Concert Attendance and Enthusiasm: Differences by State and Generation

The energy and excitement of attending a live concert is an experience nearly all generations and geographic areas can appreciate. And although our tastes may differ, music fans from Baby Boomers to Zoomers (Gen Z) can all agree that spending a little more and traveling a little farther to see your favorite artist can be well worth the money spent. We looked at state-specific, top-searched musical artists and examined the breakdown of favorite artists by generation. With different stages of life and financial flexibility, enthusiastic fans have varying preferences regarding just how much time and money they’re willing to spend to attend a concert or festival.

• Eminem and Elvis were the only two artists that made the top five picks for more than one generation.
• Fans across all generations will likely attend a concert 2-5 times a year to see their favorite artist.
• 59% of respondents were willing to take on more debt to see their favorite artist perform live.
• Concertgoers are willing to spend up to $843 on average for floor seats.
• Gen Z is the most likely generation to travel to watch their favorite artist in concert.

We surveyed 850 fans around the U.S. to see how much and how far each generation would be willing to pay/travel to see their favorite artist. We used Google Trends to see which states favored each generation's top 5 artists.

It comes as no surprise that musical tastes vary widely with the different generations.1 2 However, some artists have incredible staying power. When breaking preferences down, Eminem (Gen Z and Millenials) and Elvis (Gen X and Boomers) were the only artists that spanned the top five picks for two generations.

So which regions of the U.S. prefer which musicians? We found that across the country as a whole, the Spice Girls remain the top-searched artist. And while BTS has immense worldwide popularity, they were only a “top-searched artist” in Hawaii when considering just the U.S. We also found that Nevada and New Jersey were the biggest fangirl states, with both ranking as the top state for four different artists.

When it comes to how frequently fans go to see their favorite artist perform, we found most are likely to attend a concert 2-5 times a year, with Gen Z being the most likely to do so. The youngest generation was also the most enthusiastic when it came to their willingness to shell out funds to attend a concert. But while Gen Z felt they would be the most likely to spend a significant amount of money to see their favorite artist, Gen X pulled through as the actual winner in this category, with 1.9% of Gen X’ers spending more than $500 for tickets, compared to just 0.5% of Gen Z. We found that across all generations, however, most people spend between $101-$200 on concert tickets.

Artists that fans would spend the most to see

We found that, on average, concertgoers are willing to spend a maximum of $843 for floor seats to see their favorite artist (dead or alive). And men are more likely to pay higher prices ($168 more) than women. But which artist’s fans are willing to shell out the most cash for a performance? Barbra Streisand reigns supreme here, with Michael Jackson falling in a close second. This could be due to Barbra’s status as an icon in the music world, her reputation for elaborate performances, or her appeal to older, more affluent populations.

Going to see your favorite artist perform is a real treat, and many of us are willing to spend more than usual just for access to the experience. In fact, 75% of survey respondents said that they’ve previously exceeded their budget or spent more than initially planned to attend a concert or event featuring their favorite artist. For the majority, this looks like spending an extra $101-$200 over budget.

Overall, 59% of respondents said they would be willing to take on more debt in order to see their favorite artists live in concert. Interestingly, in our survey, Gen X was the most likely to splurge on tickets (paying an average maximum of $1,403) but the least willing to go into debt to see their favorite artist perform.

The cost of attending a concert can creep up on you fast. In addition to the price of the tickets themselves, concertgoers run into a host of other expenses, including travel and accommodations, artist merchandise, and, most commonly, food and beverage costs (according to 70.9% of those surveyed). So next time you’re budgeting for a fun night out to see your favorite band perform, don’t forget to include the cost of typically overpriced food and drinks at the venue.

There’s nothing more disappointing than seeing a new tour announcement and realizing your favorite artist won’t be performing where you live. But how far are music lovers willing to travel to make their concert dreams come true? Out of 850 survey participants, 65% said that if their favorite artist announced a one-time special performance in a different country, they were likely to travel to see them.

Gen Z was the most willing to travel for a concert, although none of the generations were likely to travel by car for more than 500 miles. Gen X was more reluctant to travel to see their favorite artist perform than the younger generations. Generally speaking, 3-6 hours is the most all the generations are likely to fly for a concert.

We conducted a survey of 850 individuals and utilized Google Trends to research which generations are the biggest music fans, who they’re fans of, and how far they would go to see their favorites perform.

Innerbody Research is committed to providing objective, science-based suggestions and research to help our readers make more informed decisions regarding health and wellness. We invested the time and effort into creating this report to produce an informative study that shows readers a breakdown of fanbases throughout the generations and across the United States. We aim to reach as many people as possible by making this information widely available. As such, please feel free to share our content for educational, editorial, or discussion purposes. We only ask that you link back to this page and credit the author as Innerbody.com.