Membership and subscription in the performing arts

Membership schemes in the performing arts emerged in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Surprisingly, there have been relatively few new additions to the literature since Dr Alix Slater first wrote this chapter in 2012. In this revised edition, we discuss the extant literature and its relevance in 2025, as the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on interviews undertaken by Kerrie Fuller with three leading UK arts organisations to find out how arts practitioners are responding to the ‘new world’ in the arts sector. Her findings highlight the tangible and intangible drivers to membership and how these motivations consequently impact the focus of membership. The chapter also explores wider challenges and opportunities within, and in response to, the pandemic. Tammi Murphy brings her own research on the value of digital culture to the conversation and how this might add value to, and potentially impact on, membership. A decade after its first publication, we arrive at a similar conclusion: membership is multi-dimensional and a complex journey for both the customer and organisation. It is reliant on the core artistic offer appealing to audiences and ticket prices. Lapsing is often due to factors beyond the organisation’s control. Gaps remain in the literature to understand members’ changing relationships with arts organisations, particularly as they respond to the COVID-19 world. This leads us to a similar conclusion that longitudinal studies are needed to better understand both similarities and differences between members across organisations, including motivations, triggers, and behavioural segmentation.