It's Official: Live Music Is Better Than Sex

It’s been dividing people for years but it’s officially been confirmed that live music is better than sex; the stats don’t lie.

This is just one of the findings that has appeared as a result of Live Nation’s study, The Power Of Live: Global Live Music Fan Study For Brands. According to the global study, “People are more likely to value live music over sex in their lives."

It wasn’t all sexy times with the study though, which actually consulted a total of 22,500 people worldwide across eleven key live music markets, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Germany, France, China, Japan and Australia to find out about their live music habits.

“The findings from The Power of Live prove that live music is more important now than ever before..."

Australia was the second largest sector tested with a total of 2,008 completes, only behind the United States with 2,513 completes. Mexico was the smallest sector tested, with 1,993 completes. 

Those in the study that took part in the biometric experiment were tested for their galvanic skin response, which meant wearing a movable EEG testing system to check alpha power frequency and an accelerometer for movement synchronisation -  which basically means did people get sweaty, did their heart rate spike and did they get movin’ when they were experiencing live music... This data was then used to see how people react to a live music experience and environment.

While the study focuses on a global scale, some very interesting stats have emerged about Aussie music consumers, including that sport event goers are 5% more affluent than live music goers and that we’ll drop an average of $151 for each live music event we attend. Check out a breakdown of the stats below.

“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,” CEO of Live Nation Australasia, Roger Field, told The Music in a statement. 

“The findings are consistent with the growing demand for concerts and festivals that we see locally and around the world.”

Key findings from The Power Of Live study

• Live music growth is outpacing recorded/streaming music and is expected to reach $28.2 billion by 2020, compared to $19.4 billion.
  
  
• Fans surveyed at St. Vincent’s show at the Fillmore in San Francisco in May 2018 reported a fivefold mood increase from before to after the show. Within the first moments of the show, live music provided an average 53% increase in emotional intensity among participants.
  
  
• Australia has fewer live music attendees than the rest of the regions in the study, coming in at 10 out of the 11 sectors.
   
• 63% of Australians surveyed had been to a live music event in the past year, compared to 68% of global respondents. Of those Australians, it was 23 to 39-year-olds (Millennials) that represented the largest demographic of concert attendees (70% of those surveyed).
  
  
• Festivals may be considered an Aussie rite of passage but only 34% of Australians surveyed had been to a festival compared to 45% of global respondents.
  
  
• 70% of Australian respondents who recalled a recent live music event felt “high emotional intensity” (which was classed as an 8, 9 or 10 on a 0-10 scale) compared to global respondents. This was 20% higher than the “high emotional intensity” that they felt at a sporting event.
  
  
• Only 31% of Aussie Gen Z’s that were surveyed wanted “fast and furious” experiences, with the rest preferring a “long and leisurely” experience.
  
  
• 52% of Aussie Millennials surveyed prefer planned to spontaneous experiences, which is higher than the 47% of global respondents.
  
  
• The study found that live music fans tend to travel in “packs” (or quads) of, on average, four people. These groups usually consist of four, complementary music personality types: The Rook (who’s learning the ropes of the live music scene), The Trusted Pro (who’s a concert and/or festival veteran), The Socialiser (who prioritises the connections they make at live music events) and The Firestarter (the one who gets the party started).

• While Australia live music goers do fit the Quad Squad psychographics to a certain extent, they are slightly less in line with these profiles as other regions, with 23% of Australian live music goers qualifying as “Rooks” as compared to 28% of global live music goers; 8% of Australian live music goers qualifying as “Trusted Pros” as compared to 12% of global live music goers; 12% of Australian live music goers qualify as “Socialisers” as compared to 19% of global live music goers; and 18% of Australian live music goers qualifying as “Firestarters” as compared to 23% of global live music goers.
  
  
• The study found that of worldwide respondents, 72% of Gen Z/Millennials had driven over 100 miles to attend a live music event.
  
  
• 80% of live music fans love to snack. To be honest, this is the one we relate to the most.