The Secret of Attending Music Concerts in Post- Pandemic: A Thought of Enhancing Well-Being

Compared to business events that are associated with meetings and conferences, leisure events are recreationally social gatherings (e.g., festivals, sports events, and music concerts). People attend leisure events mainly for relaxation and social connections [1,2]. Music concerts are a type of leisure events and belong to performing arts events performed by artists [3]. Different from visual arts events (e.g., artistic exhibitions) that allow participants to walk around at the venue, most performing arts events sell seats meaning participants need to be at a particular place to watch a show. The worldwide pandemic influences the way of operations for many industries, including the music event business. During the pandemic, some music events (e.g., live concerts) have to move online or live streaming because of the social distancing policies. For example, the American singer Travis Scott had live concert series in 2020 that brought about over 25 million viewers worldwide. Generation Y and Z are the main consumers of live-streaming music events. A survey with 5500 respondents shows that 60% of them would continue to watch live-stream even after music concerts return to in-person [4]. It cannot be neglected that the pandemic has influenced individual’s lifestyles and behaviors.

However, it seems the situation has changed since 2022. Live Nation Entertainment is one of the biggest international companies that manage events’ ticket sales and entertainment venues. According to the report of the second quarter of 2023 from Live Nation Entertainment, compared to last year, the tickets sold through its sales company (i.e., Ticketmaster) increased 22% while tickets in stadiums and arenas are up [5]. Moreover, Taylor Swift’s stadium concert tour reached a record of $1 billion in sales, with tickets ranging from $59 to $899 [6]. Additionally, the attendance of Ed Sheeran’s concert at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, TN, got to 73, 874 breaks the record for the stadium [7]. These facts reveal that the market for music concerts is bigger than ever. Further, from the participants’ perspectives, it certainly shows a psychological phenomenon called “revenge” behavior. This behavior is similar to “revenge travel” in that individuals feel bored/ isolated during a pandemic and overtook opportunities for relaxation and social connections [8]. This “revenge” behavior would lead to a question about the influence of attending music concerts in the postpandemic era.

Literature in music therapy/medicine shows that music experience helps reduce psychological-related stress and anxiety [9]. Music interventions normally are viewed as an alternative medicine to mental health issues in music therapy procedures. Regarding music itself, barely any research explored the effects of music types/instruments in music therapy. However, trained music therapists will choose slow and rhythmic music that could relax patients and guide them to breathe smoothly [10]. Deli et al. [11], tried to understand whether the mind-wandering happened when participants listened to music concerts. Mind-wandering is a thought/moment when an individual’s minds flow between current environments and stimulus-unrelated content [12]. They found that the mind-wandering associated with visual imagery positively influences individuals’ moods in labs and real-life scenarios. Specifically, the dark or sad music tone leads to negative moods, while the rhythmic or happy music tone leads to positive moods.

Well-being is a psychological concept that could relate to moods and emotions. It has two facets: hedonic and eudemonic. Moods belong to hedonic well-being, which focuses on emotions (e.g., happiness, pleasure). Compared to hedonic well-being, eudemonic well-being centers around realizations and the meanings in life [13]. As discussed previously, music itself could bring happiness and relaxation (i.e., hedonic) to people. Nevertheless, there has been limited research exploring eudemonic well-being through attending music concerts. It is intriguing to understand how attending music concerts influences individuals’ eudemonic wellbeing, specifically, the meanings and realizations of attending music concerts in the post-pandemic context.

Attending music concerts is a social leisure activity that can be enjoyed by a group of concertgoers. When participants attend music concerts with their friends or families, it involves not only an attending behavior but also a sharing behavior. Sharing behaviors have been widely studied in child development disciplines to evaluate children with autism. Moreover, in recent decades, they have been explored in marketing/business discipline to identify customers’ motivations. Sharing behaviors fall under the category of prosocial behaviors, referring to an act of sharing resources or thoughts with others. Resources encompass both materials and non-materials facets. Time, thoughts, moments, experiences, and opportunities are non-material resources that imbue life with meaning and spirituality. The moments participants spent with and the experience they shared with their friends/families are intangible and fleeting. Putting all the tiny pieces together, they create a meaningful life. Sharing behaviors can foster a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Attending music concerts with others allow individuals to share excitement, energy, time, and experience with others. This sharing behavior itself could increase an individual’s happiness and presents a personal value, enabling individuals to recognize the positive impact they have on others’ lives. It establishes deeper connections between them and enhances the sense of belonging. Mover, the shared moments create lasting memories that further develop the eudemonic well-being. In discussing the influence of attending music concerts with others through sharing behaviors, it provides the potential to uncover the impact on our eudemonic well-being.

None.

The author declared no conflict of interest.

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