{"id":986,"date":"2013-08-18T05:50:01","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T12:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=986"},"modified":"2013-08-18T05:50:01","modified_gmt":"2013-08-18T12:50:01","slug":"whatever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/08\/whatever\/","title":{"rendered":"Whatever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"where's<\/a>The Washington Post<\/em> reports<\/a> that Forum Theater will not charge an advance price on tickets, but instead will have audience members pay after the show, whatever amount they think is right:<\/p>\n

Michael Dove, Forum\u2019s artistic director, says that he has long been concerned about what it means to be a nonprofit theater \u2014 an enterprise supported to some degree by taxpayers \u2014 that is beyond the financial reach of many consumers. \u201cThe one thing I wanted to take a crack at is how do we make theater accessible to everyone, and get past the idea that it\u2019s only for someone in a certain economic bracket,\u201d he said. …<\/p>\n

Theater companies, like other nonprofit performing arts institutions, are sensitive to perceptions that\u00a0ticket prices\u00a0<\/a>are prohibitive. They create varieties of programs, ranging from pay-your-age offers for young adults, to software-guided pricing that rises and falls according to demand, to mitigate the high cost of theater-going. But few companies are lean enough to turn the occasional practice of pay-what-you-can performances into a routine facet of their business.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story seems to be a bit confused as to what this ticket-pricing strategy is really about (how exactly does dynamic pricing ‘mitigate the high cost of theater-going’?), so let’s try to break it down.<\/p>\n

Producing a play costs money, and the revenue to cover costs has to come from somewhere – donations or ticket sales or ancillary sales. As long as there is a high cost of theatre production, there has to be a high cost of theatre-going, if the company is not to go into bankruptcy – tanstaafl<\/em> and all that. So what does pay-as-you-will ticketing do? It allows the possibility for those with limited means to attend a show more cheaply, or even for free. That’s great, but if the company is to continue producing shows at the same cost, there needs to be a corresponding increase<\/em> in revenue from some other source. I see two possibilities there. One is that donations might increase in response to the policy. The other is that enough audience members will actually pay more<\/em> than what would have been the revenue-maximizing ticket price, when the hat is passed around at the end of the show.<\/p>\n

If a theatre company or museum is to adopt this strategy, it has to have some idea of where the revenue is coming from, one that is not just based upon wishful thinking. I’ve not seen any study (beyond the anecdotal) that the strategy works – if you know of any let me know.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Post reports that Forum Theater will not charge an advance price on tickets, but instead will have audience members pay after the show, whatever amount they think is right: Michael Dove, Forum\u2019s artistic director, says that he has long been concerned about what it means to be a nonprofit theater \u2014 an enterprise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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-986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-issues","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3dIW5-whatever","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":995,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/08\/more-whatever\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":0},"title":"More whatever","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks for the comments on my recent post, Whatever, on pay-what-you-will pricing. Joanna writes: There was the instance in 2007 when the band Radiohead sold their album, In Rainbows, on a pay-what-you-can basis. My understanding is that even this extremely popular band that doesn\u2019t have to do much to get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"we get letters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/postbox-224x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2817,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/02\/can-you-scale-the-house-at-the-movie-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":1},"title":"Can you scale the house at the movie theatre?: Updated (no, you can’t)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"US cinema chain AMC has announced it will start to have differential prices for movie seating: Three pricing tiers will soon be offered. For example, the highest-end \u201cPreferred\u201d tier are in the middle of the theaters and will be priced at a \u201cslight premium\u201d compared to its \u201cStandard\u201d tier, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"At the movies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rose-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2916,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/07\/whats-wrong-with-the-theatre-is-whats-wrong-with-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":2},"title":"What’s Wrong with the Theatre is What’s Wrong With Society","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"July 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In the New York Times, Isaac Butler sounds the alarm for the fate of live theatre in the US: The American theater is on the verge of collapse. ... Regional and nonprofit theaters were in trouble well before 2020 and the force majeure of the pandemic. Most regional and nonprofit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1854,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/03\/arts-organizations-and-the-quest-for-data\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":3},"title":"Arts organizations and the quest for data","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There is an interesting interview from TRG Arts regarding the benefits to arts organizations from hiring someone to manage data. Heather Kitchen, Managing Director of Dallas Theater Center* says: When I began as the chief administrative person at a theater 25 year ago, even a large regional theater did not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"what are the data telling us?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/whirlwind-computer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2103,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/09\/diversity-in-the-arts-where-are-we-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":4},"title":"Diversity in the Arts: Where are we now?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"September 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The people at Createquity have put together a great piece on different ways of thinking about what has surely become the hot discussion topic in the art world: diversity. They reveal the depth and complexity of the issue, and provide many links worth pursuing. A good read. But still... Go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"now we're talking","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BSO.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BSO.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BSO.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BSO.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":776,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/on-special-showings-for-seniors\/","url_meta":{"origin":986,"position":5},"title":"On special showings for seniors","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Freakonomics blog, Daniel Hamermesh reports on pricing at his local cinema in suburban London: Every\u00a0Tuesday they show a recent movie (e.g., Lincoln is showing on\u00a0May 21) and charge only \u00a33 ($4.60). \u00a0Moreover, you get \u201cfree tea, coffee and biscuits!\u201d Such a deal\u2014so how can they make money off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"would you like a cuppa?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Copy_of_ladykill-300x230.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986","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=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}