Walpole: Classical music is traditionally associated as having an older audience, yet TikTok has a younger usership. How do you approach this dichotomy when it comes to creating content for the LPO TikTok channel?
We can see from our stats that classical music is enjoyed by younger audiences – over half of our video views come from TikTok users under the age of 35. We work hard to find a balance between engaging with trends and hot conversation topics, and sharing what we do as an orchestra. Engaging with trends helps us to have relevance on the platform and reach new audiences (as well as lots of fun!), but some of our best engagement comes from videos that simply feature the orchestra playing great music, so we know the appetite is there.
What is the overarching strategy behind your TikTok channel?
Our aim is to reach a younger, more diverse audience. We want to engage with existing classical music fans whilst opening doors to those who may never have thought it was for them. Our main purpose is not to sell tickets directly from the platform, but to build an online community, increase our brand awareness and share the wonder of classical music.
Is there a particular type of content that resonates on your channel?
TikTok is a great place to share behind-the-scenes peeks and allow audiences to delve deeper into an organisation. We create content that demystifies life in an orchestra, putting the LPO players at the centre of our content. Our viewers are often surprised when the players participate in a trend – which is exactly what we want! Our aim is to showcase not only the amazing talents of our players, but also their fantastic, down-to-earth personalities too.
Why is TikTok so important to the LPO?
Due to the younger usership of TikTok, we’ve naturally been able to reach a younger audience on the platform. The way the algorithm works and the fast-paced nature of trends has encouraged us to think differently about how we use social media and enabled us to tap into new ways of creating content. It encourages us to have more fun, take more risks and reach a wider audience.
How quick is the pace of your content generation?
It can be pretty fast-paced! The LPO has a very busy schedule and we regularly film at rehearsals so we’re never short of opportunities to show our players doing what they do best. When it comes to trends and behind-the-scenes content, we’re very lucky to have players who care about our TikTok audiences as much as we do and give their time and enthusiasm. We have to keep our finger on the pulse to make sure that content is timely – trends come and go so quickly that you have to get the moment right to have success with a video.
What has been your most popular post – and why do you think it resonated so well with viewers?
A snippet of the orchestra playing ‘Dance of the Knights’ from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (maybe more commonly recognised as the epic theme tune from TV’s The Apprentice!) brought us over 2 million views and 166,000 likes. It’s our most popular video to-date, most likely because the piece is immediately recognisable to so many people whether you’re a classical music fan or not. We also encouraged viewers to give us their best attempt at renaming the piece in the comments to generate conversation. Needless to say, they certainly delivered!
What has been your favourite video – and why did you love making it?
We often find that the more fun we have making a video, the more fun our followers have watching it. We recently participated in the Gen Z marketing script trend, where we managed to persuade one of our fabulous colleagues into introducing our new season of concerts using Gen Z slang. It was the perfect amalgamation of what we’re trying to do on TikTok: bring classical music to younger people in weird and wonderful ways that naturally fit in with the content they’re already consuming on their algorithm.
Is there a dream video you’d like to make?
If we’re dreaming big … We’re huge Swifties here in the LPO marketing team. So, if Taylor Swift ever asked to perform a concert with the LPO, we’d be ready and waiting with the ring lights and mini mics to capture all of the onstage and offstage buzz!
