{"id":1425,"date":"2014-07-21T05:23:02","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T12:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2014-07-21T05:23:02","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T12:23:02","slug":"strategic-pricing-for-the-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/07\/strategic-pricing-for-the-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic pricing for the arts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"for<\/a>I’m pleased to say my book on pricing in the arts has been released – Amazon link here<\/a>, and Routledge link (including for ordering e-inspection copies) here<\/a>. What’s it all about?<\/p>\n

As I do \u00a0on this blog, I have tried to give arts managers, and students of arts management, a systematic way of thinking about setting prices, for museums, performances and festivals, whether commercial, nonprofit, or public sector. There is a substantial academic literature on the subject, but much of it is aimed at the economics profession rather than practitioners. This book is rigorous in its thinking, but keeps the abstract theory to a minimum – no background in economics is needed.<\/p>\n

A large part of the book (and it is not a long book) concerns how best to deal with the fact that of the people who have an interest in attending your show, there is variance in what sort of price they would be willing to pay. What are the means by which you can get those who are willing to pay a high price to actually do so, while also finding a way to get those who will not pay a high price, but would pay something<\/em>, to also attend. And so the book covers discounts for selected groups, two-part pricing, scaling the house, discounts for memberships and subscriptions, and bundling of products. There are also chapters on dynamic pricing, and how nonprofit and public organizations price for mission-related goals.<\/p>\n

I’ve taught pricing to students at Indiana University<\/a> for a number of years now, and the presentation in the book reflects the outcome of my attempts to find how to make the subject informative and interesting. My thanks to them, and to all the readers of this blog who have followed me in trying to \u00a0make sense of these questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m pleased to say my book on pricing in the arts has been released – Amazon link here, and Routledge link (including for ordering e-inspection copies) here. What’s it all about? As I do \u00a0on this blog, I have tried to give arts managers, and students of arts management, a systematic way of thinking about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/my-book.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-mZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2024,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/04\/pricing-for-the-sensible-arts-consumer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":0},"title":"Pricing for the sensible arts consumer","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At flux[x] Tom Whitwell has a very interesting read on pricing, and the psychology behind how we make choices when confronted with varying sets of prices. I highly recommend it. He uses examples ranging from newspaper paywalls, Netflix and phone packages, wine, and experimental evidence regarding beer. In short: \"Prices\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ah to be young again","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/mateus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1885,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/04\/are-nonprofit-arts-organizations-special\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":1},"title":"Are nonprofit arts organizations special?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"April 16, 2015 marked the opening session of a conference held at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, on Advancing the Field(s) of Nonprofit Management: New Structures, New Solutions. I was asked to speak about the arts, specifically about relationships between nonprofit arts organizations and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blood alone moves the wheels of history!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/my-speech.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/when-dynamic-pricing-makes-sense\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":2},"title":"When dynamic pricing makes sense","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Let's move before the raise the parking rate.\" Palmerston North, New Zealand, has the latest in dynamic pricing for parking. From Offsetting Behavior (via Marginal Revolution): The 33-space carpark in the city\u2019s Church Street has been kitted out with solar-powered sensors by local parking technology firm Frogparking that can tell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"use this fern for $2 an hour","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/kiwi.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":377,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/02\/targets-the-cost-of-bread-and-nonprofit-arts-pricing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":3},"title":"Targets, The Cost of Bread, and Nonprofit Arts Pricing","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"My previous post drew lessons for museum pricing from what we observe in the prices set by cable television providers. But how can for-profit pricing be relevant to nonprofit museums, to orchestras and opera? Don\u2019t the nonprofit arts, unlike cable companies, have a mission to be accessible to all patrons,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/02\/targets-the-cost-of-bread-and-nonprofit-arts-pricing\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Focus on the target","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/archersDM1304_468x364-300x233.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":439,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/03\/tips-charities-and-businesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":4},"title":"Tips, Charities and Businesses","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog holds that arts managers can learn interesting things about pricing from non-arts businesses, and today I want to look at pricing of internet content. Preparation and presentation of content is not costless, and has to be financed somehow. It might be financed by the content provider herself, happy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"please give","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tips-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2664,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2021\/05\/do-we-know-how-changing-prices-affects-the-income-diversity-of-audiences\/","url_meta":{"origin":1425,"position":5},"title":"Do we know how changing prices affects the income-diversity of audiences?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In the very first few weeks of Econ 101 students are introduced to the \"demand curve\", relating how changes to the price of a product affect the quantity demanded of the product, all other things held equal. I've spent many years drawing these on blackboards, but they are a lot\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2021\/05\/do-we-know-how-changing-prices-affects-the-income-diversity-of-audiences\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/price.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/price.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/price.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}