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Picture finding yourself with a night off. You feel rejuvenated, eager for new things, and wanting to shake up your regular habits of post-work slumping. Life itself awaits your choice! Would you prefer a) attending a concert or b) having sex? The response, as frequently true with these types of queries, is plainly: “It varies.” Thinking adults may reasonably wonder: what is the show? With whom is the partner? Will it be going to be good?

Not many would choose a heavy metal lineup if the choice was one enchanted evening with a favorite star. Yet change either end of the scenario, and it becomes less clearcut. In the case of the 40,000 people asked this question through a major concert promoter, no additional details was offered – and the response was revealed unambiguously and overwhelmingly supporting concerts.

Study Data Show Unexpected Choices

A global report, questioning 40,000 people from 18 and 54 across 15 markets, found that live music currently stand as the most popular leisure activity, ranking above athletic events, cinema and – absolutely – intimacy. If restricted to one type of activity permanently, 39% of respondents picked gigs, versus film attendance (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). Participants were more than twice as inclined to select watching their top musician live (70%) rather than sex (30%).

You show up hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and frequently you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Naturally it's expected that a promotional study conducted for a gig organizer should come out so heavily preferring concerts – and, amid the playful mood of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, for example a legendary singer, it's understandable why watching him may be chosen rather than a ordinary experience. Yet this either-or decision between gigs or sex, obviously silly as it is, is interesting to think about given the odd juncture we’re at with both.

The Change of Live Music Experience

In recent years, live music participation has grown beyond a shared activity but a competitive sport. Major promoters rightly note that large venue turnout has “increased threefold year-over-year”, and live events are fully reserved more rapidly than previously. Simply getting tickets now demands detailed strategy, rapid-fire response times and deep finances (or a substantial budget). Though you succeed, it’s not enough to just show up and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an anticipation, at least among pop fans, that you could increase your return on investment by attending more than once (potentially going abroad), studying the song selection ahead of time and understanding the rituals to hit and audience interactions developed through earlier audiences.

Many fans report feeling affected by their participation at popular events: what felt like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, in which certain attendees arrived not knowing the steps. The extended concert series, earning massive sums, demonstrated of the lengths to which attendees will push to participate in a cultural moment and see their favourite artist perform, although the actual music grows somewhat secondary to the production.

The Situation of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and common experience – faces difficult times. Based on recent surveys, about a quarter of people were intimate in an average week, while just under a third were not engaging. In another major country, recent data showed that over a quarter of people said they had not sexual activity a single time in the last twelve months, increasing from smaller percentages in earlier years. Across these regions, the change has been attributed to decreased encounters in youth demographics. Contrast this with the industry driving growth for stadium extravaganzas and the cutthroat competition for tickets. Certainly it's more complicated as a simple decision between one or the other – “do you prefer experience a popular event multiple times, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of what is viewed as the more consistent satisfaction.

Surprising Parallels

Relationships and gigs are more comparable than one may assume. Each symbolizes the initiation of a bond, a actual experience of impressions or possibility that may have developed solely in your imagination. You show up with a general notion of what might happen, but hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and whether it proves good or bad relies heavily on if your enthusiasm and expectations match theirs. Frequently you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and later be hanging out for a smoke and personal space alone. Similarly for each, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or lessen the event (but certainly help the most unpleasant occasions easier to weather).

Finding the Balance

The appeal to concerts and intimacy depends on finding that hard-to-find balance between comfort and excitement, consistency and change, effort and ease. Naturally it occurs infrequently – but it's the recollection of successful moments, the awareness that success is achievable, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {