A Night Out to Treasure: Is Live Music Truly Preferred Over Sex?

Picture having a free evening. You're feeling refreshed, ready for adventure, and wanting to shake up your regular habits of evening scrolling. Life itself awaits your choice! Do you opt for a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The answer, as typically the case with such kinds of hypotheticals, is clearly: “It varies.” Thinking adults could understandably inquire: what is the concert? With whom is the partner? Is it likely to be good?

Not many would select a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. However tweak any part of the comparison, and it grows less clearcut. Regarding the 40,000 people presented with this choice by a live event company, no such details was given – and the answer emerged unambiguously and overwhelmingly supporting live music events.

Survey Results Show Unexpected Preferences

An international survey, questioning 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 across 15 markets, revealed that concerts are now the world’s top form of entertainment, ranking above games, cinema and – yes – sexual intercourse. If restricted to a single form of enjoyment for the rest of their lives, nearly four in ten picked live music, versus going to the cinema (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). The group was over two times as prone to select watching their top musician live (70%) instead of sexual activity (30%).

You show up expecting to be delightfully amazed – and regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Naturally it's expected that a PR survey conducted for a gig organizer would result so overwhelmingly preferring gigs – and, with the speculative tone of a either-or question, if your favourite artist is, for example an iconic star, you can see why seeing him could prevail over a common or garden encounter. Yet this either-or decision between concerts or intimacy, plainly ridiculous though it may be, is noteworthy to consider considering the strange juncture we experience with each.

The Evolution of Gig Attendance

Over the past few years, live music participation has evolved into more than a group event but a serious endeavor. Live organizations duly point out that arena crowds has “grown significantly year-over-year”, and live events sell out more rapidly than previously. Simply getting passes now demands military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and bottomless pockets (or a generous credit card limit). Even if you’re successful, that alone won't do to merely attend and enjoy the show. There’s now an expectation, especially for pop fans, that you might enhance your return on investment by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), learning the song selection beforehand and memorizing the cues to hit and audience interactions developed through earlier audiences.

Several concertgoers report feeling affected by their attendance at large concerts: what seemed like a choreographed performance of massive crowds, to which particular fans turned up unfamiliar with the steps. Those lengthy concert series, generating billions, was proof of the degree to which attendees will push to experience a significant event and experience their top musician perform, though the real performance grows somewhat overshadowed by the show.

The Situation of Modern Intimacy

Sex, on the other hand – an accessible and common experience – experiences challenging circumstances. Per recent surveys, nearly one in four of people engaged sexually in an typical week, while nearly 30% were not engaging. In a different nation, current statistics indicated that more than 25% of individuals reported not having intimacy even once in the past year, up from smaller percentages in earlier years. Across these regions, the change has been associated with reduced intimacy among younger people. Juxtapose this with the market driving growth for major events and the fierce battle for tickets. Certainly it's more complicated as a simple decision between one or the other – “would you rather attend a huge concert multiple times, or remain abstinent?” – but it's possibly an signal of which is perceived as the more dependable satisfaction.

Surprising Parallels

Relationships and gigs are more similar than you might think. They both embody the activation of a connection, a real-world test of expectations or possibility that might have amassed only in your head. You come with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and whether it proves satisfying or frustrating depends very much on whether your energy and hopes match theirs. Regularly you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a break and a moment alone alone. Likewise with either, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or detract from the event (but absolutely assist the worst situations easier to weather).

Achieving Equilibrium

The wonder to live events and relationships relies on discovering that elusive sweet spot between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, work and relaxation. Of course it happens only rarely – but it's the remembrance of when they did, the understanding that it’s possible, that drives us to give it another shot: to {