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Imagine finding yourself with a open night. You feel refreshed, eager for new things, and hoping to change your usual routine of post-work slumping. The world awaits your choice! Do you choose a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The answer, as typically true with such kinds of hypotheticals, is obviously: “That depends.” Reasonable people might logically wonder: what kind of the gig? Who is the companion? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Few would pick a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the alternative was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. Yet change one side of the scenario, and it turns more complicated. In the case of the 40,000 people asked this question from a major concert promoter, no such context was given – and the response came out clearly and heavily supporting live music events.

Survey Results Reveal Surprising Choices

An international survey, polling 40,000 people from 18 and 54 from 15 markets, revealed that concerts currently stand as the number one form of entertainment, surpassing games, movies and – indeed – intimacy. When limited to a single form of enjoyment forever, a significant portion picked live music, against film attendance (17%) and sports events (14%). Participants were more than twice as likely to choose watching their top musician live (70%) over intimacy (30%).

You appear expecting to be pleasantly surprised – and quite often you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Naturally it makes sense that a marketing research conducted for a live event company might conclude so overwhelmingly preferring live shows – and, in the freewheeling tone of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, such as Paul McCartney, it's understandable why seeing him could prevail instead of a ordinary situation. But this two-option scenario between live music or sex, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is fascinating to reflect on considering the strange point we face with each.

The Evolution of Live Music Experience

Lately, gig-going has evolved into more than a shared activity but a serious endeavor. Major promoters rightly note that stadium attendance has “increased threefold year-over-year”, and live events get booked up more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining admissions now needs military-level planning, quick decision-making and deep finances (or a substantial budget). Although you’re successful, it isn't sufficient to merely attend and experience the event. Currently there is an assumption, particularly with concertgoers, that you might enhance your experience quality by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), studying the set list beforehand and memorizing the cues to hit and audience interactions created by previous crowds.

Several attendees describe being shaken by their experience at large concerts: what seemed like a choreographed performance of huge audiences, to which certain attendees came unfamiliar with the steps. Those lengthy concert series, producing huge revenue, was proof of the degree to which people will go to feel part of a significant event and see their favourite artist perform, even if the real performance grows somewhat overshadowed by the production.

The Condition of Modern Intimacy

Sex, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and available enjoyment – faces dire straits. Per recent surveys, approximately 25% of individuals engaged sexually in an average week, while just under a third were not engaging. Elsewhere, current statistics indicated that a significant portion of people said they had not sexual activity at all in the previous year, increasing from lower numbers in previous decades. Across these regions, the shift has been linked to less sexual activity among younger people. Contrast this with the market booming for large concerts and the intense rivalry for passes. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “could you choose attend a huge concert repeatedly, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an sign of what is viewed as the more dependable enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Sex and live music are more similar than you might think. Each symbolizes the activation of a relationship, a real-world test of ideas or promise that may have developed just in your mind. You arrive with a general notion of what might happen, but anticipating delightfully amazed – and if it turns out good or bad rests largely on whether your energy and hopes match theirs. Regularly you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be waiting around for a break and some quiet time on your own. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or reduce the experience (but absolutely assist the most dire occasions easier to weather).

Achieving Equilibrium

The magic to both gigs and sex relies on locating that elusive sweet spot between the known and the new, similarity and difference, challenge and comfort. Naturally it's uncommon – but it's the recollection of when they did, the knowledge that it can happen, that motivates us to attempt once more: to {