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The State of Classical Box Office Income & Marketing Spend - UK Orchestras

March 2026

What is the current state of own-promotion classical box office income and marketing spend for UK orchestras and symphonies?

This question, posed by an ABA performing arts member, led ABA to conduct a two-part study, focused first on a comparative analysis of publicly available financial statements across 9 orchestras in the UK, followed by a small survey with qualitative questions to understand organizations’ outlooks and sentiments on the sector. This study provides a quick overview on sales outcomes, marketing spend and marketing team sizes as well as insights on future sector sentiments and anticipated challenges.

Key Findings:

  • Stable box office sales across UK Orchestras: Across benchmarked organizations, Box Office Income has either increased or more or less stayed the same between 2022 and 2025. The rate of box office income increases has slowed down in the last year.

  • Orchestras experienced decreased rates of sales growth, however the portion of box office income as portion of total income has remained stable: On average in our data set, box office income increased by 14% across organizations from 22/23 to 23/24 and increased by 1% only between 23/24 and 24/2025. However, box office income represented 14% of total income in 22/23 and 23/24 and 15% of total income in 24/25

  • Orchestras enjoy overall improvements in marketing spend ROI: On average, in our data set box office income to marketing spend ratios improved from 2022/23 and 24/25. For example, £1 of marketing spend yielded approximately £2.54 in box office income in 22/23, £2.96 in 23/24 and £3.0 in 24/25.

  • Organizations anticipate challenges with misalignment between true marketing costs and actual allocated budgets: Marketing budgets seem to be remaining relatively static, while the cost of certain activities is rising- which presents a challenge. Outside of marketing experts, there is a misalignment on the true cost of marketing content.

Members can download the complete report by clicking below.

This article is related to a recently completed custom research project conducted on behalf of an ABA member. Our research team is always delighted to speak with members about tailoring research projects to your organization. To learn more or submit a custom research request, simply contact your member advisor or email us at info@advisoryarts.com.