Study: More Aussies go to see live music than live sport

More Aussies go to see live music than live sport, according to the latest study by Roy Morgan Research.

12% of Australians aged over 14 (the equivalent of 1 in 8, or almost 2.4 million) attend at least one concert of any style (including rock, pop, jazz, blues and classical) within an average three months. Only 11% go to a professional sporting event.

The study divided Australians into seven distinct communities based on shared attitudes, behaviours and demographics.

The Metrotechs are young, trendy and often high-earning urbanites. They are more likely to see a concert (21%) ahead of Leading Lifestyles, (15%), Aussie Achievers and Today’s Families (11% each), Getting By (10%), Golden Years (9%) or Battlers (8%).

Interestingly a leading 40% the Metrotechs prefer jazz, blues and classical shows. It is the outer suburban young parents in Today’s Families or multigenerational and multicultural family members in Getting By who are five times more likely to see rock and pop acts than the Metrotechs.

Rock and pop concert-goers are 50% more likely to wear clothes that get them noticed, 35% more likely to buy a product because of a designer label and 29% more likely to enjoy being part of a crowd. They are 39% less interested in going to places of worship.

The ones attending jazz, blues or classical concerts are 71% more inclined to drink wine with meals, 60% consider themselves an intellectual, and 40% more likely to eat organic food.

Interestingly, according to the study’s data, rock and pop punters are not as wild or anti-establishment as you would think. They are 20% more inclined than followers of other music styles to think that obedience and respect for authority are the most important values that children should learn.

Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director at Roy Morgan Research, said, “More Australians go to a concert within an average three months than go to a professional sporting event. However those identified as Today’s Families or Aussie Achievers are more likely to go see live sport than live music.

“Clearly the biggest fans of live music, Metrotechs are not only more likely to have gone to a concert at all, but they go more often and are more likely to see music across different genres.”

The Roy Morgan study took a sample of 16,809 Australians aged over 14 between the months of July 2013 and June 2014.