social media integration of german orchestras enchoris

7/28/2019 Social Media Integration of German Orchestras Enchoris

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In the past 10 years the web has provided orchestras a

second digital stage to perform on. After the first few

years of rapid technology shifts and user experience

changes the seeds are getting ripe. Now more than ever

smartphones are in everyday use and social media ma-

nagement is a quintessensial part of the marketing stra-

tegies of big corporations.This study portrays orchestra

user profiles and the integration of social media in the

German Orchestra landscape.

German orchestras miss a great opportunity to connect

with audiences by not giving importance to their soci-

al media presence. Social media integration on official

websites is being neglected and the quality of the added

content indicates a lack of direction and scheduling. Most

orchestras are only present on the internet and socialmedia channels as a part of their overhead institution

(theatre, opera house). [Data: 48% on facebook, 74% on twitter

and 67% on youtube ]This prevents orchestras from creating

an attractive online image for themselves and attracting

new audiences.

Only half the professional orchestras in Germany are

present on social media with a profile dedicated to the

orchestra. A clear indicator of the situation is that the

Berliner Philharmonic outperforms the rest of the orches-

tras added together on some social media channels. Even

though it is unfair to compare an orchestra with local im-

pact and limited resources with a well-funded and glo-

bally accepted brand, there is a lot of room for improve-

ment and creativity that is not being taken advantage of.

Most orchestras consist of some very talented and edu-

cated musicians with a unique voice that could make a

difference online.

Putting the orchestra as a living organism on the fore-

front of their social media campaigns in an orchestra-

ted way is a huge step in converting and attracting new

audiences.

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Facebook is the most straighforward social media

channel so its not surprising, that this is the social me-

dia channel most frequently used by the orchestras.

[Data: 88% of the active orchestras are present on facebook]Howe-

ver, many of the orchestras are present on facebook only

through the institution which they are part of. [Data: only

46% of orchestras have a dedicated Facebook page highlighting the or-

chestra]

In many cases the Facebook page of the orchestra is not

handled with care. Some Orchestras are still registered

as a normal individual and do not take advantage of the

artist account facebook offers since 2012. Building an

image that fits the excellence and elegance of an or-

chestra requires equally potent media competence.

The number of fans of the orchestras Facebook pages is

very low. This is even more disappointing, since a sym-

phonic orchestra could grow its Facebook fan number

relatively easily by posting events and taggable photos

from concerts all activity from orchestra members, fans

would attract new fans to the Facebook page. [Data: ave-

rage number of likes for those orchestras which have a Face-

book page specifically for the orchestra, excluding the Berliner

Philharmoniker: 581]

In order to keep the digital audience entertained a

healthy mix of media content and storytelling is nee-

ded. In many cases the posts on Facebook are made wi-

thout care for details or content. An institution like an

orchestra should reflect its mission statement in its pre-

sence online in order to remind people of its valueable

role in society.

The audiences proficiency in social media raises the bar

for orchestras which have to keep up with media com-

petent followers. Keeping a follower base healthy and

growing requires the same level of attention a well re-

hearsed performance does.

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Twitter requires the fastest response time out of all the

social media. The nature of short texts and spontaneous

expression lead to very strong interaction between the

users and provides a platform for declaration of feelings,

emotions and very often hard critisism. A musical perfor-

mance can evoke all kinds of reactions and comments

which inevitably will also be expressed on twitter.

Even though most orchestras are not present on twitter,

the average number of followers are still higher than on

facebook. [Data: average number of twitter followers for those or-

chestras which have a twitter channel specifically for the orchestra, ex-

cluding the Berliner Philharmoniker: 927]The benefits of connec-

ting to the audience on a more personal way are still not

evident for german orchestras and this is visible on the

statistics too. [Data: only 48% of the orchestras active on social me-dia are present on twitter, and this number drops to 13% , when looking

at twitter channels created specifically for the orchestra]

Twitter can serve as an instrument to connect to both the

audience and the community surrounding an orchestra.

It is by far the most accessible way for people to get ac-

quainted with the orchestra, its members and the world

of classical music. At the same time the orchestras have

to be prepared for an open dialog with friends and critics

online.

Twitter is a great channel for orchestras to keep in touch

not only with their audience, but with other orchestras,

soloists, guest conductors, composers... Besides being a

channel to broadcast their news, twitter allows orchestras

to communicate in a simple way and stay interconnected.

Another important benefit is the possibility to follow the

news of their VIP contacts and sponsors and engage with

them on a digital level.

Allowing tweeting during performances - which can

also be disruptive - is just one of the many ways twit-

ter can be used by an orchestra. Giving people a voice

by collecting their comments on a twitterbased guest-

book or building up a more personal connection to the

audience is far more effective.

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Youtube is a social media channel that gives a sympho-

nic orchestra the opportunity to attract attention to its

performances not only from its own geographical area

but from all around the world. Through watching a vi-

deo - despite losing on sound quality - a viewer may get

a unique visual experience. Seeing the instrumentalists

play from so close provides a unique perspective not pos-

sible in a concert. Even though experiencing an orches-

tra performance live is indispensable, opening a digital

window into the concert hall creates an immense effect.

The Berliner Philharmoniker have managed to create the

Symphonic Orchestra 2.0 that is, a symphonic orchest-

ra, which breaks the traditional going to the concert way

of operation. With the introduction of their Digital Con-

cert Hall, they created ticket-buying audiences all aroundthe world. Despite the clear advantage of making the

orchestra visually appealing on a video sharing plat-

form, a big part of the orchestras are neglecting this

possibility. [Data: 72% of the orchestras are present on youtube,

and only 23% have a dedicated youtube channel]

Attracting attention on youtube proves to be really effec-

tive for symphonic orchestras. The number of times an

upload of the Berliner Philharmoniker is watched is on

average almost 40,000 times. On average an orchestra

with a dedicated youtube account excluding the Berli-

ner Philharmoniker has 1500 views per video uploaded.

A simple upload creates a long-lasting, positive effect

thus is probably the most effective way to interact with

the audience on social media.

The biggest advantage of uploading content is the fact

that it opens the orchestral experience to diverse audien-

ces. Production costs are a limitation that can be over-

come with creative ideas and focusing on the human

element of coexisting within an orchestra.An aspect of

online film material that has been overseen is its educa-

tional and inspirational value.

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The rise of smartphones has given even more people ac-

cess to the internet. At the same time this changes the

way especially young people perceive communication.

The subsequent rise of social networks is the first impact

of this transition, the second being that mobile applica-

tions and websites are in steps becoming the main web

presentation format.

Despite Germany being one of the most developed are-

as in the world regarding symphonic orchestra culture,

only 17% of all mobile applications worldwide belong to

german orchestras. There is a lot of ground that has to be

covered in order for orchestras to keep up with the rest of

the music and entertainment industries. Excelling on the

mobile internet stage is crucial so that orchestras can

sustainably preserve and grow their audiences.

Neglecting mobile users translates into excluding the

majority of young people who mainly communicate and

get informed over smartphones. Mobile applications can

serve as a vehicle for audience development, educatio-

nal projects and even be the driver for new sponsoring

models.

After the first years in which Apples iOS dominated the

mobile app landscape due to its iphone device the mar-

ket is becoming more complex. The competition now

includes googles Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberrys

Z10 and Mozillas firefoxOS. In order to keep up in a sus-

tainable way orchestras should focus on the universally

compatible HTML5 apps with responsive design that

operate on all of the aforementioned smartphone ope-

rating systems. Additionally a technology that is increasi-

gly becoming popular in the cultural sector is the use of QR

codes for a variety of advertising and ticketing purposes.

Having a mobile strategy and integrating it with the so-

cial media content management is a necessity for the

future of orchestra audience development. Design thin-

king and user experience analysis are the decisive success

factors. Just like a musician has to focus on what the au-

dience is hearing the mobile applications should be user

friendly and in tune with the users needs.

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Music is arguably the most emotional way to tell a sto-

ry. Melodies and rhythm fuse into what we perceive as a

composition. A musical story is being told with the most

abstract non-verbal narrative. Orchestral music is proba-

bly one of the most complex and still effective forms of

human communication ever developed. Suprisingly or-

chestras are showing no sign of consciousness for the

necessity to tell a good story over their social media

presence that compliments their musical storytelling.

Storytelling is one of the most ancient forms of know-

ledge management and can serve as an important inst-

rument to build a brand awareness. In order to be able

to tell a story online each orchestra has to be aware of

its tradition, its mission statement and the values that

it represents. Equally important is having a project im-plementation plan and a clear overview of the orchestras

goal setting both on an artistic and management level.

This ensures that creating a content strategy that spreads

over the complete social media and internet presence will

indeed reflect and promote the orchestras branding.

Storytelling is by definition all about conveying events

and information in a charming way. Social media pro-

vides the infrastructure for orchestras to share stories,

photos, music, videos and other media formats in order

to attract more people to their concert halls.

A very important aspect of storytelling a lot of orchestras

are embracing is portraying the protagonists of the plot.

Introducing the musicians, the conductor and very often

the people behind the scenes is giving the viewer insight

on the human aspect of music. [Data: 15 of the orchestras ta-

ken into account in the study have a blog]. Being interested in

other peoples stories is part of the human nature and a

way to make the orchestras operation tangible for the

public. Running a blog, especially if the content is well

written, is also a charming way to keep the fans of the

orchestra informed and close to the orchestra.

Creating magazines with orchestra related content can

be a great way for brand building and audience engage-

ment. Providing a digital version of such a magazine and

sharing it online on an ad-hoc basis can be very rewar-

ding. Orchestra magazines can contain interviews with

musicians or guest artists, overviews about tours, historicreflections and tell an interesting story instead of merely

providing the concert schedule. [Orchestras with such publica-

tions and magazines include the following: Berliner Philharmoniker,

Philharmoniker Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Grzenich-Orches-

ter Kln, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig] In the case of orches-

tra magazines, the emphasis should shift from adverti-

sing and infotainment towards a storyline that creates

brand awareness.

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Orchestras consist out of a variety of instrumentalists per-

forming different instruments. Curating content on social

media platforms should be also approached in the same

way a composer carefully assigns melodies to specific in-

struments. Orchestras have to use special channels to

get diverse content to their audiences.

Keeping the audience engaged and close to the orches-

tra requires a media competent content manager. Music,

video, photos, interviews and even sheet music can be

used to attract, entertain and educate the followers over

the various social media streams. Understanding and re-

specting the unique culture, user experience and func-

tions of each social media instrument is fundamental

for every social media campaign.

Creating a sign-up option for newsletters on the website

is a great way for the orchestra to build an email database

of its followers. A logical conclusion is, that an orchestra,

which does not have a newsletter sign-up option on its

website, does also not have an email database of its fans.

Having a sign-up option on the website is only the first

step towards success. Newsletters should be integrated

in the social media channels and contain links that encou-

rage the reader to follow the orchestra on social media.

Creating attractive and timely newsletters with respect

to the audience is probably the most neglected task in

the classical music industry.

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Googles alternative to facebook offers a varietyof new features integrating google services

google+

The concept is based on a digital pinwall on

which photos and notes can be shared

pinterest

A video hosting platform offering a bright variati-

on of videosizes and formats

vimeo

flickrThe worlds biggest photo sharing community

and storing platform

flickr

oopenphot

The open source photo storage alternative focu-

sing on combining apps and storage

openphoto

The largest audio-based social network. Offering

streaming and storage of music

soundcloud

A sheet music exchange and online storing com-

munity with some innovative features

musescore

Along with facebook, twitter and youtube, orchestras

have the following alternatives at their disposal:

A photo sharing network popular for its image

manipulating aesthetic

instagram


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Each social media channel has its own unique frequency

range and outreach. In order to optimally engage the au-

dience a content management and distribution strategy

are necessary. Similar to an orchestral piece, different me-

lodies require different instrumentation and dynamics.

Developing a content strategy and integrating social

media, blogging, apps and websites is a time consu-

ming task.

In the past 5 years especially due to the popularity of

smartphones, the way social media channels resonate

has changed. Most platforms had to radically change

their user interface of even their main functionality in or-

der to keep up with the rapidly changing trends. Adapt-

ing to constant changes in the design of social media

platforms has discouraged a lot of cultural institutionsfrom reinvesting their time and limited resources in re-

designing their campaigns.

Another factor that has to be taken into account is that

an orchestra has to nurture more than one profiles on dif-

ferent platforms. Having at least a facebook, twitter and

youtube account is a precondition to be taken into ac-

count by the social media community. Two problems ari-

se due to the multiple platform situation. One is that the

task of keeping the accounts updated becomes exponen-

tially time consuming and the other is the content ma-

nagement. Posting the same content in multiple channels

creates more noise instead of strengthening the signal. It

is important that content streams are distributed over

the media in the same sense a composition consists of

complementary melodies and rhythmic patterns.

Most orchestras have to face the dilemma of conforming

to the expectations of their existing audience or making

attractive campaigns for young people. The same dyna-

mic is mirrored on the content presented on social media

platforms. Orchestras seem to be having difficulties in

building a bridge between tradition and innovation.

Their social media repertoire is limited and haunted by

this contradiction.

The obvious exception, and an outlier in our data is the

Berliner Philharmoniker. This orchestra is a best practice

example, using all their social media channels in a really

well orchestrated way. The implementation of world-classinnovations, like the Digital Concert Hall in recent years

has also provided the orchestra video material that is not

available to smaller orchestras. At the same time their

brand builds up on highlighting the unique voice 128

musicians have. Even though the financial resources and

branding of the Berliner Philharmoniker are hardly com-

parable to other orchestras, there is a lot to be learned

from their practices. Each orchestra has a unique voice

that should also be recognisible in its social media per-

fomances.

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The german orchestra landscape has suffered budget

cuts, orchestra mergers and even the closing of orchest-

ras in the past 20 years. The worst aspect of this constant

pressure is that this already by nature conservative world,

has become even more risk averse. That leads to a lack

of new concepts and distracts orchestras from innovating

and taking centerstage in the performing industry.

Creative ideas do not necessary require millions of euros

to implement successfully. Lifting the financial constrain

by integrating the musicians and actually listening to the

people performing the music can and will have an impact

on the audience. At the same time copying ideas from the

pop industry with a delay of 5 years isnt the point and

neither fits nor justifies the reasons an orchestra should

exist and be supported.

The educational aspects of what an orchestra has to of-

fer go way beyond providing a musical experience to its

audience. Every performance is a hommage on what is

possible when people collaborate and perform in real

time. In other words an orchestra can and should ins-

pire people to learn to collaborate, tolerate each other

and search for common goals to meaningfully contri-

bute to society. All those aspects seem to be out of fo-

cus for most orchestras which sadly treat social media

and the internet as a digital advertising billboard.

Still there are also some other orchestras, which are im-

plementing creative approaches in their online presence.

Some best practice examples we documented for their

concept or implementation are listed below.

The Grzenich Orchester offers their audience a recording

of the concert that is subsequently available for download

via itunes

http://www.guerzenich-orchester.de/go-live/

The Gewandhaus offers an interesting collection of audio

podcasts

http://www.gewandhaus.de/medien/podcast/

The Bremer Philharmoniker gave their audience the oppor-

tunity to vote for pieces to be performed

http://www.wunschkonzert.bremerphilharmoniker.de/

The Nrnberger Symphony has put a lot of care and emoti-

onal content in their online media library.

http://www.nuernbergersymphoniker.de/docs/

presse_mediathek_fotos.htm

The Komische Oper Berlin offers Behind the Curtain spe-

cial tours for its audience

http://www.komische-oper-berlin.com/schedule/

guided-tour-special--make-up/6/

The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie: Philharmonic open

symphonic music making for amateur musicians

http://www.nwd-philharmonie.de/philharmonic-open/

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Data disclaimer

Infographics

Licence

This work is licensed undera Creative Commons Licence

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Audience development will heavily rely on social me-

dia in the near future. The classical industry will have

to adapt to the rapidly changing entertainment busi-

ness. Understanding the dynamics of social networks,

being adept in their usage and providing rich content

are requirements that have to gradually be met. Building

up a brand as well as providing an interesting storyline

backbone to the posts is essential. Postponing the integ-

ration of classical marketing methods, public relations

strategies and social media is only going to eventually

lead to higher costs for the orchestras.

An important shift that has to be made the way orches-

tras work online is towards design thinking and user ex-

perience optimization. Respecting both the needs of the

user and the requirements of devices like smartphonesand tablets maximizes the accessibility of online content

and information. Additionally, surprising the audience

with creative ideas and the use of new technologies like

augmented reality can attract young people to concerts

and change the image of classical orchestras.

Developing an understanding for online privacy and

promoting fair use of their online content is a necessity

in todays online society. Raising the bar through aware-

ness on critical issues of the digital domain and becoming

a rolemodel for digital citizenship is a responsibility we

would like to see orchestras live up to. Last but not least

orchestras could proactivelly give access to the beauty of

music to the less privileged members of our society.

In an era in which austerity is becoming the main pro-

blem of the cultural sector, orchestras are put under

immense presure to justify their existence. Building a

strong lasting relationship with their audience and the

community, both locally and online, is the best form of

self-defence. Orchestras should embrace social media,

use it consciously with sufficient respect towards the

users of social media platforms and their online culture.

The study is based on data collected and evalu-

ated until January 2013. For more information

and insight on the data please contact:

[email protected]

[email protected]

More infographics can be found online at:

http://infogr.am/Social-Media-Integration-of-

German-Orchestras


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social media integration of german orchestras enchoris

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