The Symphony, Online

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The Symphony, Online

• Don Hoag - Sudhir Gopal - Andrew Jones - Eungsang
  Kim - Yi-fan (Eddie) Fang

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Major Online Symphony Players

• New York Philharmonic http//www.newyorkphilharmon
  ic.org/
• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• http//www.bso.org
• Cleveland Orchestra http//www.clevelandorch.com
• Sydney Symphony Orchestra http//www.symphony.org.
  au
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra
• http//www.dallassymphony.com

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Notable Media Quotes

• "Making music is one of our basic needs. It is as
  necessary as food or drink or breath. Making
  music passionate is what matters to me most. And
  with this orchestra the possibilities are
  limitless. The San Francisco Symphony and I hope
  you'll be with us as we embrace the ultimate
  musical challenge on our journey to the year
  2000."
• - Michael Tilson Thomas, San
  Francisco Symphony
• "Today marks a milestone for a new millennium of
  symphonic music and audiences worldwide.
  DallasSymphony.com will feature the highest level
  of interactivity and a wide range of symphonic
  content." "This project establishes the Dallas
  Symphony Orchestra as a leader in using the
  excitement and immediacy of the Internet to reach
  new audiences and expand our education
  activities."
• - Eugene Bonelli, Dallas Symphony Association

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Who are the customers?

• Individuals interested in classical, cultural
  music
• White-collar men and women
• Typical profiles are professionals who are web
  literate
• Students
• College and High School students that frequently
  surf the web
• Senior citizens
• Schools as a group, or any type of group
  organization
• Current and prospective donors

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Value Added Services (Basic)

• General info
• Schedule, seating charts, ticketing/price info,
  news (example slides follows)
• Conductor and musician biographies, symphony
  history
• Online ticket purchasing and donation
  applications
• Links to Ticketmaster online
• Proprietary software to order tickets or donate
  online
• Email, newsletter clubs
• Symphonies send email and newsletters to their
  members to keep them updated of schedules and new
  information
• Volunteer groups
• News about current activities or signups for new
  members
• Creating virtual communities with the volunteers
• Links to other cultural info

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Ticket Ordering, NY Orchestra

• Order form for online ticket purchases
• Most require you to select a concert from a
  calendar of events
• NYs is one of the more robust versions

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Sample Online Seating Diagrams
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Value Added Services (Advanced)

• Child education programs (example slide follows)
• Programs that involve children in the symphony by
  providing specialized games and web sites
• Working with educators by providing information
  tools and assistance in music education
• Merchandise/Souvenir online stores
• Virtual tours of Symphony Halls
• Uses multimedia to convey greater detail of the
  halls
• Perpetuate online booking (ex. Baltimore, Czech,
  Boston)

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Sample Childrens Section, Chicago

• Interactive sites help expand a childs
  experience and understanding of the symphony
  environment

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Value Added Services (Advanced, cont.)

• Online information for types of orchestral
  competitions (Dallas)
• Online games, trivia
• Online audio interviews with concert master
  (Australia, San Francisco)
• Application forms for auditions (Boston, Oregon)
• Screenshots of stage views from possible seating
  locations (Dallas)
• Live and recorded Webcast streaming audio and
  video (Dallas)

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Attracting Customers

• Swapping links with related cultural sites and
  other symphonies
• Corporate sponsors
• Links on corporate donor web sites lead customers
  to non-profit organizations
• Home city link sites
• www.realpittsburgh.com
• www.newyork.com
• Visible links on other commercial and
  noncommercial sites
• Brand Name of renowned symphonies
• Recognized symphonies use their name to attract
  customer traffic (Boston Pops)
• Well-known conductors and artists

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Attracting Customers (cont.)

• Links from Foundations
• Popular support foundations that donate funds
  link to the web site (Heinz Foundation)
• Current member email lists
• Members can email their friends the web page of
  their favorite symphony
• Members can also sign up their friends for
  newsletters
• Online live performances
• Public service announcements on radio, TV,
  newspapers
• Word-of-mouth

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Getting Repeat Customers

• Established methods seem underutilized
• Web site used as more of a marketing,
  informational tool than a revenue generator
• Common practices include
• Bulletin board (Baltimore)
• Creating a sense of community among participants
• E-mails
• Notification of relevant information
• Varying online programs, information over time
• Constantly updating web page information
• Student representatives
• Students act as symphony ambassadors to the
  campus community

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Pittsburgh as an Example

• Symphonies have 10 of the market share in a
  predominantly blue-collar community

Source USAData.com
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Recommendations

• Partnering with High-Tech firms
• These firms provide e-commerce strategy,
  expertise, and project management
• Creating Cutting-Edge applications
• Webcasting, video-streaming
• Utilizing database of registration information to
  personalize marketing
• Versioning web pages based on membership levels,
  demographics and interests
• Using the Internet to reach, build, and educate
  future audiences for symphonic music.
• Linda Hart, Chairman, Dallas Symphony Association