This year has asked a lot of all of us. The economic uncertainty that's shaped 2025 hasn't spared the arts sector, and we know many of you have navigated budget pressures and shifting audience patterns that test even the most resilient organizations. For many cultural institutions and their teams, this has been the most difficult year since the pandemic—a reality we don't take lightly as supporters of the arts & culture community.

Even as we've all worked to meet the immediate demands of the moment, we've also kept our eyes on what comes next. This year, Made Media has invested heavily in building foundations for the future: supporting major infrastructure upgrades that strengthen clients’ digital backbone, developing the new Basker CMS to streamline our projects, and exploring how AI tools can help free up time for strategic work that needs a human touch. We were also honored to receive the King’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category this year, which reflects not only the hard work of our team, but that of our incredible clients who push us to innovate.

These aren't projects that solve today's challenges overnight, but they're the kind of investments that help ensure your organizations can adapt and thrive regardless of what the landscape looks like tomorrow. We're grateful to work alongside organizations that continue to prioritize both their communities and their long-term sustainability.

The work

Looking back on a positive note, we launched new sites for a wide range of clients: the Kennedy Space Center, our long-time partners at Signature Theatre in Virginia, and a late-December BlocksOffice launch for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Our first Basker CMS-powered sites also went live this year, for The Cleveland Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois; these three sites make clear the range of functionality and design that Basker can support. We have several more in the pipeline for next year, and each successive project is getting faster and proving the model of building on a solid, shared foundation.

For our longtime partners, we worked on several exciting projects: 

• A new subscription purchase path for Ensemble Arts Philly, with flexible fixed seat packages and members-only VIP seating.
• Converted the Stanford Live ticketing path to integrate with Spektrix
• Restyled TNEW and stretching its capabilities in creative ways for the LA County Museum of Art
• A robust content hub to showcase the deep classical music knowledge of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
• Simple, secure ticket sharing for the New York Philharmonic that starts in My Account
• Seeing many clients through their Tessitura version 16 upgrades on the REST API
• Displaying ticket fees for all US client sites in compliance with the federal fee transparency law - which led to a sharp decrease in cart abandonment rates across many of our clients

SeatCurve: Better than Ever

SeatCurve, our select-your-own-seat application, has long been available with a BlocksOffice subscription or as a custom solution for TNEW-integrated websites. This year, we released a new version of SeatCurve with robust self-service features, monthly pricing, and full integration with TNEW and Spektrix right out of the box. It’s also fully keyboard-accessible and easily styled to match the branding of the rest of the site. We’re planning exciting new features for next year.

Looking ahead to 2026

We’re looking forward to new projects next year:

• Redesigned websites for Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New York City Center, and the New York Philharmonic
• A continuation of our five-year strategic plan with the LAPhil
• Three presentations at INTIX in January: James Baggaley on the self-service revolution, Jake Grimley on bots and on-sale strategy, and Krystle Kline on launching a big project on a tight timeline
• Much more conference travel - stop by our tables and say hi!

Many thanks to all of our clients, partners, staff, and friends in the arts sector for making 2025 a memorable year. We couldn’t have gotten through it without you all, and it’s a pleasure to contribute to the cultural wellbeing of our communities in our small way. Can’t wait to see what you all put on your stages and exhibits in 2026.