90 per cent of music fans have said they believe “authenticity” is the most important factor in establishing a connection with an artist.
In new research, 84 per cent of music lovers have also said that “unexpected” and “unscripted” moments are what create lasting memories, with 60 per cent saying that live performances are the most powerful way to engage with their favourite musicians.
The study of 9,000 fans in nine different countries has been conducted by Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky in partnership with COLORSxSTUDIOS, and it also found that one in three of those surveyed said that they are inspired to be themselves when they see artists deliver “authentic” performances.
The authenticity that so many music fans crave comes at a time that 40 per cent of them feel that gigs have started to feel “overly scripted”, while one in three have also said that they no longer feel they can afford to see their favourite artists.
One aspect of live music in recent years that has been at the centre of conversation has been the rise of people filming entire stretches of shows on their phones.
A number of artists have gone as far as to ban fans from having phones out during shows – including Jack White, Bob Dylan, Placebo and Ghost, with the latter arguing that phones make it “so hard to get people to engage”. Sabrina Carpenter also said she was considering something similar last year.
On the other hand, Billie Eilish recently defended fans’ use of phones at gigs, telling NME: “I just think that’s what it’s like. My generation, and the generations below, we love to film stuff. All I do is film and take pictures of stuff – all of the time.”
“When I was young and would go to concerts or festivals, I would film every single minute of it – and then I would watch every single video that I took over and over until I even had the audio of the crowd memorised,” she said. “I think that’s not to be pooh-poohed. An important part of the culture is that we are all on our goddamn phones! It keeps us connected. It does!”