Spotlight: Ticket Pricing

Authors and staff need to be paid fairly for their work and be able to earn a living, so ticket pricing should reflect this. However, this shouldn’t be at the expense of people who face socio-economic barriers and can’t afford full-price or even concession-rate tickets, and they shouldn’t have to provide proof to access concession rates.

Disabled people are stigmatised, scapegoated, constantly under surveillance, and repeatedly forced to prove their needs; having to provide proof for concessionary tickets is yet another barrier that shuts us out of culture. The benefits system is punitive and difficult to access, so some disabled people may try to get by on freelance work and/or support from family but could be earning less than minimum wage. Not requiring proof shows that you understand this and will make disabled people feel welcome.

“When I’ve not been on benefits, I don’t feel I have the right to be taking a concession ticket, so you’re in a bit of an in-between zone of not being able to fully afford ticketed events that are say £8 and up, that often you’ve got to pick and choose what you do. Since the pandemic I’ve seen more sliding scale tickets in operation, which has been really good.”

— Jeda Pearl

“Being asked to prove that you’re disabled, that can be soul destroying, just being interrogated, and you get the sense that people think you’re faking it. Austerity hasn’t helped in terms of stoking fear about people being benefit scroungers and faking disabilities, when that’s very rarely the case.”

— Maud Rowell

“With pricing, events may feel that they cannot afford a ‘Pay What You Can’ model (currently in place at the Battersea Arts Centre), but this can be modified to encourage people with more disposable income to pay over what the cost price for tickets would be, to subsidise the project. Similarly, events might indicate that they cannot afford to give out a free Personal Assistant or carer ticket, when in practice this will be a small population requiring these. Where events genuinely believe that this will be unfeasible, they should engage with authors and potential attendees to establish a formal and affordable approach to this.”

— Jamie Hale

1. Transparency, Worth, and Ticket Pricing

   The general public doesn’t necessarily understand the amount of work that goes into putting on an event, whether it’s in-person or online. The answer to this is to be transparent: include information in your programme and on online event pages that outline the core elements that have gone into providing the event and make it clear that you pay authors fairly for their time. This will help the audience understand the worth of what they’re paying for, encouraging those who can pay full price to do so, or to pay more if there’s an option to donate, sponsor a ticket, or put money in a bursary pot.

2. Best Practice for Ticket Pricing

   Concession tickets are often still expensive; offer them at a more affordable rate, and don’t require proof to access them. Or, where possible, offer Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) – not just for online events but in-person and hybrid, too.

3. Sponsor A Ticket/Pay It Forward

   Set up a button on your ticket purchasing page, where people can sponsor a ticket for someone facing socio-economic barriers.

4. Tickets for Personal Assistants or Companions

   Provide a free ticket for a personal assistant or companion and make this easy to book. If people have questions or need additional support (e.g. two personal assistants) it should be easy for them to telephone, email, or fill out a simple online form. Ensure there are a few different ways for them to contact you about this, not just one of these.

Reference: Jamie Hale

For further information on how to fund PWYC tickets and other provisions, see “How To Fund Access Provision”.