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Envision being gifted with a night off. You feel refreshed, eager for new things, and wanting to change your typical schedule of relaxing at home. Life itself is your oyster! Could you choose a) attending a concert or b) having sex? The answer, as typically the case with these types of questions, is plainly: “It varies.” Thinking adults may reasonably wonder: what kind of the concert? Who is the other person? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Few would select a intense rock concert if the alternative was a dream date with a favorite star. Yet change one side of the scenario, and it becomes less obvious. Regarding the participants presented with this choice through a major concert promoter, no such details was provided – and the answer was revealed decisively and strongly preferring gigs.

Study Data Show Surprising Trends

An international report, questioning thousands of participants from 18 and 54 across multiple countries, revealed that live music have become the most popular form of entertainment, beating out games, films and – indeed – sexual intercourse. When limited to one type of entertainment permanently, a significant portion chose concerts, versus watching movies (17%) and games (14%). Participants were over two times as inclined to prefer watching their top musician on stage (70%) over sex (30%).

You arrive expecting to be happily shocked – and frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Certainly it’s not surprising that a marketing research carried out for a live event company should come out so overwhelmingly preferring concerts – and, in the freewheeling mood of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, for example a legendary singer, one can appreciate why seeing him may be chosen instead of a common or garden situation. However this binary choice between gigs or sexual activity, clearly absurd as it is, is noteworthy to consider considering the strange juncture we face with each.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

Over the past few years, concert attendance has evolved into more than a communal experience but a serious endeavor. Major promoters duly point out that arena crowds has “tripled year-over-year”, and festivals get booked up more rapidly than previously. Merely acquiring admissions now requires extensive preparation, quick decision-making and deep finances (or a generous credit card limit). Though you manage, it’s not enough to simply turn up and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an assumption, particularly with concertgoers, that you could increase your enjoyment value by seeing several shows (potentially going abroad), studying the performance lineup in advance and understanding the rituals to hit and calls-and-responses developed through earlier audiences.

Many attendees describe being affected by their experience at popular events: appearing as a scripted production of huge audiences, where particular fans arrived unaware of the routine. Those lengthy concert series, producing huge revenue, was proof of the extents that people will go to experience a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer sing, even if the actual music grows somewhat overshadowed by the show.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and common experience – experiences challenging circumstances. Per modern research, approximately 25% of people were intimate in an average week, while just under a third were sexually inactive. In another major country, recent data indicated that over a quarter of individuals reported not having intimacy a single time in the previous year, rising from lower numbers in earlier years. In both territories, the shift has been attributed to reduced intimacy with younger generations. Juxtapose this with the market driving growth for major events and the intense rivalry for admissions. Certainly it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between either option – “do you prefer experience a popular event multiple times, or stay celibate?” – but it's possibly an indication of what is viewed as the more dependable satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are more similar than people often believe. Both represent the commencement of a bond, a real-world test of impressions or promise that could have built only in your head. You show up with some idea of what might happen, but hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and if it turns out enjoyable or disappointing relies heavily on whether your energy and hopes match theirs. Frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be hanging out for a smoke and a moment alone on your own. Likewise with either, drugs and alcohol can sometimes improve or reduce the experience (but certainly help the most unpleasant situations easier to weather).

Finding the Balance

The wonder to concerts and intimacy hinges on locating that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, work and relaxation. Of course it's uncommon – but it's the recollection of when it worked, the awareness that it can happen, that motivates us to attempt once more: to {