Why go to pop concerts? The motivations behind live music attendance

TLDR

Technological advances have increased illegal music downloads, reducing recorded‑music sales, yet live‑concert attendance has risen despite higher ticket prices. The study aims to examine the unique motivations driving music fans to attend live concerts. The authors surveyed 249 participants (55 % female, mean age 26.5) using an open‑ended questionnaire and thematically analyzed responses into four themes: Experience, Engagement, Novelty, and Practical. Participants were motivated by the desire to be present, share a unique experience with like‑minded fans, witness new material and support acts, and demonstrate fan worship, with price playing no role.

Abstract

Recent technological innovations have facilitated widespread illegal downloading of recorded music. While this points towards a decreased willingness to pay for music, the increase in the popularity of live music suggests otherwise. This is especially so when taking into account the rising cost of concert tickets, likely the result of reduced recorded music revenues. In the present study, a consideration of the unique motivations of why music fans decide on whether or not to attend live concerts is of interest. Drawing from a sample of 249 participants (55.02% female) with a mean age of 26.49, an open-ended questionnaire was analysed thematically with four key themes defined: Experience, Engagement, Novelty and Practical. The results highlight that participants want to “be there”, to be a part of something unique and special, sharing the experience with likeminded others. Other social dimensions such as the use of live music events as a means to demonstrate fan worship were also found. The unknown, novel aspects of live music were key motivators, such as hearing new material and watching support bands. Notably, price was not a contributing factor when choosing to attend a concert, suggesting that live music offers fans something special that they are more than willing to pay for.