Back in the day, you would have years to save up all your pennies for the chance to see your favorite artist or band perform live. Attending a live performance was often a one-off experience, especially if you did not live within the boundaries of a major capital city. Seeing live stage entertainment has always been something that people enjoy, but over the past years, this industry has exploded as the demand for this type of live experience has become greater than ever.
From massive festivals that attract visitors from all around the world, to smaller local concerts and stage events, youths, millennials and adults can’t seem to get enough of seeing artists and entertainers perform right before their eyes. Our access, awareness, and ability to see live stage entertainment is greater than ever.
Of course, this is fantastic news for anyone who works in this industry, as there has never before been so many job opportunities and such great career potential.
Whether you specialize in LED lighting for events, own a leading event company, or just want to try your chances at being the next big thing in the industry, here are five reasons why live stage entertainment is globally in-demand now more than ever. (You can celebrate after reading!)
1. Live experiences have a direct effect on human happiness
The results from a 2016 study conducted by Stubhub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, show that live experiences (in particular, ones featuring music) have a direct impact on human happiness and emotion.
Based on responses from consumers in 20 cities around the world, the findings demonstrate that music sparks the most positive emotions out of all types of events. Sixty-two percent of all respondents stated that attending a concert makes them happy (66% of female respondents said that concerts make them happy); that’s a staggering number when compared to the 47% who answered spending time on social media.
The study also presents the surprising lengths that music lovers are willing to go to have the most memorable live stage experiences, with respondents confirming that they were willing to give up promotions at work, international vacations and favorite foods in order to have an ultimate VIP experience. Now that is what you call having your priorities in check.
2. Live stage entertainment makes memorable experiences
Whether you are a father, an aunt, a co-worker, or a best friend, attending a live performance with someone you love (or at least really like) is almost always guaranteed to produce a memorable experience. Across the world, live events of all kinds and sizes are where memories are made, and I bet most of us can easily remember where we attended our first concert and who we were with.
In the same Stubhub study mentioned before, 75% of respondents articulated that making memories that will last a lifetime was the best part of attending a live event, while 53% specified that having hard-to-get tickets to a popular concert would be most impressive on a date. Along with the music, food, and the atmosphere, the best audio visual crews know that state-of-the-art sound systems and transformative light are the key to bringing the right energy and vibe to these memorable experiences.
3. Millennials love live events
Obviously we all love live stage entertainment, but Millennials in particular are the ones driving this insane global demand. With a majority of this generation now in the workforce, Millennials currently command around $1.3 trillion in annual consumer spending.
This generation (defined as those born from 1980 to 1996) are increasingly spending their hard-earned cash on experiences rather than things. As they continue to “grow up” and make more cash, this generation is going to continue demanding more elaborate and creative live events, which in turn, means consistently more demand for people working in the live entertainment industry.
Live Nation, the company which sells tickets through Ticketmaster and has booking rights to most major venues, announced a couple of months ago that bookings in Q1 2017 had risen 10% compared to a year ago, and that the number of tickets sold had jumped 25% to 46 million tickets. This is in large part due to Millennials shifting their spending on experiences, and to their fear of missing out (FOMO) if they aren’t always in attendance.
4. Performers love going live, Too
For most artists and entertainers, live performances are now their primary source of income. So while the demand for live entertainment has been rapidly increasing, so too has the supply of it. No longer do you have to wait years to see your favorite singers, dancers, or DJs in your home town, as many of them tour, tour and then tour some more.
Thanks to social media, many of these performers are witnessing rapid globalization of their work, opening them (and their tour dates) up to a larger, more diverse audience than ever before.
5. Living “Live” is more important than ever
Social media and mobile usage have become a crucial part of live events’ marketing strategies and they also play a massive role in quickly and cost effectively spreading the word about new and exciting live events. However, the devices through which we connect to social media also tend to stop us from actually living “live” (going live to your Instagram followers doesn’t count!).
In today’s day and age, when we are all attached to our phones and laptops more than ever before, actually experiencing and seeing things live without the help of a screen is more important than ever. While an evening at home streaming a movie can be a great night, across the board people rate that having live experiences is one of the best ways to enrich their lives — which is why the demand for live entertainment is only going to continue to flourish.
If you are looking to enter the world of live stage entertainment, or are already in it and are wondering how (and if) your career can advance, the knowledge that your chosen industry is globally in-demand now more than ever should reassure you that your job and career potential is almost limitless. So, let’s get entertaining!
AUTHOR BIO
HADI AL RIFAI
MANAGING PARTNER LEVEL PRODUCTION DUBAI
Hadi Al Rifai specializes in event management and audio engineering and holds a BA in business management from the American University of Science and Technology in Beirut. Before settling down in Dubai to manage Level Production, Mr. Rifai has worked with leading national and multinational event management organizations in the Middle East where he honed his AV production skills. Among the notable projects he has worked with are the X Factor and Baalbek Film Festival.
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