In the race to go online, one orchestra stands out

Orchestras are going through an especially tough time at the moment. As well as facing the difficulties that any organisation has of not being able to have their employees in the same place, orchestras face having no live audiences and a significant loss of revenue for the foreseeable future.

Many sectors are now facing a race to go online in order to continue working, but classical music finds itself in a trickier situation as, on the whole, we’re relatively unprepared for the digital world and have been guilty of underinvesting in it prior to this crisis.

However, some orchestras have made some great inroads into engaging with audiences online and making deep and meaningful connections, and today I would like to celebrate one of these success stories.

(Just as a mini side note, I’m aware that we’re less that 2 months into this and, even though I would love orchestras to push digital hard, many are facing the very pressing issues of tackling a significant lack of income and the imminent threat of going bust which quite rightly takes priority).

In the UK that has been a shining light in what the potential of an orchestra online can be. Honourable mentions go to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, but the one that has really caught my eye has been an orchestra that didn’t start this crisis with the biggest following on social media.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) have been what I can only describe as incredible at going online during this crisis. This is both in terms of what they’ve done and created online, and the results.

For everyone, reacting to this crisis quickly has been difficult. Events began to be cancelled from around March 10th, with the lockdown in the UK starting on March 23rd. After being understandably quiet in the middle of March, on the first day of lockdown RSNO announced their series #RSNOchallenge, which for me is one of the most refreshing digital campaigns I’ve seen in classical music in a long time.

“Every Wednesday we will be announcing a fun, family-friendly challenge that will keep you entertained while we all stay at home!”

It has been INCREDIBLE. I could talk about how it’s an “audience first creative campaign” or how the analytics show its great success in terms of likes, shares, and comments, but to be honest the best way to admire this is on a human level. Take a look at the first challenge

I mean… JUST LOOK AT IT. A full instructional video for families on how to create a samba band with things you find in your house. Buckets, pans, spoons, anything you can get your hand on. The instructions themselves are perfect for young children and those with little or no musical knowledge, describing rhythms with animals (1, 2, caterpillar caterpillar) and a truly fun and engaging style. 

AND LOOK AT THE RESULTS. If you have a minute, have a quick scroll through the comments on Facebook video. Families uploading their own videos of their home samba band being performed by mums, dads, boys, girls… even unicorns! Watching them will genuinely make your day.

It doesn’t just stop there though. Other challenges include “Tunefull glasses”, “Creating a Cartoon” to go along with the music of Peter and the Wolf, “Musical Bottles” (include empty bottles of prosecco and IPA that I’m sure parents won’t mind in preparing), and more. There is something incredibly human and authentic about the videos that result in them genuinely connecting with people and families.

For me, this has been by far the most refreshing digital content campaign by any orchestra for a long time.

This isn’t all the RSNO have been up to though. Their other main project has been “RSNO Friday Night Club”. Basically livestreaming concerts that were previously recorded. Nothing ground breaking right? Well…

I have a pet peeve with orchestras livestreaming concerts. And that’s just putting up content, expecting people to watch, and when the audience engages just “liking” comments or ignoring it entirely.

RNSO have clearly thought about what they want to achieve with their livestreams. The comments section is full of genuine engagement and conversation, meaningful replies from RSNO, and as a result are clearly getting a returning audience. There’s also a clear sense that this is a more relaxed experience, with suggestions the audience go and grab a drink during the performance.

What I’m really impressed by is the amount of supporting content as well, with related videos of conversations with musicians, conductors, and the education team the day before, as well as video “pre-concert talks”.

Finally, the RSNO aren’t shying away from sharing the spotlight. They’re been active in promoting and sharing the content from their musicians and also other musicians they’ve worked with in the past to showcase what they’re up to during lockdown. Not only does this help provide continual content to their audience and build relationships between the audience and musicians, but also helps with the issue of trying to create a ton of content during difficult times.

RSNO have clearly done an incredible job. I’m an utter nerd and keep track of the analytics of orchestras social media, so I could tell you how well this has all worked on paper and how they’ve punched well above their weight and some weeks receive higher engagement than orchestras with online followings 10 times larger. But to be honest, it’s much more important and meaningful to say how much their content has helped families engage with classical music during lockdown, shared performances and connected with audiences online, and… how it has really, genuinely, made me smile.

RSNO are fast becoming the potential blueprint for what an orchestra could look like online, and I can’t wait to see what this future looks like for them.