5 Ways Classical Music Festivals Lose Applicants Online
Common website and funnel mistakes that cost festivals qualified applicants—and how to fix them.
You have a world-class faculty. Stunning performance venues. A transformative curriculum. Students who attend your festival rave about it.
So why aren't more people applying?
The problem isn't your program. It's your digital presence. Most festival websites were built 5-10 years ago and haven't been updated to meet modern standards—or modern student expectations.
The result? Talented students visit your site, get confused or frustrated, and apply to the next festival instead.
After working with classical music festivals like Chroma International Music Festival and reviewing hundreds of festival websites, I've identified five critical mistakes that cost festivals qualified applicants. The good news? They're all fixable.
1. Your Website Doesn't Work on Mobile
The Problem:
Gen Z students (your primary applicant pool) browse almost exclusively on phones. If your website doesn't work seamlessly on mobile, they won't struggle with it—they'll just leave.
What This Looks Like:
- Text is too small to read without zooming
- Buttons are too close together to tap accurately
- Application forms don't fit on the screen
- Images load slowly or break the layout
- Navigation menus are impossible to use on a phone
The Fix:
Immediate: Test your website on your phone right now. Can you easily find the application link? Can you read the faculty list? If not, prioritize a mobile-responsive redesign.
Long-term: Build your next website with a "mobile-first" approach. Design for phones first, then adapt for desktop—not the other way around.
Test: Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool to see how your site performs on mobile devices.
Real Example: One festival we analyzed had a beautiful desktop site, but on mobile, the "Apply Now" button was hidden below the fold and required 4 clicks to find. After redesigning for mobile-first, their mobile application completion rate increased by 43%.
2. Your Application Process Is a Confusing Multi-Step Nightmare
The Problem:
Students have to fill out a form, then email documents separately, then pay via a different link, then confirm via another email. Half of them give up before finishing.
What This Looks Like:
- "Fill out this form, then email your repertoire list to applications@festival.com"
- "After submitting, check your email for payment instructions"
- "Send your recommendation letters to a different email address than your application"
- Multiple disconnected systems that don't talk to each other
- No way to see application status ("Did they receive my documents?")
The Fix:
Immediate: Map out your entire application process from the student's perspective. How many steps are there? How many different tools do they need to use? Where are the friction points?
Long-term: Implement an integrated application funnel where students can:
- Fill out one comprehensive form
- Upload all documents in one place
- Pay immediately after submitting
- Receive instant confirmation
- Check their application status anytime
Real Example: Chroma Festival went from a 6-step application process (form → email documents → pay separately → confirm) to a single integrated flow. Application completion rate went from 62% to 89%.
3. You Have No Idea Where Applicants Drop Off
The Problem:
You know 200 people inquired and 80 applied. But you have no idea what happened to the other 120. Did they lose interest? Did they find the process confusing? Did your emails go to spam? You'll never know.
What This Looks Like:
- No tracking of who visited your website vs. who inquired
- No tracking of who inquired vs. who started applications
- No tracking of who started vs. who completed applications
- No idea which marketing channels drive the most applications
- Every year you repeat the same process hoping for different results (but you have no data to improve)
The Fix:
Immediate: Set up basic Google Analytics on your website to track:
- How many people visit your site
- Which pages they visit most
- Where they're coming from (Google, Instagram, email, etc.)
- How long they stay on each page
Long-term: Implement a complete application funnel with tracking at every step:
- Stage 1: Website visitors (total traffic)
- Stage 2: Inquiries (submitted inquiry form)
- Stage 3: Application started (began filling out application)
- Stage 4: Application submitted (completed application)
- Stage 5: Payment received (enrolled student)
This lets you calculate conversion rates at every step and identify exactly where applicants are dropping off.
Real Example: One festival discovered that 45% of applicants were dropping off at the "upload recommendation letters" step. After simplifying it (allow recommenders to upload directly via a link), completion rates improved immediately.
4. Your Website Loads Slower Than a Brahms Symphony
The Problem:
Your site takes 10+ seconds to load. Studies show 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds. You're losing half your visitors before they even see your content.
Common Causes:
- Unoptimized images (a 5MB photo that should be 200KB)
- Too many plugins or scripts loading on every page
- Old, bloated website platform (looking at you, outdated WordPress themes)
- No caching or content delivery network (CDN)
- Autoplaying videos on the homepage
The Fix:
Immediate: Test your site speed:
- Go to PageSpeed Insights
- Enter your website URL
- Check your mobile score (should be 85+)
- Follow the recommendations to compress images and reduce scripts
Long-term: Rebuild on a modern, fast platform like Next.js that prioritizes speed. Use a CDN to serve images quickly worldwide. Compress all images before uploading.
Real Example: One festival's homepage had a 15MB autoplay video. Load time: 18 seconds on mobile. After removing the video and optimizing images, load time dropped to 2.1 seconds. Bounce rate decreased by 31%.
5. You Don't Follow Up with Inquiries (So They Forget About You)
The Problem:
Someone fills out your inquiry form in January. You manually send them an email. Then... nothing. By March when applications are due, they've completely forgotten about your festival. They apply to the festival that kept in touch.
What This Looks Like:
- Someone inquires → you send one email → they never hear from you again until you're panicking about low applications
- No automated follow-ups reminding them about application deadlines
- No nurture sequence highlighting your faculty, programs, or student experiences
- No reminders for students who started applications but didn't finish ("You're 80% done—need help?")
The Fix:
Immediate: Create a simple email sequence for inquiries:
- Day 0: Immediate welcome email with application link
- Day 3: Follow-up highlighting your faculty
- Day 7: Student testimonial or success story
- Day 14: Application deadline reminder
- Day 21: Final reminder ("Applications close in 1 week")
Even a basic Mailchimp automation will dramatically increase your application rate.
Long-term: Implement automated email sequences that:
- Nurture inquiries with valuable content (not just "apply now")
- Remind students who started applications but didn't finish
- Send payment reminders for students who applied but haven't paid
- Stay in touch with enrolled students before the program starts
Real Example: One festival had 180 inquiries but only 45 applications (25% conversion). After implementing a 5-email nurture sequence, inquiries-to-applications increased to 42% the following year—same marketing budget, 76% more applications.
The Bottom Line
Your festival isn't failing to attract applicants because your program isn't good enough. You're losing qualified students because your digital presence doesn't match the quality of your music-making.
The good news? These problems are fixable:
- Mobile-responsive websites can be built in 6-8 weeks
- Application funnels can be integrated and automated
- Analytics tracking is straightforward to set up
- Page speed can be optimized with image compression and modern platforms
- Email sequences can be automated with tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit
Stop losing applicants to fixable problems. Start tracking, testing, and optimizing—and watch your enrollment grow.
Want Help Fixing These Issues?
We specialize in building modern websites and application funnels for classical music festivals. Schedule a free 15-minute digital audit to see where you're losing applicants—and how to fix it.
About the Author
Garrett John Law is a musician and software engineer who builds digital systems for classical music festivals. An Interlochen alum and CIM graduate, he currently serves as organist and choirmaster at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.