Something interesting happened at a dinner party last month. A friend — a graphic designer, mid-thirties, never set foot in an opera house — started talking about Puccini. Not in a vague, “oh I’ve heard of that” way. She’d watched La Bohème on the Met Opera’s streaming platform and had opinions. Strong ones. About Mimì’s death scene, about the staging, about whether the tenor was pushing too hard in Act III.

I nearly dropped my wine glass.

This is what streaming is doing to opera. It’s pulling in people who would never have bought a $200 ticket to the Sydney Opera House, people who stumble onto a production while scrolling at 11pm on a Tuesday. And honestly? It’s the most exciting thing to happen to our art form in decades.

The Numbers Tell a Story

The Met Opera reported that its digital platform now reaches audiences in over 100 countries, with subscriber numbers climbing steadily since the pandemic-era free streams introduced millions to the format. Closer to home, Opera Australia has been expanding its digital offerings, making select productions available for streaming and investing in filmed versions of key works.

Globally, the trend is clear. Berlin’s Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House in London, and Barcelona’s Liceu have all built out streaming libraries. The Vienna State Opera’s live-stream subscription model has been particularly successful, bringing in younger demographics that traditional marketing campaigns struggled to reach.

But here’s where it gets interesting for us in Australia. We’re geographically isolated. A trip to see a production at Covent Garden or La Scala isn’t a casual weekend outing — it’s a $5,000 commitment minimum. Streaming has compressed that distance to nothing.

Who’s Actually Watching?

The audience data coming out of streaming platforms challenges a lot of assumptions. Viewers skew younger than in-house audiences — significantly younger in some cases. The 25-40 demographic, which opera companies have been desperately trying to attract for years, is well represented on digital platforms.

They’re also watching differently. Shorter attention spans? Not exactly. The data suggests people are watching full productions, but they’re doing it in chunks. They’ll watch Act I on Monday night, Act II on Wednesday. They’ll rewind and rewatch arias. They’ll switch on subtitles in languages they’re learning. It’s a completely different mode of engagement than sitting in a velvet seat for three hours, and that’s not a bad thing.

I’ve spoken to several arts marketers who are noticing a pipeline effect: people discover opera through streaming, then start attending live performances. It’s not either/or. The streaming audience isn’t cannibalising the live audience — it’s feeding it.

What This Means for Australian Companies

Opera Australia, to their credit, has recognised the opportunity. Their investment in high-quality filmed productions has been growing, and there’s talk of a more robust subscription streaming model in the pipeline. State companies like Opera Queensland and Victorian Opera have also been experimenting with digital content, though on smaller budgets.

Some AI consultants in Sydney have been working with arts organisations to better understand these digital audience patterns, helping companies figure out which productions to film, when to release them, and how to convert streaming viewers into ticket buyers. The data-driven approach is new territory for most opera companies, but the ones embracing it are seeing results.

The challenge, of course, is money. Filming an opera properly isn’t cheap. You need multiple camera angles, good sound engineering, proper lighting for film rather than stage. A half-hearted phone-camera recording uploaded to YouTube does more harm than good. If you’re going to do it, you need to do it well.

The Purist Objection

I know what some of my former colleagues will say: “Opera is meant to be experienced live. You can’t capture the resonance of a voice in a theatre through laptop speakers.” And they’re right — to a point. Nothing replaces the physical sensation of a soprano’s voice filling a two-thousand-seat house. The hairs on your arms don’t stand up the same way watching on a screen.

But here’s what I’d say to the purists: that graphic designer at my dinner party? She booked tickets to Opera Australia’s autumn season the following week. Her first live opera. She told me later that she cried during the overture.

Streaming didn’t replace the live experience for her. It made the live experience possible.

Where We Go From Here

The smart opera companies are treating streaming not as a threat but as a front door. They’re investing in production quality, building subscriber bases, using data to understand their audiences, and creating pathways from screen to stage.

Australia is uniquely positioned to benefit from this shift. Our companies are small enough to be nimble, our talent pool is extraordinary, and our geographic isolation means the potential audience gain from streaming is enormous. The question isn’t whether to invest in digital — it’s how fast we can get there.

I’ll be watching closely. And apparently, so will a lot of people who never thought they’d care about Puccini.