The Dallas Opera Does Away With Paid Subscriptions on Streaming Platform

For decades the Dallas Opera has been bringing star-studded shows and performances to Dallas: from the outstanding U.S. debuts of international artists such as Dame Joan Sutherland and Plácido Domingo to the premieres of shows such as composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s critically acclaimed opera based on Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. The Dallas Opera even hosted a record-setting simulcast of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Cowboys Stadium, which attracted 15,000 viewers in April 2012.

After years of bringing these showstoppers to Dallas and beyond, the opera is now eliminating subscription fees and offering free access to their streaming platform thedallasopera.tv.

This includes four main categories of streaming: Mainstage, TDO Network, OperaKids and Backstage Pass. Mainstage offer productions and concerts from the Dallas Opera stage, TDO Network will show opera-themed and artist-hosted series, OperaKids will be fun and engaging programming for young audiences and Backstage Pass takes viewers behind the scenes of The Dallas Opera.

Unique collaborations and designed-for-digital films will remain under an “original” category and will also be free, or sold at low pay-per-view prices.

“The Dallas Opera is pleased to expand access to thedallasopera.tv by removing the paywall for our audiences,” Ian Derrer, the Kern Wildenthal general director and CEO at the Dallas Opera, said in a press release. “We learned a great deal during the pandemic shutdown about creating content for this digital stage, understanding demand, and generating interest via social media.”

“We learned a great deal during the pandemic shutdown about creating content for this digital stage, understanding demand, and generating interest via social media.” –The Dallas Opera CEO Ian Derrer

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Derrer also noted that offering free access will create a better user experience, which will be important for growing new audiences.

This spring and summer, the Mainstage channel will offer three of the company's productions. The TDO Network will show the complete catalog of short-form social media series, as well as new episodes of multiple already-streaming shows. OperaKids will also be streaming new episodes or already released shows, and the Backstage Pass will offer exclusive content and show The Dallas Opera’s Mainstage and education work.

A full schedule for the 2022/2023 streaming season will be released this fall.

In a high-tech driven world, and one still recovering from the COVID pandemic, this move to a free subscription is meant to drive the Dallas Opera forward into growing their audience and showcasing their arts.

Current subscribers to thedallasopera.tv will have immediate access to the new platform with their existing accounts. New subscribers can register for free access.