New Research From BandsInTown Profiles Today’s Social Concertgoer

Facebook concert
discovery application Bandsintown recently commissioned the research
firm Insight Strategy Group to study the behavior of concertgoers nationwide
and identify trends in how they kept informed of live music events. The online
survey polled around 1,800 music “enthusiasts” (defined as people who have paid
to see live music in the past year) ages 16-59 that are active Internet and
Facebook users, and the research aimed to explore musical engagements that
uncover genre preferences, music-related behaviors and purchasing habits.

Taking into account both
the social and musical aspects of attending a concert, fans were split into
five distinct segments that reveal how bands, managers, labels and marketers
can effectively target each one. These five segments of online live music fans
(categorized as Super Fans, Plugged-Indies, Soloists, Dedicated Diehards, and
Tag-Alongs) were broken down by age, gender, household income, average number
of shows per year, average spend per show, and more.

Click images to enlarge:

The most influential groups – the Super Fans and the Plugged-Indies
– are said to be the most engaged with social media and most likely to post
about the shows they attend. However, even the most engaged fans exhibited habits
of wanting to receive show information
rather than actively seek it out. These people prefer to receive push notifications
such as Facebook posts, email alerts, and smartphone notifications about
upcoming shows rather than search out that information themselves on Google, artist
or event websites.

Not surprisingly, the more engaged fans usually buy tickets well
in advance – 83% of Super Fans (35% at on-sale, 6% at the door) and 69% of
Plugged-Indies. They do so generally within days of hearing about a concert. These
target segments are also more likely to pay extra for offers that make them
feel “special,” such as artist meet-and-greets and preferred seats, rather than
offers that improve their convenience, such as skipping the line or
complimentary food and beverages.

“So much of fan behavior
is anecdotal; we thought it was high time to examine real live music fans and
get to the bottom of what drives their decisions around concerts,” said Julien
Mitelberg, CEO of Bandsintown. “We were surprised to find that as engaged as
these people are online, they now rely on ‘push’ communications to find out
about new events. Clearly, musicians and promoters need to take an active role
to ensure fans know about shows in advance as well as provide premium options
that these fans will pay for.”

For the complete research findings from BandsInTown and Insight Strategy Group, click here.

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