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Majority of fans ready to return to gigs soon

A pair of surveys conducted by ticketing platform Gigantic and events agency Identity have found that the majority of music fans are ready to return to live gigs in one way or another.

Gigantic found that of the 8,000 people who responded to its consumer survey, 65% will be ready to return to live gigs within two months of venues reopening and 35% straight away.

Fourteen per cent say they’d return within a month and a further 16% will take four to eight weeks to return to gigs. The remaining number would wait between three to six months before returning. Only two respondents said they would not return to a live event again.

Though the majority of respondents say they’re eager to return to gigs, similar enthusiasm was shown for hygiene measures to be put in place. Over 80% of people say they would want to see hand sanitising points throughout the venue, 68% would like to see reduced capacities, and 39% would like to see masks mandatory for those attending. Half of those surveyed would like to see social distancing relaxed inside venues as long as relevant steps are in place to protect them.

The survey also found that 41% of our gig-goers would be happy to watch exclusive live-streamed events in the absence of live music.

However, Identity’s industry survey found that an overwhelming majority, (84%) disagreed with the statement “I will only attend virtual events from now on” and a similar number agreed that all events in the future should have both a virtual and live offering.

“People miss meeting up and no amount of creativity can replace that”

The survey, which was conducted in the last week of July and spanned respondents from several industry sectors with 25% from entertainment and leisure, found almost 80% of those surveyed are keen to attend live events in person within the next 12 months.

However, nearly half (47%) said these events would be within their own country of residence only. Just a third of respondents said they would willingly travel internationally to attend a live event within the next 12 months.

When asked to consider what measures they expect to be operational should live events return, almost three quarters said they would expect social distancing measures to be in place, while two-thirds of respondents consider wearing face coverings at live events a necessity, but only 10% consider it a necessity to hold live events outdoors. Four-fifths of respondents expect live events to have a cap on the number of attendees.

Charlie Hepburn, client strategy director of Identity Group says: “This points to the ultimate importance being placed on advance communication, keeping attendees well informed and ensuring they are aware of the expectations and restrictions in place before committing to attend the event. Interestingly, the idea of hosting events indoors, as opposed to outdoors, does not seem to provoke any reluctance to attend.”

Looking to the future of live events, the survey found that 80% of people feel live streaming cannot replace the real thing but almost the same amount of respondents (79%) said that brands need to offer both live and virtual attendance options for all events.

Almost 80% said they would expect to pay less to attend a virtual delivery of a live event and only 8% said they “expect to pay the same to attend the virtual delivery of a live event”.

“It appears that people really do miss live events,” says Hepburn. “The reality is people miss meeting up and no amount of creativity can replace that.”

 


This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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