Concerts tend to be a group experience, but a decent amount of people head to a show alone, depending on the genre.
According to a report by Quartz, which received data from the secondary ticket marketplace Vivid Seats, hip-hop, K-pop, and alternative concertgoers have the highest average in terms of single ticket purchases. Vivid Seats analyzed ticket purchases in the U.S. and Canada from 2015 to 2019, which showed that over 80 percent of all ticket purchases were for at least two people. While they are most often purchased in pairs, 13 percent were for four tickets or more.
However, 16 percent of these tickets went to single individuals. Hip-hop shows were purchased by 31.5 percent of these single ticketholders, followed by K-Pop at 26.8 percent and alternative at 23.1 percent. Comparably, opera tickets took just 5.9 percent of single tickets and world music took 6.8 percent. These numbers may have to do with age, music-business professor at Belmont University, Don Cusic, told Quartz. He said that he believes the willingness to attend a concert alone decreases with age. Younger fans are more likely to go to a hip-hop or K-pop show alone, while older fans are more likely to attend an opera or world music show with someone else.
Additionally, hip-hop, K-pop, and alternative shows are more likely to have general admission tickets, University of Southern California music business professor Michael Garcia told Quartz. Blues and jazz musicians are less likely to offer general admission tickets, while most rappers or rock groups offer “pit” sections, allowing fans to purchase tickets separately and meet up with their friends, or simply catch the show alone.
The report also pointed out that one third of the audience went to country music concerts in groups of four people or more. Garcia explained that certain fanbases control how tickets are sold. K-pop fans are really passionate and will often attend a show alone, while country music concerts are known as big events with tailgating and large groups of friends.
Over the summer, fans will have the chance to put this statistic to test when K-pop groups like NCT-127, Monsta X, and Ateez make stops across the country, along with rappers Tech N9NE and Post Malone, and alt-rock groups Five Finger Death Punch, Sleeping With Sirens, and Falling In Reverse. Several country artists have revealed 2020 summer tours as well, including Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, and Brooks & Dunn.
