Live Nation report: Live music experience sometimes greater than actual event, 10% say “better than sex”

For most concert and festival attendees the live music experience is so powerful that it can sometimes be greater than the actual event itself.

This is from Live Nation’s The Power of Live report, released today, which studied 22,505 attendees from 11 countries – including Australia.

The respondents were aged between 13 and 65.

71% believe “the moments that give me the most life are live experiences”, with an astounding 78% marking the experience eight, nine or ten out of ten.

That’s 26% more than the emotional charge they get at sporting events, 27% more from streaming, while video games gets a minus 31%.

Up to 10% believe that it is more intense than sex.

79% reckon that the actual experience could be greater than the actual event, because a lot of social activity happens before, during and after the show.

They’re willing to travel long distances to get their fix: 72% of Gen Z/Millennials have driven over 100 miles to attend a live music event.

65% usually buy a new piece of clothing to wear to the event, and female Gen Z/Millennial live music fans spend 20 more minutes getting ready for a concert vs. everyday prep.

59% make plans to meet up with friends there. 68% shared their experience with social media.

The Power of Live suggests that the reason for the intensity of the experience is that people are suffering from what it calls “Sensation Deprivation” in the digital age.

In other words, the digital era provides great excitement and online social interaction.

But people (or according to 73% of respondents) yearn for that physical interaction – and which they seem to get most at live music events where there is also a sense of camaraderie and sense of socio-political spirit.

Hence, according to Live Nation, attendance at these events jumped by 21% between 2016 and 2017 to 86 million.

Two-thirds of Gen X, Y and Z (spanning ages 13-49) go to at least one concert or festival a year, with a majority of those that attend going to multiple events.

“Of course, digital life isn’t dying off — but after a decade of all that posting, pinning, tweeting, snapping, and streaming, people are tapped out,” the study points out.

“They now recognize the importance of the physical world to their quality of life and are recalibrating their lives with more intention.”

It expanded: “Social media, mobile, and tech have made it easy to find and connect to people across geographies, but it’s harder than ever to do so in a way that feels human.

“We tap, touch, and swipe our phones 2,617 times a day, and we spend an average of 2.5 seconds with any piece of content.”

Australian Focus

Breaking down the Australian figures, local Gen Z are more likely to use music events to discover new music – 78% compared to the 77% of their global counterparts.

The laid-back Australian lifestyle and attitude seems to kick in when it comes to the level of intensity of the live music experience.

Only a third (31%) opted for “fast and furious” experiences rather than “long and leisurely” ones.

U to 49% of Australia Z live music goers have travelled internationally for a live music event, as compared to 53% of global Gen Z live music goers.

This is not a bad effort considering the greater physical distance Australians have to cover to get to events around the world than, say, those living in Europe or Asia.

77% of Australia Z live music goers are “starving for experiences that are really real” as compared to 75% of global Z live music goers.

63% of Australia Z live music goers name “social influences” as to why they attend a live music event, as compared to 61% of global Z live music goers.

Roger Field, CEO, Live Nation Australasia said, “The findings from The Power of Live prove that live music is more important now than ever before, with fans in Australia and around the world believing live music is one of the most powerful human experiences and one of the best ways to cure digital overload.