We all know that concertgoers spend way too much time on their mobile phones and not enough time, you know, actually watching the concert, but is the problem really as bad as we seem to think, or are we just blowing a pet peeve out of proportion?
Well, the good folks at Ticketfly have actually gone ahead and done the hard research for us and discovered that yes, way too many people are spending way too much time lost in their phones when attending a show.
Just how bad is the problem? Well, according to Ticketfly’s report, more than 31 percent of 18-34-year-old concert attendees are using their phones for more than half of the concert. That’s almost one in three punters watching their screen instead of the band.
The sort-of good news is that they’re not all just sitting around scrolling through Facebook. According to the data, 40 percent of females polled and 24 percent of males were using their phones to shoot video or take pictures, which is still not ideal but almost forgivable.
Meanwhile, 60 percent of concertgoers polled were using their mobiles to look for deals on food and beverages, as well as merchandise. Some, 23 percent in fact, were using their phones to look up information about the acts playing.
Females were found to be more likely than their male counterparts to share their experiences on social media during the event (35 percent vs. 22 percent, respectively), and the majority of them happen to be single.
Researchers found that single people are far more likely to use their phones for social media at concerts, with a mere nine percent of married respondents reporting that they share their concert experiences on Facebook or Twitter.
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So what does all of this information mean, besides another reason to complain about Generation Y and their damn tweeting and Facebooking? Well, with such information at hand, promoters and venue operators could start exploring new revenue streams.
As Digital Music News notes, the possibilities are virtually endless. For example, promoters could send out push notifications to punters informing them of merch deals or drinks specials and allow them to purchase via their phone.
Digital Music News cite a 2013 Nielsen study, which revealed music fans would spend up to $2.6 billion more a year if they had opportunities to buy exclusives and behind-the-scenes content. We reckon promoters should move in on this market now. After all, people are on their phones anyway.
