Student Pulse: Taking Classical Music to a Younger Audience

Classical music audiences in the UK typically reflect a narrow demographic, that is older, white,
and middle-class. This is an audience that has been in decline, largely due to the sector’s
inability to connect with a younger market. For this artform, university students constitute ‘a
prime future market segment’, especially if reached through a medium they are comfortable with,
such as mobile applications (apps). Working collaboratively with the London Symphony
Orchestra (LSO) and the software developer Kodime Ltd., Salford’s research team led on the
creation, testing and rollout of a new ticketing and audience engagement platform called Student
Pulse. This was aimed at generating a new and younger audience for classical music in the UK
and is now used by nine of the UK’s leading classical music orchestras and venues, with nearly
2,500 active users, delivering approximately 11,000 ticket sales, for over 200 concerts annually.
This has directly enhanced the vitality and sustainability of an important cultural form, increased
the economic prosperity of the orchestras and venues, brought in a younger, more ethnically
diverse audience and improved existing business practices, with associated cost and efficiency
savings.

This case study was submitted to REF 2021. For more information and to download the full case study, click here.