POP - Paris Opera Play

Enhancing the audience experience and promoting the sharing of opera and ballet with an ever-growing public

Launched in 2023, the streaming platform POP – Paris Opera Play, available in France and internationally, offers opera and ballet enthusiasts the opportunity to watch a wide selection of recorded performances, sometimes broadcast live, as well as documentaries and masterclasses, all from the comfort of their homes.

It allows the Opera to maintain a presence beyond its theaters, contributing to its visibility, reaching new audiences, and enriching the dialogue with regular attendees.

By the numbers*

5,350 active subscribers
24% of subscribers are under 28, thanks to a favorable pricing policy (half-price subscription)
30% of POP users had never purchased tickets to the Opera before subscribing
32% of POP subscribers are international (led by the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom)
180 pieces of content uploaded to an ever-growing catalog each month (twice as many as at the launch in March 2024)

^{*Figures as of the 24/25 season}

Recent developments

At the end of 2024, POP launched an institutional component aimed at schools, conservatories, media libraries, and associations, allowing them to benefit from a collective subscription for all their members and to use the Opera’s audiovisual content as educational resources and tools for group viewing. The 14,000 young and adult participants in the Academy’s arts and cultural education programs also have free access to this institutional subscription.
Major beneficiaries of the Pass Culture can now also subscribe to POP.
Since the end of 2024, it has been possible to give a POP gift card to friends or family for 3, 6, or 12 months.
Already available on computer, tablet, mobile, Chromecast, AirPlay, and Orange TV set-top boxes, the POP platform has been accessible on Apple TV and Android TV since April 2025. It offers three subscription plans (monthly, annual, youth under-28 rate) in addition to the option to purchase individual live recordings.
Since March 2025, certain performances and Academy documentaries intended for educational purposes or for young audiences have been available for free on POP. Programs from the 3ème scène have also been added to the free catalog on POP.
Quizzes offered on Aria, the free conversational web app developed by the Opera to introduce young adults to opera in an interactive way, have been integrated into the platform.

Future prospects

Optimize the platform’s features and usability, notably by adding a search engine and improving accessibility for people with disabilities.
Expand distribution through other TV partners (Free, Samsung TV, Amazon Prime Video channels, etc.) and establish a partnership with the INA for the broadcasting of archives.
Continue enriching the catalog with two new documentary series on the Junior Ballet and the professions that make the Paris Opera.
Develop technical and commercial partnerships to integrate the POP institutional offering, particularly with the French Ministry of Education (via the GAR – Resource Access Manager) and other digital resource aggregation platforms for media libraries.

Did you know?

Maria Callas, an icon of the operatic world, on POP

In collaboration with the INA and to celebrate the centenary of the legendary soprano’s birth in December 2023, the Opera made available online the exceptional concert given by Maria Callas at the Paris Opera in 1958.

For her first recital in France, Maria Callas performed arias from La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Norma, The Barber of Seville, and Tosca, accompanied by the Paris Opera Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Georges Sebastian.

During the intermission, backstage and in the auditorium during set changes, Pierre Tchernia and Pierre Dumayet interviewed many notable figures present at the concert, including Jean Cocteau, Patachou, Brigitte Bardot, Gilbert Bécaud, Zizi Jeanmaire, Roland Petit, and the Begum Aga Khan.

Japan, a beloved country for the Paris Opera… and for POP

After France and the United States, Japan is the country with the highest number of subscribers to the POP – Paris Opera Play platform. This enthusiasm reflects the close relationship between the Opera Ballet and Japanese audiences, maintained for over 50 years.

The Company’s last tour to Japan in February 2024 led to the production of a seven-episode documentary, Dancing in Tokyo: Secrets of a Tour, which traces the project from its inception, the transport of sets and costumes, the preparation of artists and teams, to the arrival in Tokyo and the warm reception from local audiences.

The Dance School and the Academy: from backstage to the stage on POP

POP features all three seasons of the documentary series Graines d’Étoiles, which follows the journeys of Dance School students over ten years, including Roxane Stojanov, Pablo Legasa, and Jack Gasztowtt, as well as masterclasses with Élisabeth Platel and numerous performances by the students of the Paris Opera Dance School.

POP also broadcasts many Academy productions performed by resident artists, including shows for young audiences such as Bastien et Bastienne—one of the first operas composed by Mozart at age 12—as well as numerous documentaries on projects led by the Academy, including the series L’Opéra en Guyane.

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