Hope for live music with new study showing young people are still attending | Music News

Times are tough, the cost-of-living crisis is real, inflation sucks. On the flip side, young Victorians still love live music.

New research commissioned by Music Victoria, and published last week (Feb 21), finds that four in five young Victorians plan to attend at least one live music event each year.

Of the 500 young Victorians (under-35) surveyed for Perceptions of Live Music report:

82% had bought a ticket for a music concert in the past year

70% purchased a ticket for a music festival

65% forked out for merch.

78% said their first live music experience shapes their overall passion for music.

Simone Schinkel, CEO of Music Victoria,

The main takeaway from the report — that young people love music — should come as a “huge relief,” says

“because when we were not seeing them in the crowd we got very nervous.”

The challenges? The cost-of-living crisis and some COVID hangover are “harder to fix,” Schinkel tells The Music Network.

The data also identifies weak spots.

Live music attendance drops away for under-18s, and a range of obstacles are said to rain on punters’ parades, including:

lack of motivation (22%)

limited public transport options (21%)

value for money (19%).

Among the youngest demographic (16-18 year olds):

13% don’t think about going to see live music – a figure higher than rest of those surveyed (8%).

In that demographic, just 40% are likely to attend a music festival at least once each year. That’s roughly 10 percentage points lower than expected, with 52% historically attending a festival by the time they were 18, according to the report.

“We have an opportunity to motivate young people to actively engage with live music experiences at an early age. It will enhance their passive music awareness across digital platforms like YouTube, Spotify or TikTok,” notes Schinkel, in a statement accompanying the report.

Disposable cash is a big issue, with 73% of respondents “trying to reduce spending to only essentials at the moment.”

Though most of the time, having serious fun is more important than savings in the bank. More than half of the participants (58%) continue to purchase tickets, in spite of the squeeze.

Melbourne and the state of Victoria has hogged the headlines of late, with Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour filling out the MCG on multiple nights and, on Sunday, the Victorian Government announcing a $2 million investment in the high school songwriting program, SongMakers.

Also, the Victorian capital will next month host the first international Global Citizen NOW event, capped with a special performance by Crowded House.

SongMakers was an election commitment “and we look forward to the roll out of the rest of the Victorian Government’s commitments for live music including — but not limited too — festivals funding, delivering 10,000 gigs and ensuring 25% of those happen in regional Victoria,” comments Schinkel on the funding pledge.

However, she continues, “we also call on the Victorian Government to urgently provide access to the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) for our beloved live music venues – many of whom are already on the brink due to market failure (for Public Liability insurance).”

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Homebrewed is a radio program and podcast dedicated to supporting the Australian Music Industry. Cameron Smith and Eamonn Snow have been presenting Homebrewed since November 2017 and have received excellence awards and the admiration of local bands for their presentation of Homebrewed and their continued support of the Australian music scene. This podcast is designed so you can enjoy conversations with musicians, industry representatives and music media personalities.

Source: https://www.homebrewed.au

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