For cultural organisations, being online is no longer enough – discoverability is the name of the game. That’s the key message from a major new study for the European Commission, to which IDEA Consult contributed our expertise on the performing arts and cultural access mechanisms – helping shape the future of European cultural diversity online.

The challenge

Digital platforms have made more cultural content available than ever before – yet availability alone does not guarantee visibility. Commissioned by the European Commission under the EU Work Plan for Culture 2023–2026 and led by Panteia, this study investigates how European cultural works are actually discovered online. The challenge: algorithms, curation practices, and language silos often favor mainstream, non‑EU content, leaving Europe’s rich linguistic and cultural diversity under‑represented. IDEA Consult contributed to the Study on the discoverability of diverse European cultural content in the digital environment along two workstreams: an in‑depth analysis of the performing arts sector, and research on cultural access mechanisms across several EU Member States.

Approach & results

Through a process of research, interviews, and case studies, IDEA Consult examined how live performing arts navigate digital discovery pathways. We found that while streaming and data‑driven audience development offer new opportunities, structural barriers remain: uneven digitisation, low awareness of digital tools, complex rights management, and a lack of resources for smaller organisations. Our analysis of cultural voucher schemes revealed that making content available does not automatically make it discovered; proactive curation and discovery‑oriented design are essential to steer young audiences towards diverse European works.

The study reveals that European cultural content often struggles to be discovered online and cross borders. While national works perform well within domestic markets, cross‑border circulation across the EU remains weak. Algorithmic recommender systems tend to favor mainstream, non‑European content, and language barriers – combined with limited translation – further narrow what audiences encounter. The rapid rise of AI‑generated content adds new pressure, threatening to crowd out human‑created European works.

The study offers clear pathways forward. For cultural organisations, investing in digital skills, metadata quality, and cross‑border partnerships is essential. For policymakers, the recommendations include strengthening transparency around algorithmic curation, supporting translation and localisation, and building capacity for smaller players to compete in platform‑driven markets. Above all, discoverability must become a deliberate design principle – not an afterthought.

On 20 April 2026, IDEA Consult attended the Conference on the Discoverability of Diverse European Cultural Content in the Digital Environment in Brussels, where the study’s findings were discussed with policymakers, platforms, rights holders, and researchers. The study directly supports the Culture Compass for Europe, the Commission’s new strategic framework for culture, providing evidence on how to make European cultural works more visible and accessible online.

Read the full study via EU publications portal: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/34da2669-32b4-11f1-be39-01aa75ed71a1/language-en