The ABC has spoken to a number of arts and ticketing companies who say they have noticed audiences have been buying tickets closer to the concert date.While some venues have introduced membership models to combat this, experts have urged audiences to buy tickets earlier if possible.
"The reason you make a theatre show rather than a film is to be in the room with other people. Then not knowing how many people you actually have in that audience is impossible."Taranto isn't the only one to notice the trend. The ABC spoke to a number of arts and ticketing companies who said they had noticed the same pattern in recent years.
Their analysis found one third of respondents were buying tickets later – with comedy shows and small music performances feeling the brunt of it."People are buying tickets later on average, but they're also buying tickets immediately. What's getting dragged out is that middle." "People might be a bit more thrill seeking and wait until the very last second. And as people are under time pressure, they tend to actually be a little bit more risk seeking."Dr Belli also said psychological distancing affects can explain this trend, as people can initially focus on the event's desirability but realise its feasibility the closer it gets.
"People want to be completely sure that they are not spending money on something that they cannot either afford, or they cannot even go to in the end." "The lack of certainty and confidence at the top end of the industry sends signals down to more emerging artists.""When a city has built its reputation of being such a strong creative hub, if that starts to become unfeasible for people to live and work as an artist in the city, then ultimately that's detrimental to the cultural life of that place."Mr McCarthy said there were opportunities for venues and artists to adapt to the flexibility audiences needed.