacityinteractive.com
Josh Loar
Senior Consultant and Blue Team Principal (Corporate Social Responsibility)
Charcoalblue
Key insights shaping the performing arts in 2025:
Arts organisations will increasingly focus on providing meaningful access to those with specific accommodation needs:
Organisations are always looking to grow their audiences, and a major area of potential untapped growth is in people with disabilities. Creating accessible venues and events, and widely publicising the access available, is a real strategy for growth that I expect to see more of in 2025. I also expect that more companies will start looking at accessibility as a subject with more nuance and reach than just meeting ADA requirements or just focusing on the needs of wheelchair users. Wheelchair users are important! And ADA (and equivalent regulations outside the US) is important! But neither are the whole story of accessibility.
Concert touring will focus more and more on reducing/eliminating the negative environmental impacts of the practice:
Led by visionary artists like Massive Attack, the industry will continue to explore and eventually standardise new procedures and techniques to allow for concert touring and large festival production without the giant carbon impact that the industry currently generates. Other major artists, like Coldplay and Billie Eilish, are also driving change in this area. This year, we anticipate (and hope!) that festival producers, in particular, will begin the important work of learning how to throw large events in a way that at least doesn’t harm the environment, and instead improves the environments in which they are held.
The trend for flexible, multi-disciplinary venues will continue and increase:
More and more, arts organisations are seeing that trying to serve only one niche market makes them vulnerable to any downturns in either the market they are serving or the particular audience for that market. Diversifying their offerings (for example: a theatre also throwing concert events, a concert hall hosting immersive 4D walk-through experiences, and so on) not only builds more robust audience bases that aren’t as subject to market whims but also fosters exciting collaborations between artists of multiple types, creating events that present a unique offer to audiences. In the age where all of us can stream top-notch content from the comfort of our homes at all times, live event producers need to focus on creating a unique value proposition that gives audiences a real reason to get out of the house—because the events on offer are so uniquely dependent on being live in a room together that no home streaming service can actually compete.
To discover more about Charcoalblue, visit
Bryony Bell
Head of Content, Spektrix
Industry predictions:
The arts sector will need to learn from other industries to offer personalised, streamlined online experiences that keep pace with customer expectations.
With ticket revenue falling short of inflation, it’s more vital than ever to diversify income streams and build relevant, flexible loyalty models to meet the needs of modern audiences.
Arts professionals are stretched and tired. Turnover remains high, and resources, budgets and capacity are tight. New approaches to recruitment, collaborative working and sector networks will be vital to keep the sector moving forward.
Old models aren’t working the way they used to. Revenue is outstripped by rising inflation and living costs, and with teams exhausted by years of change, you might question what solutions remain. Through conversations with 750 diverse and innovative arts organisations who put Spektrix at the heart of audience relationship management, we believe that solutions do exist. But we don’t believe in one magic bullet. It’s no longer possible for a single software solution to meet the unique needs of every arts organisation, nor can one loyalty model serve the diverse lives of both existing and potential audience members.
Audiences want flexibility. But that doesn’t mean they’re not willing to subscribe. From streaming services to soft drinks, businesses are prioritising subscriptions over single sales, building communities of loyal followers. In theatre, memberships and flexible subscriptions—offering early-bird prices without locking in fixed dates—are more attuned to today’s lifestyles than traditional, rigid subscription models. Giving audiences the flexibility to mix, match and choose what matters is likely to be the way forward.
Tap every income stream. When audiences go out, they want to make it memorable. Tailor your offerings to meet varied needs: a quick bite after work, a VIP date night on Saturday or goodie bags for the family matinee. Your CRM and ticketing software become the heartbeat of an integrated network of personalised touchpoints, rewarding donors at the bar and welcoming first timers as they scan their tickets.
A diverse, connected sector. You’re not alone. Tap into the networks and expertise across the sector—webinars, newsletters, podcasts and conferences—whether based around your region, art form or software partner. Together, we can reimagine approaches for a changing world and rethink the core skills needed in your team. Widen your search to seek the curiosity, customer skills or logic from outside the sector. Wave goodbye to the “one-size-fits-all” approach and ensure that both your technology and teams are equipped with the right connections for long-term success.
For resources and advice, visit spektrix.com