The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) has attracted 570% more new subscribers to its YouTube channel during the lockdown when compared with the previous quarter.
The figure represents an 85% total increase in YouTube subscribers, and builds on AAM’s position as the most listened-to ensemble of its kind online. One third of subscribers are under the age of 34.
The growth is a result of AAM’s new digital concert series, Streaming Sundays, which launched in March 2020. The series offers free-to-watch full length HD concerts via AAM’s YouTube Channel each Sunday afternoon.
How to Watch: www.youtube.com/acadofancientmusic
The final performance in AAM’s Streaming Sundays series takes place on Sunday 7th June at 3pm BST. Royal Wedding Trumpeter David Blackadder and rising young soprano Rowan Pierce join AAM to Rejoice! with an effervescent programme of Bach, Handel, Corelli and more.
Past concerts in AAM’s Streaming Sundays series include: a performance of John Eccles’ virtually-unknown masterpiece, Semele, together with Cambridge Handel Opera Company and Cambridge Early Music; several performances with VOCES8, including Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. John Passion; Sound the Trumpet with David Blackadder and Soraya Mafi; some of Handel’s most glorious writing for soprano with Mary Bevan and Jennifer France directed by Laurence Cummings; Michael Collins making his conducting debut with the AAM with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto; Viktoria Mullova and James Hall performing Bach, Haydn and Grimani; a concert performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in partnership with The Grange Festival; a fully staged production of Agrippina in partnership with The Grange Festival; and a performance from virtuosic lutenist Thomas Dunford.
Spotify and Apple Music
AAM’s digital success is not limited to YouTube, and similar results can be seen across Apple Music and Spotify.
AAM became the first period instrument ensemble in the world to exceed one million monthly listeners on Spotify in 2019, following the release of its critically acclaimed recording of Handel: Brockes-Passion, and this number remains the highest in the sector. 54% of listeners are under 34, and 22,400 subscribe to updates about AAM’s newest recordings. AAM’s recent world-premiere recording of Valls’ Missa Regalis has been streamed 52,000 times in the first month, and AAM’s new recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Choir of King’s College Cambridge has been streamed 168,000 times since its release at Easter.
Apple Music routinely sees Tokyo, London and New York as the cities listening the most to AAM; with a doubling of listens in lockdown months compared to before. Across all digital platforms it is clear that there is a strong demand for classical music from younger generations when it can be accessed on the service of their choice, underlining the importance for the Academy of Ancient Music in continuing to create class-leading digital content.
Next Digital Development
Following the completion of the Streaming Sundays series, the Academy of Ancient Music will promote weekly concerts – new each Sunday – through specially curated Spotify playlists, delving in to AAM’s rich history as one of the most-recorded period-instrument bands in the world.