Music
Dynamic pricing, genre mix: concert halls are looking for new ways
According to the chairman of the German Concert Hall Conference, Benedikt Stampa, the large concert halls in Germany are under great pressure to change. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa pool/dpa
The Corona period was a deep turning point for concert halls. Is everything going back to normal now? No, says their spokesman Benedikt Stampa. It’s about more. The houses are under pressure to change.
Get out of the ivory tower, genre mix and dynamic pricing – the big ones According to the chairman of the German Concert Hall Conference, Benedikt Stampa, concert halls in Germany are under great pressure to change. “The houses have gone through a difficult time and have recovered differently from the Corona dent.” But one thing is clear, said Stampa in an interview with the German press agency dpa: “There will be no business like before Corona.”
All large concert halls would have to work on attracting new visitors with new offerings. “Purchasing behavior has changed. Since the Corona period, people tend to stay at home or come very spontaneously. They have forgotten how to go to concerts,” observes Stampa, who, with the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, is the largest German opera house with 2,500 seats directs. Subscription sales in particular are under great pressure. “It’s no longer a sure-fire success.”
The 14 large concert halls in Germany and five others in Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland that are part of the association advise on common strategies. For example, they are thinking about a price structure that focuses more on the middle segment; they are experimenting with prices based on demand and early bird discounts.
Stampa: Marketing demands are increasing
According to Stampa, the houses lost guests during Corona, but also gained new ones. “The demands on marketing are becoming greater. We have to go online more and work hard on acquiring new customers. We want to develop common structures for this.” New audiences don’t just mean young audiences: “We also need to raise a new, older audience: people who have previously listened to less music, but have a lot of free time and a good income. The baby boomers will soon be retiring. They are still musically broad socialized – that’s a great opportunity.”
The core business of the houses with their sophisticated special acoustics remains concerts and operas, emphasizes Stampa. But the temples of the muses would have to open up to new genres, go out more and become the “power plants” of a city. The dancing is going particularly well in the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. It also works on the street, as Stampa observed at the Hamburg choreographer John Neumeier’s autumn festival in the spa town.
A prime example of how new audiences can be attracted is the work of the young chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz. The combination with tourist offerings in the Elbphilharmonie or the traditionally open concept of the Cologne Philharmonic also worked well.
The major concert halls – including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Musikverein Vienna – meet once a year. At the next conference in spring in Zurich, topics such as sustainability in guest performances and the effects of the Ukraine war and the Gaza conflict are on the agenda. Despite all the collaboration, there remains a certain level of competition between the houses: “When it comes to the commitment of artists, there is some secrecy,” says Stampa. “It’s like in football.”