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Picture having a free evening. You are refreshed, open to experience, and hoping to change your regular habits of post-work slumping. The world awaits your choice! Do you choose a) attending a concert or b) being with a partner? The outcome, as typically seen with these sorts of hypotheticals, is plainly: “That depends.” Reasonable people may reasonably ask: what's the show? Who's the companion? Is it expected to be good?

Few would choose a intense rock concert if the choice was one enchanted evening with a favorite star. However tweak any part of the comparison, and it turns less obvious. Regarding the 40,000 people posed this query from a gig organization, no additional context was given – and the result was revealed clearly and overwhelmingly preferring live music events.

Study Data Show Interesting Choices

A worldwide report, interviewing 40,000 people from 18 and 54 across different nations, showed that concerts currently stand as the most popular leisure activity, surpassing sports, films and – absolutely – intimacy. Given the choice to one type of entertainment forever, nearly four in ten picked gigs, versus going to the cinema (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also significantly more as likely to prefer attending their preferred performer on stage (70%) over sex (30%).

You show up anticipating happily shocked – and regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Certainly it’s not surprising that a PR survey carried out for a concert promoter would result so strongly supporting concerts – and, with the speculative spirit of a hypothetical choice, if your preferred musician is, for example an iconic star, it's understandable why seeing him could prevail instead of a common or garden situation. Yet this either-or decision between live music or sexual activity, plainly ridiculous though it may be, is fascinating to consider considering the strange point we face with each.

The Transformation of Live Music Experience

Lately, gig-going has grown beyond a shared activity but a competitive sport. Live organizations duly point out that arena crowds has “increased threefold annually”, and music festivals get booked up faster than ever. Simply getting tickets now requires military-level planning, instant reactions and deep finances (or a high spending capacity). Although you succeed, it isn't sufficient to just show up and enjoy the show. Currently there is an anticipation, at least among music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your experience quality by seeing several shows (even travelling internationally), learning the set list ahead of time and knowing your marks to hit and audience interactions developed through previous crowds.

Numerous attendees admit to affected by their experience at major tours: what felt like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which particular fans turned up unaware of the protocol. That 18-month tour, earning massive sums, showed of the extents that people will go to participate in a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer perform, although the actual music appears more and more secondary to the spectacle.

The Condition of Modern Intimacy

Intimacy, by contrast – an accessible and common experience – experiences dire straits. According to modern research, approximately 25% of adults had sex in an average week, while nearly 30% were sexually inactive. Elsewhere, current statistics indicated that a significant portion of adults reported not having sexual activity a single time in the last twelve months, rising from lower numbers in earlier years. In both territories, the trend has been linked to less sexual activity in youth demographics. Contrast this with the market driving growth for large concerts and the intense rivalry for passes. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “would you rather experience a popular event multiple times, or stay celibate?” – but it might be an signal of what is viewed as the more dependable satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are more similar than you might think. Both represent the initiation of a connection, a practical trial of impressions or possibility that may have developed only in your head. You arrive with a general notion of the probable outcome, but expecting to be happily shocked – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing depends very much on how your vibe and hopes correspond with partners. Quite often you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be waiting around for a break and personal space on your own. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can either enhance or reduce the event (but certainly help the most dire occasions more bearable).

Finding the Balance

The wonder to both gigs and sex depends on discovering that elusive sweet spot between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, effort and ease. Certainly it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of when they did, the awareness that it can happen, that inspires us to give it another shot: to {