House concerts for art

music
Multiple stakeholders, audience development, and
sustainability

Anne Ku
Department of Business and
Management
Webster University in Leiden
The Netherlands
 House concerts for art
music
Definition and distinctions

Motivation

Multiple stakeholders and their goals

Audience development

Sustainability

Conclusion and further research

What is a house concert?
Concert = Live musical performance (foreground
music)

House = private residence

Salon concerts

Hausmusik

Home concerts

Not a house party: music is first, party second

 Art music
Serious music

Classical music

Renaissance to Contemporary

Not folk

Not singer/songwriter (Americana)

 Motivation for house
concerts
Amateur musician wants to play and share;
doesnt mind the costs; no interest in profit-
making

Professional musician: recitals for students,

tryouts, publicity, revenue to cover costs or earn a
profit

Music connoisseur: to support live art music and

musicians

Economist: a laboratory to experiment ideas of

cultural economics
 Private vs public
Private Public
Cost None Rent
Period of use Owner decides Contract
Conduct Informal, intimate Formal, distant
Audience Guest Ticket-holder
Booking Flexibility Rules
Hospitality Tolerance
Ownership Neutral, unknown
Lead time to book Short Long
Volunteers Hired staf
 Multiple stakeholders

Performers
Audience
Suppliers or
solution providers
Sponsors
Collaborators
Advertisers
 Performer (s)
Tryout: active listeners to test readiness of a
performer

Tryout: suitability of a new piece or programme

Experiment with choice of repertoire

Networking for new opportunities

Feedback
 Audience
Listen to live music in an intimate space

Dialogue with the performer

Live music through your body

Get close to the music and the musician

Inspiration

Networking
 Solution providers
Refreshments

Snacks

Baked goods

Catering for meals

Wine

Flowers & gifts

Cleaning

Piano tuning
 Sponsors, collaborators,
advertisers
Get: Publicity, goodwill, benefits-in-kind,
customers

Give: endorsements, products/services, financial

payments, publicity through own network
 Owner, host, producer
Greater freedom if one person

Project management

Hospitality function

Financial responsibility
Audience development

identification, engagement and

retention of audiences, and building
of their commitment to, knowledge of
and appreciation of specific arts
disciplines and art forms.
Canada Council for the Arts
 Audience development:
1. Get people to come to a concert

2. Increase attendance

3. Increase diversity

4. Increase return rate

5. Simplify the efort

6. Target types of listeners

 Other producer goals
Get a critical mass for optimal concert experience

Share classical music in a special way

Expand the listener base (newcomers each time)

Show live examples of recorded music

Hosting as a way of community building

 Sustainability
Ad hoc eforts evolved to established concert
series

Charitable status or for-profit business

Call for musicians

Web sites, mailing lists

Impresario function

Advance bookings
 Tips for concert
producers
Automate or outsource audience development:
standard invitation that sells, bcc e-mails, efficient
reservation/confirmation system

Provide necessary information, details of how to

get there, what to expect, the essentials

Use social media network tools for publicity and

audience development

Charge for entry: pre-pay reservations

 Conclusion:
benefits of house concerts
Producers establish reputation and branding

Performers get new gigs

Listeners get inspiration

Suppliers, sponsors, collaborators, advertisers get

new business

Everyone enlarges own networks

Conclusion: costs & drawbacks

Issues of privacy, interruption, relaxation of house

rules

Host-guest relationship: charging your friends to

come to your house

Organising efort: repeatable process?

 Hypotheses
A house concert is an idea virus: once youve
experienced it you want to share it.

House concerts are efficient way to concertize and

grow your network (and brand).

House concerts are excellent for tryouts.

House concerts are good for experimentation.

House concerts for art music can follow successes of

those for folk singer/songwriters
 Questions
Can private nature of house concerts be retained
when concert series get expanded?

Can the informal environment be preserved when

house concerts grow into a commercial
enterprise?

How do the public side of sponsorship co-exist

with the private aspect of house concerts?

Will making house concerts more visible be a

deterrent to its success? E.g. legal and tax issues.
 Questions continued
House concerts as a necessary part of a
musicians portfolio, to spread the risk of
cancellation and void periods (shorter lead times,
more flexibility of booking and arranging)

Independent rating to increase transparency,

benchmark

How can classical musicians resort to house

concerts the way folk singer/songwriters do?

How can volunteers be managed to keep the costs

down?
 Monument House Concert
Series

Utrecht,
Netherlands
Since 2006