THE MARKET FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN THE SOUTH: AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Economics has long neglected the performing arts and its struggle to be self‐sufficient. This paper examines briefly one sector of the performing arts, namely the audience. There exist four pertinent factors for a concern with the audience. First, if the arts are a “good thing,” an effort should be made to determine who is deprived of the experience. Second, the characteristics of the audience must be known before an evaluation of ticket pricing and distribution policies can occur. “A third reason for concern with the nature of the audience is associated with the issue of government support. Both the desirability and the political feasibility of government support may depend, at least in part, on the composition of the audience. Fourth, effective marketing policy requires some form of a demand function and this requires some knowledge about the composition of the consumers. From this angle, the producer can package his product for maximizing sales and adequately prepare physical facilities for performances. The relevance between an audience and the performer pertains to a producer and a consumer in the simplest microeconomic terms. We can develop a demand function here, and hopefully find some intermediate point corresponding variables in the supply function. Thus the composition of the audience lies at the disposal of the practical economic tools of the analyst.

Citation

MAY, G. (1979), "THE MARKET FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN THE SOUTH: AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS", Studies in Economics and Finance, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028610