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Envision having a free evening. You feel refreshed, open to experience, and hoping to shake up your regular habits of post-work slumping. Your options is your oyster! Would you choose a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The outcome, as typically the case with these types of questions, is clearly: “That depends.” Mature individuals could understandably ask: what's the show? Who's the partner? Is it going to be satisfying?

Few would pick a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the choice was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. However tweak either end of the equation, and it becomes less clearcut. Regarding the 40,000 people posed this query from a live event company, no such details was provided – and the response emerged decisively and strongly supporting concerts.

Research Findings Show Unexpected Trends

A global survey, questioning 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 across 15 markets, showed that gigs currently stand as the most popular leisure activity, surpassing athletic events, films and – absolutely – intimacy. When limited to one type of entertainment permanently, 39% of respondents chose gigs, compared to going to the cinema (17%) and sports events (14%). The group was more than twice as prone to prefer seeing their favourite artist live (70%) rather than sex (30%).

You appear hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and regularly you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Naturally it's expected that a marketing research commissioned by a live event company should come out so heavily in favour of live shows – and, with the speculative spirit of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, for example an iconic star, it's understandable why seeing him might win out over a common or garden experience. However this binary choice between live music or sexual activity, clearly absurd though it may be, is noteworthy to think about considering the strange point we’re at with these two aspects.

The Transformation of Gig Attendance

Over the past few years, concert attendance has become not just a communal experience but a intense competition. Event companies appropriately highlight that stadium attendance has “grown significantly annually”, and live events are fully reserved more rapidly than previously. Merely acquiring admissions now requires extensive preparation, quick decision-making and significant funds (or a generous credit card limit). Though you’re successful, it isn't sufficient to just show up and experience the event. There’s now an assumption, particularly with pop fans, that you might enhance your experience quality by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), learning the performance lineup ahead of time and knowing your marks to follow and audience interactions developed through previous crowds.

Several fans admit to affected by their experience at major tours: what felt like a choreographed performance of huge audiences, where some individuals arrived unaware of the routine. That 18-month concert series, generating billions, demonstrated of the degree to which people will go to feel part of a significant event and watch their preferred performer play, even if the live sound appears more and more overshadowed by the spectacle.

The State of Modern Intimacy

Sex, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and common experience – faces challenging circumstances. Based on recent surveys, about a quarter of adults had sex in an regular period, while just under a third were abstaining. In another major country, modern figures revealed that over a quarter of adults reported not having sexual activity even once in the previous year, increasing from smaller percentages in the past. Across these regions, the change has been linked to decreased encounters in youth demographics. Contrast this with the sector booming for large concerts and the fierce battle for tickets. Naturally it’s not as simple as a straightforward choice between both alternatives – “would you rather see a major tour repeatedly, or avoid intimacy?” – but it might be an signal of which is perceived as the more dependable enjoyment.

Interesting Comparisons

Relationships and gigs are more similar than people often believe. They both embody the initiation of a relationship, a practical trial of impressions or possibility that might have amassed just in your mind. You arrive with some idea of what might happen, but hopeful of being happily shocked – and how it ends up good or bad relies heavily on if your enthusiasm and anticipations align with others. Quite often you might find with another person's locks in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a smoke and personal space alone. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or reduce the experience (but certainly help the worst occasions simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The magic to live events and relationships depends on discovering that hard-to-find balance between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, effort and ease. Naturally it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of when they did, the knowledge that it’s possible, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {