Since last year, the performance market has become a new engine driving consumption."Selling out after billing" has been frequently staged, and "traveling with the performance" has become the choice of more and more people. "China Consumer News" and Analysys Consulting jointly released the "2023 China Performance Industry Consumer Insights Report", which shows that ** consumers 'comprehensive satisfaction with the performance experience in 2023 is 7.95 points (10-point scale), and the overall satisfaction is high. Cross-city viewing performances has become a new trend to stimulate cultural tourism consumption, but there is still much room for improvement in the performance market. ** Among them, three major problems: difficulty in buying tickets for popular performances, quality problems of performances, difficulty in refunding performance tickets and lack of a reasonable transfer system are the key to improving the consumer experience in the next step.

Cross-city viewing performances stimulates cultural tourism consumption

Wang Qian, a student from Dalian City Light Industry School, is a big fan of the dance drama "The Wave That Will Never Die." Since its premiere in 2019, she has watched it six times, from Shanghai to Beijing, and from Wuhan to Inner Mongolia. "Not only are the actors 'dancing skills explosive, but the lighting, scenery, and installations on the stage are all excellent. More importantly, the spiritual core of the dance drama has always inspired me and allowed me to see the power of love and faith." Wang Qian said.

In 2023, the number of performance projects nationwide will increase significantly. Not only will the supply of high-level performance projects increase, but the service levels of ticketing agencies and organizers also continue to improve, and consumers will be more satisfied with watching performances overall. “一个明显的感受是，现在的演出产品越来越丰富了，打开各大票务平台，各种开票信息、演出排期让人目不暇接。如果周末想看演出，可以选择家附近的小剧场或演绎新空间。这些地方还定期举办一些大型音乐会、演唱会，线上购票非常便捷。”王倩说。

Audiences watched the live performance in the Chang 'an Twelve o'clock theme neighborhood in Xi'an City. Photo by Cen Yunpeng (Xinhua Agency)

调研显示，Concert, drama, Livehouse 是消费者满意度更高的三大演出类型，观演人数和规模快速增长。以文促旅成为消费新现象，跨城观演的消费者占比45%，进而带动了演出举办地的相关文旅消费。其中，消费者满意度最高的十大演出城市分别是：广州、成都、上海、北京、天津、深圳、武汉、西安、长沙、杭州。

As the best city for performance viewing in the hearts of consumers, Guangzhou mainly relies on the enrichment of performance resources and the improvement of the performance business environment. As the central city in South China, Guangzhou has developed cultural industries and strong radiation capabilities in the Greater Bay Area. It has first-class and rich performing arts venues, convenient transportation and mature supporting facilities, providing consumers with more diversity and convenience for cross-city viewing performances. Convenient choice. At the same time, with special support such as government special performance subsidies and simplified approval, the organizers also have more flexible measures to enhance consumers 'performance experience. For example, in the "Mayday Noah's Ark Concert", some consumers used friends to donate tickets. As a result, the ticket information is inconsistent. After verification, consumers can enter through a special wrong ticket channel after signing the letter of commitment. According to public statistics, in the first three quarters of 2023, Guangzhou held 105 commercial performances with more than 5000 people, attracting more than 23 million people and grossing nearly 5 billion yuan in box office revenue.

Music performances have become the code for cultural and tourism traffic, and many local governments have also included the introduction of high-quality performance projects in this year's work plans. The "Cultural Performing Arts Service Prosperity and Innovation Project" will be the focus of Anhui Province's work in 2024; performance brokerage services, performance venue operations, and tourism performing arts have currently been included in the scope of newly encouraged industries for the development of Hainan Free Trade Port; Shanxi will promote the prosperity of the performance market into key breakthrough tasks.

Focus on solving the difficulty for consumers to buy tickets

The report shows that the top five reasons that affect consumer satisfaction are::Tickets cannot be purchased for popular shows; dissatisfied with the content of the show, such as lip-synching by singers, shrinking the lineup, temporary cancellation of performances or sports events, etc.; Overlord clause requires high handling fees for refunds, and reasonable transfer or change requirements cannot be realized; Large-scale performances such as concerts require personal information such as ID card, phone number, face, and name, which leads to insecurity of personal privacy; popular performances have high prices.

对于买票难的原因，绝大多数消费者归咎于天价票的盛行以及主办方的违规分配票品，而实际调查结果显示，This is an objective phenomenon caused by the extreme mismatch between supply and demand。

On March 23, actors performed "Qiantang Dream Hualu" in Songcheng Scenic Area in Hangzhou. Photo by Huang Zongzhi (Xinhua Agency)

Industry insiders pointed out that popular performances face extremely high market demand despite limited ticket volume, resulting in an extremely mismatch between supply and demand. The key to solving the contradiction between supply and demand lies in the continued enrichment of the supply side. For popular performances, the number of cities and venues on tours can be increased. In addition to a few super-large cities, it covers more second and third tier and below urban areas to reduce the difficulty for consumers to buy tickets.

In September 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Standardized Management of Large-scale Commercial Performance Activities and Promoting the Healthy and Orderly Development of the Performance Market", clarifying that the proportion of ticket sales for large-scale performance activities will be further increased, and the number of tickets publicly sold to the market shall not be less than 85% of the approved audience.

专家建议，For top-notch performances where "one ticket is hard to get", sales organizations may wish to improve their sales models to give consumers a greater sense of fairness. 如在实名验票的基础上，采取预售抽签的方式，随机分配演出票购买权。如此，既能减轻普通观众抢票花费的时间精力，也能防止一些“黄牛”通过技术手段抢票，进而囤积居奇。

Balancing ticketing management and consumer demand

Faced with consumers 'demand for ticket purchases and refund changes, ticketing platforms have also launched countermeasures. In November 2023, Damai. com launched standby ticket purchase. When the performance tickets are sold out and the platform's standby conditions are met, users can choose to pay in full advance. When there is new inventory for the project, the system will give priority to standby orders. Match and grab tickets. In the same month, Ferris Wheel ticketing responded to the demand for refunds and changes and launched a ticket change pilot to help users with temporary changes in their plans realize their ticket change demands through the large number of ticketing companies that have settled in.

Experts said that although both platforms have seen consumers 'demands and have actively taken the first step, more and more humane ways are needed in the future to balance ticket sales management and consumer rights to maximize market vitality.

《中国消费者报》副总编辑杜长红认为，演出经济不仅对演出市场本身有利，也为其他行业创造了更多就业机会和经济效益。要促进演出市场繁荣有序发展， On the one hand, it requires the joint efforts of multiple stakeholders such as organizers and ticketing platforms，为消费者呈现更加优质、丰富的演出内容及便捷的购票体验； On the other hand, there is an urgent need to improve the consumer rights protection mechanism. 如针对消费者关心的退票问题设定梯次退票收费标准，并在不同时间节点对退票权利进行限制，更好地保障消费者合法权益。

Analysts at Analysys believe that this survey can find that consumers 'demand for the performance industry is not just to buy tickets, but also to see good performances and control their performance tickets more freely. Cascade refunds have been gradually realized, but they still cannot fully solve the problems faced by consumers. Introducing reasonable and restricted ticket transfer measures may be a direction for exploration. However, such demands are not enough for the ticketing platform alone. It is hoped that all parties in the industry can pay attention to and participate together to promote the full implementation of consumer rights and interests, and effectively improve consumer satisfaction.