The Symphony, Online
Don Hoag - Sudhir Gopal - Andrew Jones - Eungsang Kim - Yi-fan (Eddie) Fang
Major Online Symphony Players
• New York Philharmonic
http://www.newyorkphilharmonic.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
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
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
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
Ticket Ordering, NY Orchestra
• Order form for online ticket purchases
– Most require you to select a concert from a calendar of events
– NY’s is one of the more robust versions
Sample Online Seating Diagrams
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)
Sample Children’s Section, Chicago
• Interactive sites help expand a child’s experience and
understanding of the symphony environment
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)
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
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
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
Pittsburgh as an Example
• Symphonies have 10% of the market share in a
predominantly “blue-collar” community
Source: USAData.com
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