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Envision having a free evening. You are refreshed, eager for new things, and wanting to shake up your typical schedule of post-work slumping. Life itself awaits your choice! Could you prefer a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The response, as typically the case with these sorts of questions, is obviously: “That depends.” Reasonable people could understandably ask: what's the gig? Who's the other person? Could it be likely to be good?

Not many would pick a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was one enchanted evening with a beloved celebrity. However tweak either end of the scenario, and it grows more complicated. For the participants asked this question by a live event company, no further context was offered – and the result emerged unambiguously and overwhelmingly preferring live music events.

Survey Results Reveal Surprising Choices

A worldwide survey, questioning 40,000 people ranging from 18 and 54 in 15 markets, revealed that concerts have become the world’s top form of entertainment, beating out sports, films and – absolutely – intimacy. If restricted to one type of entertainment for the rest of their lives, a significant portion selected gigs, against film attendance (17%) and games (14%). They were also over two times as likely to select seeing their favourite artist in concert (70%) instead of sex (30%).

You appear hopeful of being happily shocked – and regularly you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it’s not surprising that a marketing research commissioned by a gig organizer would result so overwhelmingly supporting concerts – and, amid the playful spirit of a hypothetical choice, if your top performer is, say Paul McCartney, you can see why seeing him may be chosen instead of a routine situation. But this binary choice between concerts or sex, obviously silly even if it seems, is noteworthy to consider given the odd moment we experience with each.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

In recent years, live music participation has evolved into more than a group event but a intense competition. Major promoters appropriately highlight that large venue turnout has “increased threefold each year”, and music festivals sell out quicker than before. Just obtaining admissions now demands detailed strategy, rapid-fire response times and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Although you succeed, it’s not enough to just show up and experience the event. There’s now an anticipation, especially for pop fans, that you can boost your experience quality by seeing several shows (potentially going abroad), swotting up on the set list ahead of time and memorizing the cues to perform and fan traditions created by earlier audiences.

Several attendees report feeling shaken by their participation at popular events: what felt like a orchestrated show of massive crowds, where certain attendees turned up unfamiliar with the routine. Those lengthy concert series, producing huge revenue, was proof of the degree to which people will go to experience a significant event and see their favourite artist perform, though the live sound seems increasingly secondary to the show.

The Situation of Contemporary Sexuality

Intimacy, conversely – a relatively cheap and available enjoyment – faces challenging circumstances. Based on recent surveys, nearly one in four of people were intimate in an regular period, while about three in ten were sexually inactive. In another major country, recent data indicated that over a quarter of people reported not having sexual activity even once in the past year, rising from fewer people in earlier years. In these areas, the shift has been associated with less sexual activity in youth demographics. Compare this with the market expanding rapidly for major events and the intense rivalry for admissions. Naturally it’s not as simple as a simple decision between one or the other – “do you prefer see a major tour repeatedly, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an sign of how people see the more consistent satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Relationships and gigs are more similar than people often believe. Each symbolizes the activation of a relationship, a practical trial of ideas or potential that could have built solely in your imagination. You come with a general notion of the probable outcome, but anticipating happily shocked – and how it ends up satisfying or frustrating relies heavily on if your enthusiasm and expectations align with others. Regularly you’ll end up with another person's locks in your mouth, and following be waiting around for a cigarette and personal space by yourself. Similarly for each, drugs and alcohol can either enhance or detract from the event (but absolutely assist the most unpleasant situations simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The wonder to concerts and intimacy depends on locating that elusive sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, effort and ease. Of course it occurs infrequently – but it’s the memory of when it worked, the awareness that it’s possible, that motivates us to attempt once more: to {